Missouri Green Schools

Missouri Green Schools is a statewide recognition program that supports schools in taking a systems-based approach towards creating holistic, school-wide, and long-term sustainability.

Missouri Green Schools (MGS) is an ongoing program for PreK-12th grade schools in Missouri that supports growth through a continuous loop of tracking and advancing sustainability practices, ultimately cultivating a culture of sustainability at the school. Schools may enroll at any time and recognition is offered annually at four levels.

Schools with 60% or more of their students qualifying for free or reduced-priced lunch are eligible for additional support including access to one-on-one assistance in navigating the program, setting goals, tracking progress and accessing resources, as well as financial support for staff professional development and small grant opportunities. (Kansas City and Northwest Missouri excluded from extra support at this time.)

Participate

Schools can enroll at any time to begin their self-guided journey using MGS tools. To begin, a school representative simply fills out the Enrollment Form. MGS staff will then reach out to share next steps and provide login details for accessing the school’s Sustainability Tracking and Roadmap Tool (START) account which is provided free of charge and serves as the primary tool that MGS enrollees use to track their ongoing achievements.

Enroll Now

View a List of MGS Enrollees

Levels of Achievement

Participating schools are honored annually at emerging, progressing and advanced levels for their achievements across four levels of recognition. Criteria are rooted in best practices and scaffolded to support growth towards long-term, whole-school sustainability.

View Level Criteria and Benefits

Navigating the Program

Getting Started: Four Simple Steps to Sprout Recognition

After enrolling, complete these four items to achieve Level 1: Sprout recognition! This level honors commitment to taking the initial steps towards advancing green and healthy practices.

Submit a Letter of Commitment – A sample letter / template is viewable here (PDF). Click here to ‘Make a Copy’ of this letter which you can edit.
Do a Quick Assessment of your School’s Green Efforts – Use this baseline self-assessment to discuss your school’s present circumstances (click here to create an editable copy). A list of yes or no questions, this baseline document is a nice guide for beginning to note what your school has accomplished and to identify additional actions you’d like to take. It takes about 30 minutes to complete and can be completed individually or as a team if you already have allies identified.
Identify at Least 1 Goal – Perhaps you already have a goal in mind. If not, consider looking at the actions outlined in the next section – such as setting up a Green Team or beginning to benchmark energy usage – or consider items outlined in the baseline self-assessment. Tip: Creating an action plan is an important first step toward achieving your goal (click here to create an editable copy).
Set Up Your School’s START Profile – The primary tool that is used to navigate the MGS program is called the Sustainability Tracking and Roadmap Tool (START). START, which includes 53 Topics – each with 3 tiers of varying difficulty, has been developed by the Green Schools Alliance. Follow the instructions under ‘Set Up Your Account’ here.

Gaining Momentum: Steps for Achieving Seedling and Beyond

Congratulations! You have taken the first steps towards greening your school. Now it’s time to build your team and grow your practices. Levels 2 – 4 recognize schools that have established a Green Team and achieved varying degrees of START Topics and natural resource use benchmarking or reduction.

Establish a Green Team – The next step is to assemble a Green Team. An ideal team includes representation from a variety of roles and perspectives, such as teachers, facilities staff, administration, health and nutrition. It’s great to consider student, parent, and community representation as well. Having representation from a diverse group of stakeholders increases the possibilities for implementing sustainable, whole-school changes. If you do not yet have a team, or if you have a team but find that it would be valuable to expand your team further, this resource is one we’ve developed to help with green team recruitment. Once your team is established, we encourage you to revisit or retake the baseline self-assessment together. Doing so can generate lots of discussion and excitement!
Explore START and Begin Tracking Your Accomplishments – The Sustainability Tracking and Roadmap Tool (START) will be used to benchmark your progress and track your accomplishments throughout your green school journey. Begin by getting acquainted with START Topics and navigation (53 Topics are covered and divided into three categories: Educational Programs, Organizational Culture, and Physical Place.) Then, enter your school’s data and track your progress.
Set Up an Energy Star Portfolio Manager Account and Begin to Benchmark – Using Energy Star Portfolio Manager to track energy, water and waste is a best practice that is built into the recognition levels of Missouri Green Schools and will also help to answer some of the questions in START – so this will be a great place to direct efforts. This Energy Star Benchmarking How-To Guide can help you to get started. (Note that it is possible that your school already uses Energy Star Portfolio Manager. As outlined in the how-to guide, contacting your school/district’s Facilities and/or Finance Department is a great way to find out.)

