SALISBURY — The U.S. Department of Education announced on Friday that Salisbury Academy is among the 2024 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award honorees. At the state level, Salisbury Academy was nominated by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction for that distinction. 

“Connecting students with nature and empowering them to discover their own potential for positive environmental impact and change is a cornerstone of our culture at Salisbury Academy,” said Beverly Fowler, head of school.

This empowerment, she said, happens through environmental curriculum across all grade levels; time outdoors in harmony with nature; a strong partnership with Catawba College and their Environment and Sustainability department; sustainability-focused field experiences, labs, lessons, and guest speakers; environmental stewardship; and an ongoing objective to reduce the school’s footprint. 

The Green Ribbon program organizes nominee applications into three pillars: environmental impact, health and wellness, and environmental education.

Highlights from each pillar at Salisbury Academy include:

• Pillar 1 — Reducing their environmental impact, Salisbury Academy has reduced greenhouse emissions and offset carbon through a major LED lighting upgrade, conserved water and measurably reduced single-use plastics, strategically reduced waste through a student-led systems thinking initiative, and encouraged green transportation and a love of biking through a bike-friendly campus and community events.
• Pillar 2 — Environmental health at Salisbury Academy is supported through the careful and sustainable stewardship of school facilities and the intentional incorporation of outdoor time into students’ daily routines. Students are physically active and encouraged to make healthy food choices, as demonstrated by the food grown in the school garden. Additionally, students and staff are supported in their mental well-being through special programming, school counselors, and extensive wellness programming across grade levels. 
• Pillar 3 — Salisbury Academy curriculum is designed to connect learning across content areas and to the real world, and this is particularly true in the school’s environmental curriculum. Students don’t just learn facts, but use those facts to have an impact. For example, in the Upper School, sophomores utilize the learning from their environmental science and civics classes alongside the skills developed in their English rhetoric course to create a community engagement campaign to reduce solid municipal waste. In younger grades, students build their passion for environmentalism by blending art, science, language arts, and social studies with outdoor learning. Salisbury Academy’s 3K program is built around outdoor learning with class themes following the seasons of the year.

“As students progress through their learning journeys with us, they ultimately take ownership of all three Green Ribbon pillars and leave Salisbury Academy trained and outfitted for a sustainable future,” said Lizzy Roy, director of marketing and communications. “We’re grooming the next generation of environmental stewards.”

Across the country, 41 schools, 10 districts, three postsecondary institutions, and one early learning center are being honored for their innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education. The honorees were named from a pool of candidates nominated by 24 states. 

Representatives from Salisbury Academy will travel to Washington, D.C. this summer for a celebration ceremony of this year’s Green Ribbon award honorees.

“We are deeply honored by this distinction,” Fowler said. “This recognition reflects years of passionate dedication by our Salisbury Academy team, and we’re energized about the limitless possibilities ahead on our sustainability journey.”