SMCOE Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative

Solutionary Examples for Land Ecosystems

Pathways to Action

Campus

Entry: Assess the facilities natural assets and percentage of natural landscape vs built land.

Mid-Level: Increase natural landscape coverage by planting more native species and trees onsite. Create or improve a school garden.

Full Integration: Create a sustainable management plan for land use. This plan aims to increase the amount of natural space onsite, increase rain capture, and promote local biodiversity.

Curriculum

Entry: Provide a supplemental lesson on the importance of land based ecosystems and biodiversity.

Mid-Level: Provide students with ongoing study throughout at least one unit on the environmental, social, and economic issues associated with land use and wildlife.

Full Integration: Curriculum on the importance of land and nature is implemented across a grade level or subject.

Community Awareness & Action

Entry: Hold an assembly or event on land ecosystems with at least 10% school participation.

Mid-Level: Create a short term awareness campaign ( 3 months or less) to raise awareness around land degradation, species extinction, or the importance of wildlife. Aim for 20-50% school participation.

Full Integration: Create an ongoing educational campaign using permanent signs or regular assemblies.

Exemplar community impact projects led by administrators

Not sure which pathway to action is right for you? Browse the Administrator-Led Solutionary Community Impact Project Exemplars to learn about successful and long-lasting environmental action.

Local Solutionary Action Examples

Want to see what other school communities have done to get recognized? Below are a few examples of Solutionary actions that have been recognized by the San Mateo County Office of Education.

El Granada Elementary School

Cabrillo Unified School District

El Granada Elementary brought a campus-wide focus to sustainability this past school year, both in classroom instruction and campus culture. Kindergarten teacher Erica Krein has focused her teaching this past school year around these efforts of greening the campus through outdoor learning.

Westmoor High School

Jefferson Union High School District

Westmoor High Science Department Head Jessica Tiatia, a past participant in the Solutionary Teacher Fellowship, brought climate education back on the forefront of the science department's priorities.

Carlmont High School Green Team: Pollinator Garden

Sequoia Union High School District

Aran O’Sullivan, student at Carlmont High School and member of the Carlmont High Green Team, nominated the Green Team for the creation of the Carlmont Native Pollinator Garden.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Mary Dournaee, a middle school teacher at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, participated in the Environmental Solutionary Teacher Fellowship to develop a solutionary unit of study on biodiversity loss. Students looked at global cycles and how changes to these can affect the climate and biodiversity.

Sunset Ridge Elementary School

Pacifica School District

County District Coordinator Sarah Watanabe and several other Sunset Ridge staff members have been a key part of efforts over the last few years in shifting its culture and operations towards more sustainable practices. This past year, teachers furthered this work on campus through projects in zero waste, planting a native plant garden, and incorporating solutionary environmental education throughout 2-5th grade curriculums.

Millbrae Elementary School District

Millbrae Elementary School District’s (MESD) Leadership Team worked together to initiate district-wide planning for Living Schoolyards.

2020-21 SCRS Challenge Financial Award Winner: Carlmont High School Green Team & ASB

Sequoia Union High School District

Entry-Level Recognition in Campus and Operations & Curriculum and Instruction for Land Ecosystems

Students collaborated to improve the on-campus community garden which promoted biodiversity, decreased water usage with native plant habitat, and created a pleasant space for students to enjoy during class breaks.

Woodside Upper School

Woodside Elementary School District

Entry Level Recognition for a "Save the Monarch Butteryfly" Education and Outreach Campaign

Woodside Upper School

Woodside Elementary School District

Entry Level Recognition for this campaign to stop frog dissections in school projects

South San Francisco High School

South San Francisco Unified School District

Teacher & Student-led Outdoor Learning and Native Habitat Restoration

2019-20 SCRS Challenge Financial Award Winner: Westmoor High School

Jefferson Union High School District

Mid-Level Recognition in Campus and Operations & Curriculum and Instruction for Land Ecosystems

With the support of their solutionary teacher Jessica Tiatia, Biology students and the Environmental Action Club took their new knowledge about the importance of biodiversity into action and examples of restoration from San Bruno Mountain, and turned this into an action project on campus, planting nearly 100 native plants in planters around school.