ED Officials Continue Best Practices Facilities Tour in Wisconsin
The ‘Education Built to Last’ Facilities Best Practices Tour continued last week in Wisconsin. As with the tours in Alabama, New England, and the New York and New Jersey, the visits included tours of school buildings and grounds, conversations with students and teachers regarding environmental education, health and sustainability, and discussions with key partners and energy management personnel. Read more about Wisconsin, New Jersey and New York, New England and Alabama tour legs on our blog. Also view press clips from Alabama, New England, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

Students at Purdy Elementary, in Fort Atkinson School District, WI release the ducklings hatched in the school courtyard at their constructed boardwalk and wetland.
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Next Up: West Coast and Washington, DC
In September, the EB2L Facilities Best Practices Tour continues on the West Coast and right in Washington, DC. All are welcome to come learn at school visits and Best Practices Listening Sessions on each tour leg. Tour participants have included federal, state and local elected and agency officials, mayors, governors, members of state and national congress, non-profits, architects, builders, food service and maintenance representatives.
The
West Coast Tour Leg Agenda
CALIFORNIA Monday,
September 16 10:30
a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Tour of Journey School, 27102 Foxborough, Aliso Viejo 2:00
p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Tour of Environmental Charter High School, 16315 Grevillea
Ave, Lawndale 3:30
p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Tour of Grand View Elementary School, 455 24th Street,
Manhattan Beach Tuesday,
September 17 9:00
a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Tour of Longfellow Elementary School, 3800 Olive Ave, Long
Beach 10:00
a.m. – 10:50 a.m. Tour of Charles Evans Hughes Middle School, 3846 California
Ave, Long Beach 11:00
a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Listening Session
OREGON Wednesday,
September 18 9:00
a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Tour of Willamina Elementary, 1100 NE Oaken Hills Dr,
Willamina 11:45
a.m. –1:00 p.m. Tour of Catlin Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes Rd, Portland 1:45
p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Tour of Sunnyside Environmental, 3421 SE Salmon St., Portland 3:30
p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Tour of Gladstone High School, 18800 Portland Ave., Gladstone 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Reception
WASHINGTON Thursday,
September 19 8:30
a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Tour of Sacajawea Elementary, 700 NE 112th St, Vancouver 12:30
p.m. – 1:30, p.m. Tour of Camelot Elementary, 4041 South 298th Street, Auburn 2:00
p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Tour Millennium Elementary School, 11919 SE 270th Street, Kent 4:00
p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Listening Session Panel and Reception, McKinstry, 5005 3rd
Avenue South, Seattle Friday,
September 20 8:45
a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Tour of Secondary Academy for Success, 22107 23rd Drive
Southeast, Bothell 11:00
a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Tour of Tahoma High School 18200 Southeast 240th Street,
Covington 1:00
p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Tour of Tahoma Junior High 25600 Southeast Summit Landsburg
Road, Ravensdale 2:30
p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Tour of Glacier Park Elementary, 23700 Southeast 280th Street,
Maple Valley
The Washington, D.C. Tour Leg Agenda
Wednesday, September 25th 11:30 a.m.
– 12:30 p.m. Tour of Washington Yu
Ying Public Charter School, 220 Taylor St, NE 1:30 p.m.
– 2:00 p.m. Tour of Woodrow Wilson High School, 3950 Chesapeake Street,
NW 2:00
p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Facilities Best
Practices Listening Session 3:45 p.m. –
4:45 p.m. Tour of Sidwell Friends School, 3825 Wisconsin Ave, NW (By
pre-registration only) Learn more about all of our tour sites in our Highlights
of the Honorees 2012 and 2013 Reports. Remember to connect with EDGreenRibbonSchools on Facebook and @EDGreen Ribbon on Twitter to follow the
tour!
Tis the Season to Hit the Road: The EB2L Facilities Best Practices Tour is in Good Company!
