2nd Annual Green Ribbon School awards announced

Sixty-four schools have been named Green Ribbon Schools for 2013 in recognition of their efforts to have their campuses act in environmentally responsible ways.

The program, now in its second year, honors schools for their accomplishments in reducing environmental impacts and utility costs, promoting better health, and ensuring effective environmental education.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the Green Ribbon recipients “are demonstrating ways schools can simultaneously cut costs; improve health, performance and equity; and provide an education geared toward the jobs of the future.”

In addition to the individual schools, the Green Ribbon program also has bestowed District Sustainability Awards on 14 school systems that have carried out districtwide green strategies.

The Education Department notes that the education institutions honored “have been tremendously resourceful in partnering with nearby businesses, parks, colleges, farms, museums, nature centers, sporting facilities, religious institutions, townships, and countless other entities.”

he Green Ribbon recipients were selected from schools nominated by 32 state education agencies. Fifty-four of the winners are public schools, and 10 are private schools. They represent 29 states and Washington, D.C. Among the public schools are seven charter, five magnet and four career and technical schools.

The accomplishments of the schools and districts “prove that any school or district can take simple steps to cut costs and improve the health, safety, and educational adequacy of school facilities,” the Education Department says.

The 2013 Green Ribbon Schools and Districts:

Alabama: Harriette W. Gwin Elementary School, Hoover; Munford Middle School and Munford High School, Munford; Fayetteville High School, Sylacauga; Talladega County District.
Arkansas: Fayetteville District.
California: Charles Evans Hughes Middle School, Long Beach; Journey School, Aliso Viejo; Redding School of the Arts II, Redding; Prospect Sierra School, El Cerrito; Oak Park Unified School District.
Colorado: Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School, Fort Collins; Douglas County School District.
Connecticut: Barnard Environmental Studies Magnet School, New Haven; Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker, Hartford; Common Ground High School, New Haven.
Delaware: St. Andrew's School, Middletown.
District of Columbia: Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School; Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School; Woodrow Wilson High School.
Florida: Driftwood Middle School, Hollywood; St. Paul Lutheran School, Lakeland; School District of Palm Beach County.
Georgia: Ford Elementary School, Acworth; Gwinnett County Public Schools.
Indiana: Guion Creek Middle School, Indianapolis.
Iowa: Starmont Community School, Arlington; Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Kansas: Bluejacket-Flint Elementary School, Shawnee.
Kentucky: Cane Run Elementary School, Louisville; Northern Elementary School, Georgetown; Locust Trace AgriScience Farm, Lexington.
Maryland: Cedar Grove Elementary School, Germantown; Summit Hall Elementary School, Gaithersburg; Montgomery County Public Schools.
Massachusetts: Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School, Manchester-by-the-Sea; Quincy High School, Quincy; Berkshire School Sheffield; Acton Public Schools; Acton-Boxborough Regional School District.
Minnesota: Jeffers Pond Elementary School, Prior Lake; Heritage E-STEM Middle School, West St. Paul; School of Environmental Studies, Apple Valley; Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools.
Mississippi: Watkins Elementary School, Jackson.
Nebraska: King Science and Technology Magnet Center, Omaha.
New Hampshire: Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter.
New Jersey: Bedwell Elementary School, Bernardsville; Summerfield Elementary School, Neptune.
New York: Crompond School, Yorktown Heights; PS 057 Hubert H. Humphrey, Staten Island; Rye Country Day School, Rye.
Ohio: Kenston High School, Chagrin Falls.
Pennsylvania: Albert M. Greenfield Elementary School, Philadelphia; Broughal Community Middle School, Bethlehem; Nazareth Area Middle School; Nazareth; Westtown School, West Chester; Lower Merion School District.
Rhode Island: The Compass School, Kingston; Providence Career and Technical Academy, Providence.
Tennessee: Ivy Academy, Soddy-Daisy; Lipscomb Academy Elementary School, Nashville.
Vermont: Reading Elementary School, Reading; St. Albans City School, St. Albans; Shelburne Community School, Shelburne.
Virginia: Stony Point Elementary School, Keswick; Magna Vista High School, Ridgeway.
Washington: Glacier Park Elementary School, Maple Valley; Sacajawea Elementary School, Vancouver; Tahoma Senior High School, Covington; The Evergreen School, Shoreline; Kent School District.
West Virginia: Hometown Elementary School, Red House; Petersburg Elementary School, Petersburg; Marshall County Schools.
Wisconsin: Summit Environmental School, La Crosse; Westlawn Elementary School, Cedarburg; Jefferson Elementary-Fox River Academy, Appleton; Racine Montessori School, Racine; School District of Fort Atkinson.