Skip to main content

Apply to be a Green Ribbon School or District – Deadline Extended!



State Superintendent Chris Reykdal

Apply to be a Green Ribbon School or District


The U.S. Department of Education's (ED) Green Ribbon Schools Program is a comprehensive program that recognizes schools and districts that have made significant achievements towards:
  • Reducing the school/district's environmental footprint
  • Creating a healthy community for students and staff
  • Increasing environmental and sustainability literacy
Schools and districts will be evaluated based on their progress towards these concepts and a wide variety of green benchmarks including energy conservation and efficiency, food that is locally sourced and sustainable, and curriculum that ensures all students are environmentally and sustainability literate.


Eligibility, Application, and Nomination

Schools and districts that wish to be considered must complete the Washington State Green Ribbon Schools or District application.  All public and private schools and public school districts are eligible to apply. The Washington State Green Ribbon application is now available.
OSPI is pleased to announce the deadline to apply for the Washington/US Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools program has been extended to January 10, 2020.  


New! Webinar to Support School and District Applications

Please join OSPI Environmental and Sustainability Education Program Supervisor, Elizabeth Schmitz, and Oak Harbor Teacher on Special Assignment, Jodi Crimmins, for a webinar offering support for schools and districts filling out the application for the Green Ribbon Schools Program. No registration is required. 
Click the link below or call in option using the following information:
Zoom Meeting:
htts://zoom.us/j/833191272 
Dial by your location:
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 833191272
The webinar will be recorded and placed on the OSPI website for those who are not able to attend. 


For more information

Please visit the Washington Green Ribbon Schools page.
If you have any questions regarding the Washington Green Ribbon Schools program, please contact Elizabeth Schmitz at Elizabeth.Schmitz@k12.wa.us or 360-725-4976.  The agency TTY number is 360-664-3631.

Education for Environment and Sustainability supports academic success and life-long learning, and develops a responsible citizenry capable of applying knowledge of ecological, economic, and socio-cultural systems to meet current and future needs.
Environmental education is a mandatory area of study in Washington: K-12 Integrated Environment and Sustainability Learning Standards

This email was sent to bmacnevin@nwesd.org using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction · 600 Washington St. S.E. · Olympia, WA 98504 GovDelivery logo

Popular posts from this blog

OSPI Bulletin 065-23: Learning Standards Review Update

Summary:  This bulletin provides an update to the information about the learning standards review project addressed by Superintendent Reykdal’s letter to district superintendents dated February 14, 2023. It includes current information about the reviews of the Washington state learning standards for English/Language Arts, mathematics, and science. It also includes a timeline for the review process. Key Audiences:  Educational Service District Superintendents, School District Superintendents, School District Business Managers, School District Curriculum Directors OSPI's Bulletin re: Math, ELA, Science: [ PDF ] Science Updates: [ PDF ]

[STATE-LEVEL] ASSESSMENT SHOULD NOT DRIVE INSTRUCTION

Regional Science Coordinators are developing an online orientation class for the new Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS). We have involved OSPI’s Science Assessment lead, Dawn Cope and OSPI’s Director of K-12 Science, Ellen Ebert, in the process as well as Lois Sherwood from WSTA. In our first planning meeting, I wanted to hear the most important message from each person at the [virtual] table. Dawn Cope of the assessment department was the first to speak up and quite pointedly said, “assessment does not drive instruction.” That pretty much spoke for the rest of us. What does that mean for teachers in Washington State where we’ve spend the last 13 years writing “powerful classroom assessments” that mirrored the content and format of the WASL and the MSP? Assessment systems serve specific purposes . They are developed to provide specific kinds of data for those purposes. And an assessment developed at the state level to inform state-wide decisions does not l...

Three-Dimensional Nature of the new Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS)

The new science assessment does NOT privilege content above practice or crosscutting concepts. We have heard from two different parts of the region that someone who self-identifies as an NGSS-assessment-item-writer has returned to their district and erroneously reported to supervisors and colleagues that the new NGSS-aligned assessment’s (WCAS) items focus solely on one of the three dimension of NGSS (namely, the Disciplinary Core Ideas, most closely related to our previous notions of “content”). This is idea represents a serious misunderstanding that could derail a district’s transition efforts around NGSS. Not being an item-writer myself, I reached out to OSPI. Dawn Cope of OSPI’s Science Assessment Team responded with wonder that anyone could come away from item writing with that idea and, explained that all the training materials and the process used reflect the 3-dimensional nature of the NGSS. She shared all the training items for me to examine so I could try and see wher...