• Also see: Maryland Green Schools Thoughts & Experiences

Bodkin Elementary School, Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Bodkin Elementary School, located in Pasadena, Maryland between the Magothy River and Bodkin Creek, has integrated environmental instruction into all grade levels. Students created a no-mow zone to reduce rainwater runoff and attract wildlife. Using funds from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, they maintain a bog which is shared with a middle school. Students raised and released terrapin turtles and provided data for the terrapin research project. Students are now planning a native plant meadow with the help from Long Point Garden Club and the school custodian. http://www.aacps.org/aacps/BKES/index.htm

Catonsville Education Center at RICA, Baltimore City, Maryland
Located in the Gwynns Falls watershed, Catonsville Education Center at RICA has the perfect campus for studying environmental issues as a result of the school’s wetlands, woodlands and field. Students at RICA have studied, hatched and released monarch butterflies. They have planted trees in Carroll Park for Baltimore City’s Urban Canopy project. Students developed a day, known as “Shuv-unda Day”, in which the whole school brings in items to sell that have been “shoved under their beds.” Students assembled bird feeders from reused 2-liter bottles and hung them around the school yard. As a result of their schoolyard habitat work, RICA applied for and received recognition as a National Wildlife Foundation Schoolyard Habitat.

Century High School, Carroll County, Maryland
Century High School, located in Sykesville, Maryland, offers a variety of curricular and co-curricular environmental education opportunities. It offers classes such as Environmental Conservation, Horticulture, Landscaping, Wildlife Management, Ecology, AP Environmental Sciences and Science Research. Students grew and sold native plants to educate the community on why they should consider landscaping with native plants. They grew and planted white turtle head plants to help restore habitat for the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly. The school also partnered with Home Depot to install a garden and pond. http://www.carrollk12.org/century/index.htm

Church Creek Elementary School, Harford County, Maryland
Church Creek Elementary School, located in Belcamp, Maryland, created an environmental learning area called “outback” where children can learn in a wooded environment with a creek. The local scout troop has created trails and a gathering area using fallen trees, logs, and rocks. However, this area became inundated with trash, and students wrote letters to area merchants asking for help to clean up the area and to help keep it clean. The school set up a “no idle, no pollution zone” for parents picking up kids from school. Using money from Abitibi Consolidated for paper recycling, students built bird houses and a butterfly garden.
http://www.hcps.org/Schools/Elementary/Default.aspx

Churchville Elementary School, Harford County, Maryland
Churchville Elementary School, located in Harford County, has integrated environmental education into the curriculum of all grade levels. The school recently won $200 dollars in a contest because they recycled over 6 tons of paper in three months. Students created posters about water conservation and placed them in the restrooms as a reminder. They collected and analyzed how much trash was being thrown away and made graphs to display the information. Students also conducted a schoolyard survey, found erosion problems, and concluded that a rain garden would solve the problem. They then wrote to the Chesapeake Bay Trust for money to install the rain garden.
http://www.hcps.org/Schools/Elementary/Default.aspx

Dunloggin Middle School, Howard County, Maryland
Dunloggin Middle School, located in Ellicott City, Maryland, has planned a major stream restoration project. They removed invasive plant species, cleaned up debris and installed native plants to reduce erosion. The school received a Disney Minnie Grant from Youth Service America to help with the project. The second phase includes developing wetlands to use as an outdoor education area. The MD Department of the Environment helped fund it and Howard County Parks and Recreation is providing expertise. With a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, they purchased native grasses, trees, shrubs and water quality monitoring equipment. http://www.howard.k12.md.us/dms/admin.htm

Gilman Lower School, Baltimore City, Maryland
Gilman Lower School, located in the Jones Falls watershed, involves their students in thinking about current and future environmental challenges. The environmental curriculum for the lower school is as follows: first grade, ecology; second grade, air ecology; third grade, water ecology; fourth grade, trash pick up; and fifth grade, waste free lunch program and Echo Hill outdoor education experience. The new Student Academic Center will have a green roof, and the school has purchased more efficient boilers to heat their facilities. They have created strong community partnerships with Project Clean Stream and the Jones Falls Watershed Association. http://www.gilman.edu/aboutus/index.asp