Getting Recognized

Honorees are announced annually in October. If a school would like to be reviewed for recognition they must fill out the Review Request Form by June 30. School materials will be reviewed over the summer in preparation for the annual MGS Honoree announcement in the fall.

Complete the Review Request Form

Honorees

Congratulations to the 2022 Missouri Green Schools honorees!

View the list of 2021 MGS Honorees

Bermuda Primary

“We want to start our journey to become a Missouri Green School to get a better understanding of how the earth gives to us and how we can give back to it. Our hope is that the work we do to become a Missouri Green School grounds us in our connection to the world around us and to one another.”

– Samohya Stall, Principal, Bermuda Primary, Ferguson-Florissant School District, Ferguson, MO

Bridgeway Elementary

“This is an amazing opportunity that will give students real-world experiences and skills that they can use to improve the health of the planet, and it will also help students understand how we are all connected to one another and the earth. Additionally, projects they work on will help promote mindful thinking, and will allow them to become leaders of the school and their community.”

– Jeanne Fernandez, Reading Specialist, Bridgeway Elementary School, Pattonville School District, Pattonville, MO

Central Primary

“Our sustainability efforts here at Central Primary School in Ferguson have, using a PE analogy, increased from walking to a race walking pace. Our goal is to be running in a few years. Having a plan and setting green team goals has been key to this movement. The plan sets a movement which then builds. Also of high importance in greening our campus is the leadership provided by the Missouri Green Schools program and our school’s leadership support, Ms.Carnella Williams.”

– Ryan Young, PEH Educator, Central Primary,Ferguson-Florissant School District, Ferguson, MO

Chaminade

“At Chaminade, we believe that sustainability directly informs our school mission. We work to form young men to be conscientious and considerate, so for us sustainability reflects both a calling to be good stewards of the earth, and a calling to be good people who consider the needs and experiences of others. The work of sustainability allows Chaminade to educate students both in positive action and in the development of a student’s interior life. We hope our students learn to see how their thoughts and actions affect others, and affect the world they share with others.”

– Mark Laury, Instructor, Chaminade College Preparatory, Independent, St. Louis, MO

Crestwood Elementary

“Crestwood (Elementary) is an extension of the community so we hope to create a culture of sustainability that transcends beyond our campus to the homes of our families. By setting an example of environmental leadership, we also want to inspire a chain reaction for our sister schools throughout the district to create their own positive changes. A healthy environment and healthier students go hand in hand.”

– Crestwood Elementary, Lindbergh School District, St. Louis, MO

Flance ELC

“Flance is committed to introducing environmental consciousness at a young age to teach our children, families and staff about making sustainable life choices for a healthy future, along with showing them why it’s important to take care of our planet.”

– Isheeta Khurana, Sustainability Specialist, Flance Early Learning Center, Independent, St. Louis, MO

Forsyth School

“Establishing a Forsyth School Green Team, including members from various areas of our community, and having a designated sustainability class, built on existing curricular objectives, created momentum around Missouri Green School goals. Initiatives like a family plastic bag collection and our school-wide composting efforts raised awareness about waste reduction, which ultimately helped people see that we can have a positive impact on the Earth and its life.”

– Susan Zareh, Grade 6 Math Teacher and Sustainability Specialist, and Christine Torlina, Early Childhood Science Specialist, Forsyth School, Independent. St. Louis, MO

Herculaneum High

“Herculaneum High School is committed to this journey not only to help protect the environment, but also to promote critical and creative thinking skills in our students and empower them to be more engaged and become leaders in advancing sustainability in our school and their community”

– Erin Graves, Teacher, Herculaneum High School, Dunklin R5 School District, Herculaneum, MO

Hixson Middle

“At Hixson Middle School, we conducted a study to identify areas that needed improvement from an environmental /sustainable point of view. As a class, we selected one of the ideas that was identified (classroom recycling), and created a plan to start addressing the problem. With student ownership/buy-in and the support of the adults in the building, the students put into action a plan that is theirs and is making a positive difference.”

