Green Schools

Accomplishments

• View our 2019 District accomplishments (PDF).
• All schools compost and recycle. All elementary and middle schools use durable trays.
• Several elementary schools participate in a food donation program with Hopelink.
• Eighty-six percent of Bellevue schools have a recycling rate of 50% or higher. Twelve schools have a recycling rate over 70%.
• The national average for lunch waste per school is 67 pounds of garbage per year. Bellevue School District’s annual average is 7.5 pounds per year.  This is less than 12% of the national average

Green Genius Program – In Action Since 2012

Given the current COVID situation we are taking a break and will return in the Fall of 2021 with a renewed enthusiasm for “Green Genius”.

Resources to Assist Schools

• Classroom Workshops, Curriculum, and Theatrical Assemblies: The City of Bellevue offers a wide range of in-person and virtual classroom workshops and curriculum on resource conservation for students.
• Supplies: The City of Bellevue and Bellevue School District provide recycling and composting containers and signs to all schools, as well as posters about waste reduction, recycling and composting.

Bellevue School District follows the Washington State Sustainable Schools Protocol as a guide to building healthy, sustainable schools. Each new school that is built incorporates more features that encourage efficiency and provide a productive learning environment for our students.

Downloads

• Green Genius Program Fact Sheet (PDF)
• Puesta del Sol Garden Handbook – Example (PDF)
• Garden Handbook (PDF)
• Conservation Checklist for School Breaks (PDF)

School Gardens

The District not only supports but encourages the use of school property as outdoor learning environments.  School gardens are one way to use this space.  The following are things you must know before getting started:

Download Garden Handbook (PDF)

Gardens are voluntary and not District maintained areas.  It is up to the school staff and community volunteers to develop plans to sustain it throughout its use.

There are many types of gardens, all with benefits for outdoor learning; solar, earth, water conservation, wildlife, food and/or beautification.  Garden committee/teams should be engaged in all phases of garden design, implementation and maintenance.  Plans should be easy to implement and sustainable.  Gardens are not a single year commitment!

A team of adult individuals must be established with at least one school administrator as part of that team.  The school administrator is the volunteer’s contact, liaison and advocate for all requests and purchases (using District funding.)

Facilities must approve a suitable site for the garden/outdoor learning environment.

• Bullying Prevention & Social Skills
• College Preparedness
• K-12 Computer Science
• Green Schools
• Growth & Planning
• High School Start Time
• Parent Satisfaction
• Social & Emotional Learning