Spring Ridge Middle School
MAEOE Green School Application 2015
Brief Summary:
At Spring Ridge, our dedicated educators and caring, active students have come
together to create a thriving and energetic Green culture. Students from all grades and
programs at our school come together for environmental initiatives on school grounds and in the
community.
Our school is in the midst of a major renovation process, which began in the summer of
2014 and is still underway. As a result of the renovations, many of our plans for the school yard
have to be postponed. Additionally, our courtyard will be renovated, and we are working to find
new homes for our plants. Though the renovation has posed many challenges to the
environmental education structures, it also provides an opportunity to install more
environmentally friendly infrastructure in the building, as well as improved environmental
education structures. We look forward to being able to use the new environmentally-friendly
infrastructure, including more energy-efficient lighting, as a learning tool for students. While the
renovations are occurring, however, we have to work around a changing school yard and limited
access to structures for environmental education.
Over the past four years, we have continued many major projects that were started
before our last Green School certification. Our courtyard, with the native plant section and the
pond habitat, has been carefully tended each year, and students have added native plants. Our
on-site nature trail, available to all educators and students, has been a valuable learning tool,
and our STEM 7 class has worked to keep the trail clean and safe, as well as to expand the trail
where possible. As our school continues to change, these important learning structures remain
at the forefront of educator and student concern.
We have worked together as a school and community to begin new environmental
initiatives as well. St. Mary’s County Public Schools has placed emphasis on energy
conservation; Spring Ridge has jumped on board with this initiative, details are included in the
energy conservation section of the application. Our local partnerships, particularly with the
nearby Elms Environmental Education Center and Patuxent River Naval Air Station, have
continued to be mutually beneficial. Our students relish their time spent learning outside the
classroom, and conduct service projects to reciprocate, helping our partners in return.
We have worked on building up the resources available to educators and students, and
have developed a “Green” section in our professional library, including DVDs, books, and
teacher resources. Staff have utilized this new resource for advisory lessons on environmental
topics, and many have expressed an interest in expanding this section even further. Students
from all grades are experiencing real-world instruction in environmental issues and topics
beyond the science classroom, providing a holistic education experience.
Our vibrant Green culture focuses on cooperation and inclusion; students of all grades
and the special programs housed at our school contribute in communal and individual ways to
our Green effort. Further details about these communal and individual efforts can be found in
our application, and we thank you in advance for your consideration. Being a Maryland Green
School is an accomplishment of which we as a school are proud and we have worked hard to
compile this application to demonstrate our continued and expanded efforts.
Top 5
1. Upkeep and expansion of our Nature Trail, as well as student-led professional
development about learning opportunities using the trail.
2. Upkeep and expansions of our native plant garden, as well as the planned work
day to re-home our plants to protect them during renovations.
3. Implementation of school-wide sustainable practices, especially reusable hallway
passes and reusable Harrier Coins, replacing wasteful paper systems.
4. Involvement of all 7th grade students in an environmental conservation service
project during local field trips.
5. Specific use of recycled, reused, and repurposed materials for science and other
projects, along with discussions in those science classes about the benefit and
impact of reusing, repurposing, and recycling.