Part II: Summary Page

Guilford Elementary is one of the oldest elementary schools in Howard County. The school is located in Columbia, Maryland. The building has been renovated many times over the years, but the belief of the community, school staff and administration has not changed. We believe in making the best for our students as they prepare for college and careers with a focus on engagement, perseverance and collaboration. Our current population is a diverse one that mimics our community at large in Howard County, Maryland.

Guilford Elementary has been a Green School certified school for the past few years. We have put into place many efforts over the years that have led us to reapply to be a Green School. We are so proud of the many efforts that our service learning team has accomplished, as we have continued to be a Green School. The students, staff and community have embraced our efforts in maintaining our status as a Green School and have been invaluable in all of our accomplishments over the years.

As we continue to be a Green School, we have also focused on being a collaborative school that works with community partners. We have worked with the Master Gardeners over the years to support our outdoor classroom and continue to provide a beautiful garden for our Monarch butterfly garden that supports the second grade science curriculum. In additions, we work collaboratively with our Food and Nutrition Office as we support the need to recycle throughout our school building. We have daily breakfast for all of our students at no cost to our students. Our students have taken their knowledge of recycling and put forth their best efforts to recycle the items from our breakfast program each and every day. This program has provided our students with daily nutrition and the opportunity to recycle each and every morning.

Guilford's green efforts are supported by the Bridges After-School Service Learning program. All of the students are educated and support our larger school community and staff in all of our accomplishments. This group of students has communicated with the school community via posters, live TV announcements, and surveys. They have also organized our single stream recycling and up-cycling marker program with Crayola, as well as found ways to learn about the need for conservation outside of Maryland and learn about other countries and the importance of conservation. Without the efforts of these students lead by one of our staff members, we would not be able to continue with our Green School initiatives.

Guilford Elementary is proud to be a Green School and earn our Green School recertification. We have many other activities plan for our students, staff and community as we continue in our efforts and be engaged in green-like behaviors.

* Top 5 Accomplishments

• Monarch Waystation Garden - Established in May 2017 as the only Monarch Waystation garden in the Howard County Public School System.
• Bridges After-School Green Team Students- These group of students help our community with Green School initiative service learning projects.
• No -Idling Zone - The buses assigned to our school sign no-idling bus pledges and we have 100% participation.
• Recycling Stations with Student Monitors - We have recycling stations with student monitors to help with recycling in the lunchroom and pod areas.
• Single Stream Recycling School-Wide- All rooms have single stream blue recycle bins for students and staff to use.