Harford Day School, Harford County, Maryland
Harford Day School, an independent school located in Bel Air, Maryland, hopes for students to become environmental stewards in their own small habitats. The school initiated an annual “car pool” week to save fuel and reduce emissions. They raised horseshoe crabs in partnership with the Aquatic Resources Education Program of the MD DNR. Students started a Waste-less Wednesday to reduce solid waste generated at school. The focus of their science fair was green with the name “Green Summit.” http://www.harfordday.org/

Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School, Harford County, Maryland
Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School, located in Bel Air, Maryland, is nestled between the Bynum Run and Winter’s Run watersheds. Students planted white turtlehead plants to restore habitat for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly in partnership with Harford Glen Environmental Education Center. Students measured and analyzed how much water was being wasted by leaky faucets in the school, and then wrote letters to the facilities staff explaining the problem and asking for help with a solution. Student s also created “junk bots”, which are robots made from recycled materials. Students began Trash Free Tuesdays, when fruit and vegetable scraps were composted.
http://www.hcps.org/Schools/Elementary/Default.aspx

John Carroll School, Harford County, Maryland
The John Carroll School, an independent Catholic school located in Bel Air Maryland, gives students many options for both in school and extra-curricular environmental education opportunities. Outside trips include weekend and summer canoe trips, and trips to Florida/Georgia and Costa Rica. In school, students investigated water usage before and after the installation of automatic flush toilets, and water usage on the ball fields and changes in energy use at different times. Students cleaned up Bosely Marsh and restored and cleaned out blue bird boxes. http://johncarroll.org/aboutjcs/directions.asp

Kennard Elementary School, Queen Anne’s County, Maryland
Kennard Elementary School, located in Centreville, Maryland, has provided its students with many opportunities for learning on the land. In the past three years, students at Kennard have collected data for a raptor census, learned how to snorkel for data collecting in and around reef-balls, bagged and planted oysters, learned how to use a GPS device, learned how to canoe for a fish census, and taken first place in their age group in the World Series of Birding in Cape May for two years. Students testified before the State Legislature in favor of the Clean Car bill . http://boe.qacps.k12.md.us/ken/WELCOME.HTM

McDonogh Middle School, Baltimore County, Maryland
McDonogh Middle School is a private school in Owings Mills and is located in the Gwynns Falls Watershed. Students at McDonogh researched types of bird feeders, their placement and food requirements and then made feeders to hang at home. They kept tree journals and have made a dichotomous key for trees on their campus. Students made and posted signs saying “The Bay Starts Here” to remind people to think about what they pour down the drain. They created sculptures from painted aluminum cans. After meeting with MAEOE’s Schoolyard Habitat coordinator, they reclaimed a mowed grassy area on campus and planted native species. http://www.mcdonogh.org//index_flash.cfm

Mechanicsville Elementary School, Carroll County, Maryland
Mechanicsville Elementary School, located in Carroll County, has incorporated lessons on the environment at all grade levels. Students have completed surveys to find out how the school could improve their energy conservation. Students put up signs to remind people to turn off computers and lights. They researched the amount of waste generated at lunch and launched a Waste-Free Lunch campaign. After learning about Baltimore Checkerspot Butterflies at the Carroll County Outdoor School, they planned and planted a garden for Checkerspots. Students built bat houses and a nature trail to further incorporate environmental learning in the outdoors.

