Hoover’s Bluff Park Elementary selected as a 2015 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School

Hoover’s Bluff Park Elementary selected as a 2015 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School.

Bluff Park Elementary School in Hoover is among only four schools in Alabama named as a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School.

The award honors schools, districts and colleges for reducing environmental impact and costs, improving health and offering environmental education. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was joined by Managing Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Christy Goldfuss today, April 22, in announcing the honorees.

Fifty-eight schools, 14 districts, and nine postsecondary institutions were honored for their promising efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, promote better health, and ensure effective environmental education, including civics and green career pathways. In addition, nine colleges and universities were honored with the Postsecondary Sustainability Award, in the first year of that award category.  

Alabama’s 2015 honorees are:

Bluff Park Elementary School, Hoover

Lincoln Elementary School, Lincoln

Lincoln High School, Lincoln

Auburn University, Auburn

A link to the 2015 Green Ribbon Schools, including Bluff Park Elementary and others from Alabama, is available on the U.S. Department of Education website at http://www.ed.gov/blog/.

“These honorees are compelling examples of the ways schools can help children build real-world skillsets, cut school costs, and provide healthy learning environments,” Duncan said. “U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools are an inspiration and deserve the spotlight for embodying strong examples of innovative learning and civic engagement. We also are thrilled to add institutions of higher education to the list of honorees this year for the first time in the award’s history.”  

The schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions were confirmed from a pool of candidates voluntarily nominated by 30 state education agencies, with honorees selected from 28 jurisdictions. The list of 81 total selectees includes 52 public schools and six private schools.

The public schools include two charter and three magnet schools. The schools serve various grade levels, including 35 elementary, 19 middle and 17 high schools are among them, with several schools having various K-12 configurations, from 28 of the nominating authorities. Forty-seven percent of the 2015 honorees serve a disadvantaged student body, 22 percent are rural, and one-third of the postsecondary institutions are community colleges.