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Our Board is proud to have 45 certified Ontario EcoSchools. This provincial certification allows our schools to be recognized and celebrated by their local community for achievement in environmental education and action. The EcoSchools initiative uses an innovative teaching model that helps students develop ecological literacy, while engaging in practices to become environmentally responsible citizens.
What is Ontario EcoSchools?
Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education and certification program for Kindergarten to Grade 12. The program helps schools reduce their environmental footprint.
How do schools become certified?
Each school forms an EcoTeam that reviews their school's energy and waste practices, while incorporating environmental initiatives. Once the information is gathered, the EcoTeam creates and implements a formal action plan for improvement. A school's EcoTeam review their progress every three months and document the progress achieved.
Ecoschools certification provides a rigorous province-wide certification process for each school. Upon certification, schools receives an EcoSchools plaque and a seal for every year of certification. In order to become certified, schools must demonstrate achievement in a least four key areas:
- Team work and leadership;
- Energy conservation;
- Waste reduction;
- Ecological literacy;
- Environmental stewardship; and
- School ground greening.