Missouri Green Schools

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
Levels of Achievement

Getting Started: Four Simple Steps to Sprout Recognition
- 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
- 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
Congratulations to the 2022 Missouri Green Schools honorees!
Sprout
Bermuda Primary
Bridgeway Elementary
Brittany Woods Middle
Central Primary
City Garden Montessori EAEC
Crestwood Elementary
Hixson Middle School
Holland Elementary
Marvin Elementary
Patrick Henry Downtown Academy
Seedling
Chaminade
Flance Early Childhood Center
Forsyth School
Herculaneum High
Principia School
St. Francis of Assisi School
Sapling
MGS Tools & Resources
Show-Me Green Schools Partner Network
Sustainability Tracking and Roadmap Tool
Green Team Recruitment
Baseline Self-Assessment
Letter of Commitment
Energy Star Portfolio Manager