Compass School Wins Green Ribbon

The Compass School in Kingston has been named a 2013 Green Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education for its environmental efforts.

The following is the write-up from the Department of Education on the Compass School’s efforts:

Year-round sustainability punctuated by spring ecofair and fall local foods fest

The Compass campus comprises 20 acres of historic farmland, with 5 acres of wooded wetlands, a stream, vernal pools, and a variety of local plants and animals.  The entire property is used extensively as an outdoor classroom and as an area to take walks and enjoy nature.  Students engage in nature journaling and study vernal pools, tree growth, soils, stream habitats, and how farms produce food.  Seventh and eighth grade students go on an annual camping trip to a location where they can study the local environment.  As a community, Compass recognizes that having frequent opportunities to bond with the natural world nurtures children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional health and development

Students in grades K-8 are taught through a project based approach, researching various topics and presenting their learning to others at project shares, or conducting stewardship projects.  Classroom studies involve such topics as a study of waste, energy sources, robotics, solar car construction, biomimicry, aquaponics and aquaculture.  The school participates in the USFS/ Smithsonian Institution Global Tree Banding Project and is a NASA/ NOAA/ NSF GLOBE school.  In 2012 Compass students scored in the top two percent of Rhode Island students in science classes.  Annually, the school holds an EcoFair for the surrounding communities.  The day features student presentations on environmental projects and vendors sharing information on environmental issues.

The Compass School building is a model of sustainable design.  The main building has extensive windows in every room providing natural light.  An extensive array of solar panels on the roof provides a partial source of electricity for the building and a computer program allows students to monitor output.  Updating computers, use of CFL light bulbs, adjustable thermostats in every room, attention to heat loss, and use of windows in warm weather allowed Compass to reduce energy consumption by 30 percent in two years.

Sustainability practices include packing no-waste lunches, regular silverware, and reusable water bottles.  Documents are printed on both sides of paper and scrap paper is used for math and art, and shredded for use as bedding in worm compost bins and the chicken coop.  Students constructed a bin for Compass families to use for recycling supermarket plastic bags, and another bin is used to collect and send recyclable materials to Terracycle.  In art and music students make instruments and sculptures from natural and recycled materials.  According to parents, this concern for good sustainability practices has carried over into home practices.

The school participates in Fuel Up to Play 60 and the USDA HealthierUS Schools Challenge and hosts a "Celebration of Local Foods" fundraiser event every fall, involving 14 local farmers, restaurants, and wineries that use local foods.  The physical education program meets outside all year and includes winter activities such as sledding.

All students tend the school garden, to learn about sustainable agriculture and to connect to the community and natural world.  As part of the gardening program, Compass produces and maintains its own compost under the supervision of a teacher who has been trained as a Master Composter.  Much of the produce is donated to a local food bank.

Older students from Compass perform volunteer work after school and during the summer for Rhody Native.  Students participate in planting, weeding, and invasive species removal.  The school’s proximity to Narragansett Bay also enables Compass students and faculty to work with Save the Bay on projects such as salt marsh restoration and eelgrass restoration, and with the Audubon Society of Rhode Island on beach cleanups.