Mt. Harmony Elementary School, Calvert County, Maryland
Mt. Harmony Elementary School, located in northern Calvert County, is situated in a suburban/rural community. The school has constructed three rain gardens, established an after-school environmental club, completed energy surveys and participated in multiple recycling efforts. Students at Mt. Harmony raised both terrapins and SAV in the classroom. They conducted a schoolyard habitat assessment and then completed one at home. The school held a tree planting ceremony with a Native American chief. Students collected data on energy use in the school, graphed the data, and made suggestions for improvement. http://www.calvertnet.k12.md.us/schools/mhes/index.htm

Queen Anne School, Prince George’s County, Maryland
Queen Anne School, an independent school located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is founded on 60 acres of former tobacco farmland. Students work and study in close proximity to nature, as a result of their extensive grounds. Their Schoolyard Habitat with an outdoor classroom is home to a myriad of forest, meadow, marsh, and aquatic creatures. Miles of trails have been implemented in the five wooded acres at the edge of the Belt Woods. Middle School Students are responsible for the upkeep of the trails. The school is now working on a wetland/meadow restoration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Math students learned about volume and area by researching and designing birdhouses. Seventh-graders grew Wild Celery in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Grasses in the Classes program.
http://www.queenanne.org/contact.htm

Prettyboy Elementary School, Baltimore County, Maryland
Prettyboy Elementary School is located in a rural setting and is in the Prettyboy and Loch Raven watershed. Students are restoring a 4 acre meadow by planting native species of wildflowers and grasses with a design by Ecosystem Recovery Institute and money from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Students planted 60 native trees. They designed, built, painted and installed blue bird boxes in partnership with Hereford Middle School students, another Maryland Green School. The school has also installed an outdoor amphitheater for lessons and observations.

Reservoir High School, Howard County, Maryland
Reservoir High School, located in Fulton, Maryland, started a club called Students Against Violating the Earth (SAVE) that has worked hard to increase environmental awareness at the school and in the community. Students grew and planted three species of SAV in conjunction with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the MD DNR. Students designed and implemented a native plant garden on the school’s grounds, Art students painted a nature-themed mural alongside the garden. The school created an energy efficiency lesson plan for 9th graders that was taught in all homerooms. Students decorated 1,500 paper grocery bags with environmental friendly messages and they were distributed by Bloom Grocery Store on Earth Day. http://www.howard.k12.md.us/reservoir/rhsDefault.php

Robert Goddard French Immersion, Prince George’s County, Maryland
Robert Goddard School, located in Prince George’s County, has two alternative curriculum programs, French Immersion and Montessori Education. The building is surrounded by woods and playing fields, and abuts Owen Science Center and its nature area. Students planted a “Peace” Garden for an Earth Day project with donated trees from Prince George’s County government and plants from Patuxent Nursery. Students presented a recycling skit to all classes to encourage everyone to reduce waste and reminded students about the Abitibi paper-recycling project. The school worked with MAEOE’s Schoolyard Habitat Coordinator to plan and plant a rain garden.
http://www.pgcps.org/~rgoddard/frenchimmersion/staff.html

Rock Creek Forest Elementary School, Montgomery County, Maryland
Rock Creek Forest Elementary School, located in Chevy Chase, MD, is home to both a Spanish Immersion Magnet Program and a Community English Program, so their environmental work, such as the nature trail signs, occurs in two languages. The school raised an organic children’s garden and used water from their rain barrels to sustain it. As part of the social studies curriculum, the school also has a Native American Three Sisters Garden where corn, beans and squash are planted. They have “No-Waste Wednesdays”, where students try to reduce the amount of trash produced at lunch by packing it in a non throw-away container or another method that doesn’t produce waste. Students planted and adopted trees for Arbor Day in partnership with the Potomac Conservancy. http://web.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/rcforestes/

Rock Creek Valley Elementary School, Montgomery County, Maryland
Rock Creek Valley Elementary School, located in Rockville, Maryland, has developed “green” project objectives that will help improve the environment through recycling, energy and water conservation, and through education about the value of our natural resources. The school reduced energy consumption by 5%, through efforts such as, delamping classrooms and hallways and converting them to T-8 lamps, reminders for staff to turn off lights and computer monitors and using water aerators. A student team of “Power Rangers” encourages teachers to turn of the lights and computer monitors. During PTA International Nights, the school gave away fluorescent bulbs to parents who gave a donation to a nonprofit organization that supports primary education in developing countries. Students also planted 43 trees with Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center, in order to reduce erosion and prevent stormwater runoff.