– Eric Hayes, Teacher, Hixson Middle School, Webster Groves School District, Webster Groves, MO

Holland Elementary

“Green Club gives the students a chance to really understand nature and want to be a part of it. The students become aware of their own wonderful talents and gifts as we give them the opportunities such as bee-keeping, gardening, recycling, photography, painting, building, and community service. We have the opportunity to ignite the spark from within and watch it grow!”

– Michelle Peak, Green Club Coordinator, Holland Elementary, Springfield Public School District, Springfield, MO

Marvin Elementary

“We are so excited to be chosen as a 2022 Missouri Green School Honoree. At Marvin Elementary, we are committed to promoting environmental sustainability and ensuring a healthy learning environment for all of our students, staff and families. We’ve had a history of working on projects that positively impact the environment and the overall wellness of our school community. We want to continue this legacy and show our current students how the choices they make today will impact future generations.”

– Dr. Craig Thurman, Principal, Marvin Elementary, Ritenour School District, St. Louis, MO

Patrick Henry

“During the 2021-2022 school year, Patrick Henry was able to take our sustainability efforts to the next level by leveraging our partnerships with Seed St. Louis, Southwest Food Services, The University of Missouri Extension Program, BJC, Healthy Schools Healthy Communities, Spire, Ameren, and countless individual donors and volunteers. Each of our partnerships make it possible for us to expand our garden program, create healthy food opportunities for our students, provide food alternatives for incentives, and create more movement opportunities in our students’ school day. We are so lucky to have these partnerships, which make it possible for us to become more sustainable one project at a time!”

– Deborah Rogers, Ed.D., Principal, Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, St. Louis Public Schools, St. Louis, MO

Principia School

“Documenting our progress towards becoming a more sustainable school has helped us to celebrate our wins as well as be more intentional about next steps that strengthen our sustainable footprint.”

– Lynne Scott, Science Teacher and Sustainability Coordinator, Principia School, Independent, St. Louis, MO

St. Francis of Assisi School

“The SFA students are always the motivation to get our sustainability efforts going. My work is to channel their enthusiasm into a project or task. I look forward to this coming year.”

– Mike Herries, STREAM Coordinator, St. Francis of Assisi School, Independent, St. Louis, MO

MGS Tools & Resources

A handful of key resources for Missouri Green Schools are highlighted here. Visit our Resources page to access the full library of resources that support the entire suite of Show-Me Green Schools programs.

Show-Me Green Schools Partner Network

The Partner Network consists of nonprofit and for-profit organizations and programs that can help a school advance in one or more of the green schools pillars. A searchable database of partners and their services is coming soon! If you have resources to share, take our partner survey and become part of the Network.

Sustainability Tracking and Roadmap Tool

START is the primary tool that MGS enrollees use to track and document their achievements. The tool, which has been developed by the Green Schools Alliance, includes 53 metrics, each with 3 tiers of varying difficulty. Click here to learn more about START. Access the START Tracking Tool Step-by-Step Guide here. Contact MGS staff with questions about accessing your START account.

Green Team Recruitment

An ideal team includes representation from a variety of roles and perspectives, such as teachers, facilities, administration, and health. Having representation from a diverse group of stakeholders increases the possibilities for implementing sustainable, whole-school changes. If you do not yet have a team, or if you have a team but find that it would be valuable to expand your team further, this resource is one we’ve developed to help with green team recruitment.

Baseline Self-Assessment

Use this baseline self-assessment to discuss your school’s present circumstances (click here to create an editable copy). A list of yes or no questions, this document is a nice guide for beginning to note what your school has accomplished and identify additional actions you’d like to take. It takes about 30 minutes to complete and can be completed individually or as a team if you already have allies identified.

Letter of Commitment

A Letter of Commitment signed by school administration is required in order to recieve recognition. A sample letter is viewable here (PDF). Click here to ‘Make a Copy’ of this letter which you may edit.

Energy Star Portfolio Manager

Using Energy Star Portfolio Manager to track energy, water and waste is a best practice that is built into the recognition levels of MGS and will also help to answer some of the questions in START – so this will be a great place to direct efforts. This Energy Star Benchmarking How-To Guide can help you to get started.