Bernards High Honored as U.S. Green Ribbon School.

Bernards High School in Bernardsville has just been named a National Green Ribbon School, one of 78 in the U.S., for the district's and borough's work to promote best environmental practices and energy efficiency in the high school serving the regional Somerset Hills School District.

The school was informed of the honor by email on Monday morning, and may send representatives to Washington, D.C. in June to receive the award, said Nancy Lee Hunter, the school board's business administrator.

The announcement that Bernards was among the country's U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools was made by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, together with White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The Green Ribbon School Program, announced this fall by the United States Department of Education, recognizes exemplary achievement and best practices in the areas of environmental impact and energy efficiency, healthy school environments and environmental and sustainability education.

Peter Miller, superintendent of the Somerset Hills School District, said the
district has been conducting a number of energy-saving and sustainability
initiatives, as directed by the district’s strategic plan, implemented in June
2008.

“Bernards High School is very proud of its efforts to create a green,
sustainable facility,” said Suzanne Cooley, Principal of Bernards High School.
“Our sustainability programs have engaged students, teachers,
administrators and staff together to significantly decrease our energy
consumption, reduce our carbon footprint, lower our energy costs and
increase literacy and awareness of environmental concerns.”

Late in March, and was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education as one of the state’s nominees for a Green Ribbon School award at the national level. The private Willow School in Peapack-Gladstone was another school recognized with the state Green Ribbon School award.

As part of the green initiative at Bernards High, the district as a whole has participated in a grant-funded Comprehensive Energy Audit, an Energy Savings Improvement Program (ESIP), the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Pay for Performance (P4P) program, North American Power Partner Partners Demand Response Program and the Schools for Energy Efficiency (SEE) Program, the Somerset Hills district announced. The school system also instituted a board-approved energy policy aimed at reducing energy waste and increasing awareness of environmental concerns within the buildings, the announcement said.

The strategic plan included the goal of implementing a comprehensive green initiative to promote high performance, green, sustainable facilities; expanding students’ environmental awareness and community service relating to caring for the environment; and developing an integrated environmental education curriculum, the announcement said. Bernards High School has implemented the plans and continues to monitor, measure, evaluate and improve upon goals of creating a green and sustainable school, the announcement said.

Additionally, there are plans to install solar panel on the school roof this summer, Miller said. “The green initiatives, while benefitting environmental and sustainability efforts, have also created many new opportunities for our high school students," the superintendent said.

Miller said extracurricular clubs and activities offer students opportunities to engage in environmentally themed projects in conjunction with Bernardsville Borough, the Bedwell Elementary and Bernardsville Middle School, and other schools across the country.

"As these opportunities have increased, more and more of our students are engaging in independent, environmentally-themed projects and express an interest in post-secondary studies related to the environment.”

Hunter said special thanks should go to the students and staff who contributed to the "greening" of Bernards High, with special thanks to Mariel O’Brien, Schools For Energy Efficiency Coordinator, for "all of her tremendous work on this project."

The Green Ribbon Schools Program is modeled after the Department of
Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which annually honors public and
private schools that are either high performing or have improved student achievement to high levels. National Green Ribbon Schools will be
recognized at a formal ceremony in Washington, D.C. in June, according to the DOE.

“Science and environmental education play a central role in providing children with a well-rounded education that prepares them for the jobs of the future,” said the U.S. DOE secretary Duncan. “Green Ribbon Schools demonstrate compelling examples of the ways schools can expand their coursework while also helping children build real world skill sets, cut school costs, and provide healthy learning environments.”

The two big cost saving factors are the Schools For Energy Efficiency (SEE) program and the Energy Savings Improvement (ESIP) Plan with Ameresco, Hunter said. The comprehensive energy efficiency audit was the first step toward putting the ESIP into action, she said.

SEE Program already started in Bernards Township Schools

The SEE program also has been launched in Bernards Township schools, with savings in coming years expecting to add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a minimal investment in teaching awareness of shutting off lights and taking other energy-saving steps, Bernards Board Member William Koch said at Monday night's meeting in the township.

"The biggest contributing factor to Bernards High School’s accomplishment  is that it is a comprehensive approach to energy savings," Hunter said on Tuesday. "Everyone — the Borough of Bernardsville and our townwide Green Team, our school board, our teachers, our maintenance and custodial staff, the administration, the students and their School Green Team — has contributed a piece toward our receiving this award," Hunter said.