School District: Kent
School Location: Des Moines
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: November 2012

Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2013

Waste reduction and recycling (level one)

• The school maintains a 63 percent recycling rate.
• In fall 2012, school staff and students were trained on waste reduction and recycling practices.
• Elementary students received an assembly on role-modeling and practicing stewardship in the lunchroom.
• Leadership students created posters, signs and videos to remind students about what can and can’t be recycled.
• King County Green Schools Program provided signs that were placed on all recycling containers.
• The school shares waste reduction and recycling reminders and school successes in the school’s electronic newsletter and PA announcements.
• The school encourages double-sided photocopying and monitors the copy accounts of each staff member.
• Kent Mountain View Academy reduces paper by providing all classrooms with Smart Boards and laptops for seventh through tenth grade students.
• Staff members save and reuse durable supplies.
• The school set up a share table in the lunchroom. Third grade students often have items from the share table as their end of the day snack.
• As part of a district-wide decision to reduce waste, the school replaced plastic-wrapped utensils with loose utensils and eliminated straws in the lunchroom.
• Kent Mountain View Academy incorporates waste reduction and recycling into the curriculum through a recycle art class.

Other conservation efforts

• Leadership and elementary students participate in the Green Thumb club.

For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:

Debbie Dempsey, principal
debbie.dempsey@kent.k12.wa.us

Beth Gilbertson, environmental services supervisor, Kent School District
Beth.Gilberson@kent.k12.wa.us