San Rafael City Schools Receives California Green Ribbon Schools Award

By Ben Bronstein

Each year, the California Department of Education presents Green Ribbon Schools awards to schools and districts that demonstrate a commitment to whole school sustainability. The Green Ribbon Schools framework is built around three pillars of sustainability goals: to reduce environmental impact and costs; to improve the health and wellness of schools, students and staff; and to provide effective environmental education. 
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On Earth Day this year, the State Superintendent announced that San Rafael City Schools’ (SRCS) High School District, along with one other district and 21 schools, received the California Green Ribbon Schools award. 

California Green Ribbon Schools award plaque

Completing and submitting the Green Ribbon Schools application was a major project of my Climate Corps fellowship and a long-term goal of the district. The application had been in progress for a few years, so I inherited a strong draft that former Fellows put together. From there, I spent much of the fall compiling missing data and information, revising responses, and updating the application to reflect SRCS’ most recent sustainability initiatives and projects.

Over the past several years, SRCS has made considerable progress in sustainability that helped the district land a Green Ribbon Schools award. In the past year, the Capital Facilities program has installed 118 electric vehicle charging ports (32 ports at the High School District), began construction on a new STEAM building, and helped launch the Resilient Schools Collaborative to create a clearer path to resilience for local school districts. 

Rendering of San Rafael High School’s future STEAM Building which will be Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) certified
Image from HY Architects

SRCS has also grown as a sustainability leader through its partnership with SEI, which was born out of the Marin School of Environmental Leadership (MarinSEL), one of SEI’s flagship programs which operates out of Terra Linda High School. MarinSEL has played a significant role in the district’s achievement of goals outlined in Green Ribbon Schools’ Pillar III, centered around providing students with effective environmental education. MarinSEL students take part in hands-on projects that help foster a more sustainable campus and community. 

Students in the MarinSEL garden at Terra Linda High School

With a commitment to sustainability from the district and support from Climate Corps Fellows, SRCS continues to pursue and achieve the goals set by Green Ribbon Schools’ pillars. Beyond my fellowship and in years to come, it will be exciting to see how SRCS continues to build more sustainable campuses and expand hands-on environmental learning.