WARWICK — Having earned the title of “Green Ribbon School,” Warwick Community School’s commitment to protecting and celebrating the environment is being recognized.
With a focus on “place-based, project-based learning,” Superintendent Carole Learned-Miller explained that every class at Warwick Community School completes a “nature-centered project.” In the past, third and fourth graders studied amphibians and tracked down every frog species native to Warwick. Last year, third and fourth graders tested water for pollutants while first and second graders created a podcast called “Bird is the Word.”
Learned-Miller said these lessons plant the seeds for an appreciation of nature. When students learn to protect the plants and animals at a young age, “it becomes second nature, no pun intended,” she said with a laugh.
Warwick Community School students’ learning takes them to the school’s outdoor classrooms. “Scientists in residence” also visit the school to share knowledge that comes in handy for the nature-centered projects. Last year, University of Massachusetts Amherst professor Sanjay Arwade taught fifth and sixth graders about wind-powered machines, and UMass professor Casey Brown spoke about his work helping cities plan sustainable water supplies.
Students even venture off-campus to hike Mount Grace every year. Along the way, local hiking experts and community members help the kids identify plants and critters, and teachers lead activities like crafting gargoyles from materials on the trees.
“They’re so observant,” Learned-Miller said, beaming. “The hope is because they really notice nature — they notice the animals, they notice the flora, the fauna — they care about it and they take care of it.”
The superintendent said the school’s mission to foster students’ relationships with nature grew from its roots.
“We really were created by the community, and sustainability and a love for the environment is a part of the town’s mission,” Learned-Miller said.
In 2014, Warwick was designated as a Green Community by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. The program incentivizes energy conservation in towns.
“It was the dream of the community to have its own school, to have its own district, and for there to be a big focus on the environment, because the people who live in this community really care about the environment — they are environmentalists, they’re artists, they’re farmers,” Learned-Miller said.
Before opening its doors as an independent school in 2023, Janice Kurkoski, chair of the Warwick Building and Energy Committee, worked with volunteers and town officials to ensure mini-splits heated and cooled the building. Besides the kitchen stove, the building is completely electric. Solar panels in Connecticut power the school, cutting the electric bill by 25%, according to the school’s application for the Green Ribbon award, which is distributed by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“Now that there are kids being exposed to these, they might not get it when they look up at a mini-split on the wall, but at some point, I think they’re going to realize that they were raised in a school that had all these great, clean ways to heat and cool the building,” Kurkoski said. “Hopefully something will sink in when they grow up and they make their own choices.”
For the past two school years, Warwick resident Lois Wells has picked up and dropped off students in Warwick using an electric bus, a Kia EV9 Wind that seats seven people and typically carries five kids. According to Diana Noble, chair of the Warwick School Committee, the electric bus saves the town between $1,400 and $1,500 each year compared to a gas-powered bus.
Warwick Community School is also applying to be included in the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s pilot program, “Vehicle-to-Everything Demonstration Projects.” According to the program’s website, if chosen, the school would receive a free “bi-directional” charger that feeds electricity from the vehicle into the building. The electric bus would serve as another source of electricity, particularly in situations like power outages, Kurkoski described.
Besides the cost savings, benefits of the electric bus include the vehicle not emitting greenhouse gases as it idles at the school before students get to their seats, and it charging at the school, as opposed to leaving town to find the nearest gas station, Noble mentioned.
Wells said the electric bus toughs out the winter weather as a heavier vehicle with wider wheels compared to a gas-powered bus. Since electric cars slow as soon as the driver takes a foot off the gas, Wells said driving the electric bus requires less braking and therefore skids on the road less frequently.
“For me, the electric makes sense,” Wells said.
Besides running on renewable energy, the school also composts and serves meals made with ingredients from local farms.
“One school at a time,” Wells added, “it makes an impact.”