Ruxton Country School, Baltimore County, Maryland
Ruxton Country School, an independent school, is located on 35 wooded acres of wetlands in the Gwynns Falls watershed. The school is not only bringing the environment into the curriculum but they are also bringing it into the construction of a new middle school on campus that will incorporate “green” design principles such as geothermal heating. Ruxton Country School composts their fruit and vegetables scraps from lunches, and often acquires used items in order to reduce, reuse and recycle. The school uses its on-campus woods in order to teach topics on forest ecology, stream ecology, and monitoring the health of the water. Students and Faculty have partnered with Irvine Nature Center to clean up roadways, plant native species, learn forest ecology, and remove invasive plants. www.ruxton.org

Saint Clare School, Baltimore County, Maryland
Located in the Back River watershed, Saint Clare School, an independent Catholic school, has incorporated the environment into their school learning activities through experimental classroom studies, utilizing best management practices in the school building and on the grounds, and active community partnerships. Students at Saint Clare conduct environmental surveys, complete inventory checklists, make earth-friendly contracts, and put forth action plans for caring and conserving natural resources. Students participate in hands-on activities, including making and hanging birdhouses, constructing energy saving light-switches, monitoring streams for macroinvertebrates, and assisting with the writing of the Green School application.

Saint James Academy, Baltimore County, Maryland
Saint James Academy, a private school located in a rural area of Loch Raven watershed, is an ideal environmental for addressing the environment. The school held a Jack Voss Environmental Day in which students visit a mobile classroom and 4H students bring their animals. The students raised wild celery in a science lab and once when it matured, the eight grades students transplanted the seedlings to the Chesapeake Bay. The school is also raising money to purchase a Bio-diesel bus, through the collection of used cell phones. http://www.saintjamesacademy.org/

St. Mary Elementary School, Anne Arundel County, Maryland
St. Mary Elementary School, an independent Catholic school located in Annapolis, Maryland, has made Environmental Education an ongoing goal of the school. A school site review indicated the need to control water coming from the roof. Community partners, including the Spa Creek Conservancy, a wetlands consultant Keith Underwood, and McHale Landscaping provided information and assistance to install rain barrels and to plan and then plant a wetland. The school set up an HOV lane for parents picking up 3 or more students to encourage carpooling. Students read to find out which native plants certain butterflies like, then grew and planted them. Their “Retriever Fever” program encourages students and parents to recycle from home on Wednesdays. Students also created posters with environmentally friendly messages
http://www.stmaryschurch.org/main.asp?page=200

Saint Paul’s School for Girls, Baltimore County, Maryland
Saint Paul’s School for Girls, a private school located in the Jones Falls watershed, sits on 38 acres with 8 acres being wooded wetlands. Students at SPSFG made bio-diesel fuel in chemistry class using waste vegetable oil from their cafeteria. It was then used to run the school’s tractor. Students designed and continue to maintain a butterfly garden and a trail of bluebird boxes. They collect 20 oz soda bottles to sell to Terracycle, which uses the bottles for liquid fertilizer from worm castings. Students helped the Jones Falls Watershed Association with a stream clean up and planted trees with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. http://www.spsfg.org/

West Friendship Elementary School, Howard County, Maryland
Located in Howard County, West Friendship Elementary School has a school with grounds that are conducive to outdoor environmental activities. Students at West Friendship researched information about painted lady butterflies, then raised and released them into their garden. They raised, monitored and released horseshoe crabs in partnership with the MD Department of Natural Resources. During the morning announcements, tips are given on energy conservation, solid waste reduction and information on native plants. Students will be working with zoologists to learn about Maryland endangered species, and will make displays at the Baltimore National Zoo.
http://www.howard.k12.md.us/wfes/

Westland Middle School, Montgomery County, Maryland
Westland Middle School, an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) School, asks students to make connections between academic disciplines and the environment. The school planted trees for International Peace Day, gathered together to ride bikes on Bike to School Day and planted native plants in the front of the school. In their cafeteria, there is a food sharing table so that uneaten items are not wasted. They have developed many community partnerships. For iexample, they partnered with the Potomac Conservancy on their Growing Native nut collection project, and with the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission to conduct stream restoration projects. http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/westlandms/