Secretary Duncan and senior
Department officials will visit four states and dozens of cities across the
American Southwest as part of the Department’s four annual Back to School bus
tour. This year’s theme is “Strong
Start, Bright Future.” Various events
will highlight education successes and engage communities in conversations
about early learning, K-12 reforms, and college affordability and completion.>>>
Last week, as part of a broader initiative to secure a better bargain for middle class families, President Obama visited four cities
on a college affordability bus tour across New York and Pennsylvania. Starting at the University at Buffalo, the
President laid out three steps to ensure that
college remains within reach for all young people: (1) pay colleges and
students for performance, (2) promote innovation that cuts costs and improves
quality, and (3) help students manage loan debt. >>>
Other News, Events and
Opportunities
With the March on Washington in the news, it's
worth recalling that the National Monuments were, 50 years ago, and continue to
be today, National Park sites. As National
Park Service Director Jon Jarvis noted in his remarks on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, in photos at that location from 50 years ago,
you can see two National Park Rangers next to Martin Luther King, Jr. With help from the National Park Foundation users
can record their own versions of the "I Have a Dream" speech and
listen to others.>>>
Find more National Park
Service and other Department of the Interior resources and webinars on Green Strides!
The Green Apple Day of Service, which will take place on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013,
gives parents, teachers, students, companies and local organizations the opportunity
to transform all schools into healthy, safe and productive learning
environments through local service projects. On last year’s Day of Service, more than 1,200
events and school improvement projects took place, crossing all 50 states, on
every continent, and in more than 40 countries. Check out project ideas, read last year's highlights and register your 2013 project today!
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With
back-to-school in full swing, each school day, 55 million children and 7
million adults -- 20 percent of the total U.S. population and 98 percent of all
children -- will spend their days inside school buildings. Despite our best
efforts, we know that schools -- the very buildings they step into every day --
are working against them. Many of our
kids are returning to unhealthy school environments. >>>
ED’s Green
Strides Webinar Series continues with
the tools to reduce schools’ environmental impact and costs; improve
health and wellness; and teach effective environmental education. Find more sessions for educators, facilities
managers, and advocates weekly. A few
upcoming session include:
Sept.
4, 2013, 4-5 p.m. Food
Day in Schools: How to Get Involved (CSPI)
Sep.
11, 2013 2-3 p.m. Green
Purchasing for Schools (GSI)
Sept. 24, 2013 4:30-5:30 p.m. Hands on the Land (multi-agency)
Sept. 25, 2013, 3-4 p.m. Cleaning and
Maintenance for Healthier Schools (EPA)
Sept. 26, 2013, 2-3 p.m. Recycle-Bowl
Competition and Educational Resources (KAB)
And many more sessions listed here. Also find
resources on the Green Strides Resources Page!
The second Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge competition will provide $280
million in state-level competitive grants to improve the quality of early
learning and development programs and close educational gaps for children with
high needs. Invitations for both a
technical assistance webinar on September 4 and a technical assistance planning
workshop on September 10 have been made available through state governors’
offices. Applications are due on October
16, and the agencies will announce winners in December.>>>
When
ED announced the recent round of the Race to the Top District competition, it invited applicants
to demonstrate how they can personalize education for all students in their
schools. Through the grant, districts will provide teachers the information,
tools, and supports needed to personalize the learning experience and
substantially accelerate and deepen each student’s learning. It will also
create opportunities for students to identify and pursue areas of personal
academic interest. For more information, check out the Race to the Top
District website.
State
education agencies are encouraged to indicate intent to nominate schools in
2014 by September 1, 2013 by emailing green.ribbon.schools@ed.gov. States
pictured in green have indicated their intent to nominate in 2014. Public
and private K-12 schools and public school districts must be nominated by state
departments of education. Applications
for states’ nominations are devised and disseminated by participating
states. Schools and districts cannot apply directly to the U.S.
Department of Education. State education
agencies' participation is voluntary. You
may locate contact information for state education agency selection committee
contacts, who nominate schools to the U.S. Department of Education here. If a contact is not listed on the
ED-GRS site, you may locate the main number to a state department of education here. School
nominations from state education
agencies are due to ED-GRS by February 1, 2014.
State education agencies can obtain more information by emailing green.ribbon.schools@ed.gov.
School
districts nationwide are showing improvements in measures related to
nutritional policies, physical education and tobacco policies, according to the
2012 School Health Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS). SHPPS is the largest and most comprehensive
survey to assess school health policies.
"Schools play a critical role in the health and well-being of our
youth," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. >>>
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For
the seventh year, Sierra Club published its list of greenest universities. Check out some of the nation’s ‘coolest
schools.’>>>
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