Georgetown Day School has fostered environmental awareness through the curriculum for many years. Assemblies offer many themes in environmental awareness in the Lower School, Middle School and High School.  The Middle School, along with its 7th grade Chesapeake Bay study, holds an annual MS Global Awareness Day with varying themes on ecological awareness and change (see photos for Middle School Global Awareness Day - November 14, 2007 ). The High School curriculum has much to offer and the HS Environmental Club is very active: this year it has developed initiatives for recycling, funded an Air Quality study (the school got a good report) and developed the first week-long Environmental Fair (See Photo Gallery pictures of the HS Environmental Fair). GDS Faculty are very much a part of these green initiatives and parents are included in the planning of many of these events.

For more information on LS, MS and HS green curriculum and activities, peruse the green-themed March 2008 Monthly Notes.

This page features a sampling of accomplishments by GDS students and faculty. Please e-mail webmaster@gds.org if you have something to add!

HS Green Week and Environmental Fair

The GDS Environmental Club hosted GDS's first ever "Green Week," raising awareness about environmental issues and the actions that we can take as individuals to lighten our footprint on the Earth. Each day presented a theme (waste, energy, global warming, etc.) and activities, movies, and challenges ran throughout the week. For more detail, see the Green Week Schedule of Events and Environmental Fair photos in the Photo Gallery.

MS Tire-Checking

Three MS Students recently put together an Assembly presentation about the importance of properly inflated tires for better fuel efficiency and a reduction in tires prematurely ending in landfills.  You can pick up a complimentary tire gauge at the Middle School! See here for more info on these special kids: (password protected):  http://www.gds.org/monthlynotes/0308/principals.cfm

Used Cell Phones and Batteries in LMS and HS

Through the efforts of our HS Environmental Club and GDS faculty, there are sites on both campuses for students to drop off used batteries and cell phones for proper disposal.  In addition, GDS is working with an organization that will pay for the used cell phones.

Recycling: LS, MS and HS

Students are very active in helping recycle trash. HS students working with GDS faculty helped establish recycling bins on both campuses. MS and HS students are actively helping to reduce and recycle and here at GDS, the faculty are very involved and active in helping these initiatives be successful. On the LS campus, 4th graders make weekly trips into classrooms to gather paper from the blue bins for collection by our cleaning crew. A voluntary corps of 21 fifth grade students, "the Green Team", under the guidance of their teachers, is responsible for the collection and consolidation of the metal, plastic, and glass. Classroom activists are popping up throughout the younger grades, such as rotating jobs for bottle-rinsers and paper collectors.

Composting

Through the Faculty Push and active student groups, composting bins are starting up on both campuses and monitored by HS and MS students and faculty.   Check here for more info: http://www.gds.org/monthlynotes/0308/principals.cfm

Trash Free Tuesdays

The Trash-Free Lunch concept is catching on. Many students are trying to pack lunches that creates no trash by avoiding the use of paper plates, excess packaging, or juice boxes, for example.

HS Green Projects

HS Community Service and internships offer many opportunities for students interested in green work.  As part of a three-day all-school community service work this year, a Green Team of 35 students under the guidance of teachers Louise, Nina, Thu, and Cori will create a garden and compost site at school and paint local storm drains in the neighborhood to ward off indiscriminate dumping.

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