Arlington PS Named Green Ribbon District By U.S. DOE

ARLINGTON, MA – Arlington Public Schools was one of six districts the achieve the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon status. The district was honored last week at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. that also highlighted 46 schools and six colleges and universities across the country.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education nominated APS based on three areas: reducing greenhouse gases, addressing the nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, and overall health of students and staff, and teaching curricula that addresses environmental topics at the elementary, middle and high school level.

Initiatives include composting lunchroom food waste; installing solar panels on six school buildings (with display screens in each of the participating schools to educate the school community about how much clean energy each school is producing); LED exterior lighting; and kitchen upgrades.

Wellness is supported by the Arlington Eats program, which provides daily healthy snacks in collaboration with the Arlington Food Pantry, as well as mindfulness-based programs and before and after school fitness opportunities.

At the elementary and middle school level, many of the science classes address environmental topics, aligning with the Massachusetts science and technology and engineering curriculum framework, according to the district. The high school offers several classes that include environmental science and policy issues.

"Arlington Public Schools was recognized along with impressive peers today in Washington D.C. It is an honor to be cited at the federal level for our district sustainability efforts," Superintendent Kathleen Bodie, who represented the district at the ceremony, said in a statement. "Our students learn they are powerful change makers, with the strong support of the Town of Arlington, parents, teachers and staff. Our school Green Teams, together with the support of the School Sustainability Coordinator Rachel Oliveri, make our schools more sustainable every day."

Honorees were selected from a pool of candidates nominated by 25 states and the Department of Education Activity. Honorees include 40 public schools, including two magnet schools and two charter schools, as well as six nonpublic schools. Forty-five percent of the 2018 honorees serve a disadvantaged student body.

View the list of all selected schools and districts and summaries of each of the 58 honorees.

More information on the federal recognition award can be found here.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch