Green Team

The Bergenfield High School Green Team was assembled on December 23, 2015 by James Fasano, Principal of BHS. The committee is comprised of key school members, including Board representation, administration, faculty, staff, students, and the community. The purpose of the team was to support the school’s initiatives to increase sustainability and reduce waste while guiding the process for the Sustainable Jersey Schools application. The Sustainable Jersey Schools application served as an integral tool that helped the team to evaluate the school’s current programs and find ways to increase sustainability. The team’s involvement included the research, organization, planning, and execution phases of the initiative.

During the process, the team found that the high school had many positive programs already being utilized that served as a strong platform on which to continue building. Such programs include general recycling, digital curriculum mapping, school garden, before-the-bell breakfast (Breakfast After the Bell) program, green infrastructure, renewable generation system, and volunteer initiatives. As we reviewed the Sustainable Jersey Schools application in our first meeting, the team set various goals for the first year that would increase sustainability through implementation of several new programs.

First, the school installed new univent systems that would help us control our indoor air quality while providing more energy-efficient heat. The high school also began utilizing air quality flags in our athletics compound to better inform our school members of outdoor air quality. The Board of Education also approved an LED lighting conversion for the auditorium to occur over the summer. We have made revisions to our lunch program to begin incorporating locally sourced foods, and hope to continue building on this for year two. The high school received a Sustainable Schools Jersey grant from PSEG to support a new program that will target collecting food waste and converting it to compost to be used in school gardens and grounds. Also new this year, the district began utilizing Google cloud technology to facilitate curriculum collaboration and storage. In the area of professional development, the district increased awareness of our anti-idling initiative through professional development to our entire transportation staff. In addition, key members also received training on green building and sustainability topics.

As each new initiative was tackled, team members collected evidence for our application and organized it to be submitted during each round. The team set the bar high from the start, hoping to touch on every action item on the application. As time went on, the team prioritized action items by those we would focus on in year one, and those we would work towards in year two and beyond. The Green Team looks forward to continue building on the foundation of sustainability with diligence now that it has been charged with the task to oversee this process.