Benefits of the Wisconsin Green & Healthy Schools Program

All schools can benefit from the Wisconsin Green & Healthy Schools Program. Whether your school already employs various healthy, safe, and environmentally sound practices or it is new to these concepts, there is a place for you to excel and receive recognition as a Green & Healthy School.

In the Wisconsin Green & Healthy Schools Program your school uses resources it already has, its building, grounds, surrounding community, and curriculum. By completing the comprehensive Green & Healthy Schools Assessment, students and staff will discover what sound practices their school has already implemented and uncover areas where they can improve. Students and school staff can then work together to determine how to improve their school environment, enhance their curriculum, and provide a better service to their community. By identifying and implementing additional healthy, safe, and environmental practices, your school can become a Green & Healthy School. Some benefits a school may experience are:

• a healthier, safer learning environment
• an increased sense of ownership by teachers, students, and staff in the school
• economic savings associated with reduced consumption and operating costs
• increased protection of natural resources
• increased connections between the community and the school
• use of the school site and facilities as a teaching tool

Schools that have already implemented "green and healthy" practices experienced educational, environmental and economic gains.

• Daylighting can reduce lifetime utility costs 30 to 70 percent (Energy Center of Wisconsin) and improve student performance - students with the most daylighting in their classrooms progressed 20% faster on math tests and 26% on reading tests in one year than those with the least. (Analysis of the Performance of Students in Daylit Schools, Michael H. Nicklas and Gary B. Bailey).
• By implementing simple behavioral changes, the Janesville school district reduced their energy use by seven percent over the course of one year.
• By reducing its waste stream, a California school district saved more than $200,000 over a four-year period.
• Milwaukee Public Schools found a significant relationship between facility condition and student achievement, based on math, science, language, and social studies test scores from 139 schools. Lewis, M. 2000.
• Within the first five months of implementing the EPA Tools for Schools program, Little Harbour School in New Hampshire reported a dramatic decrease in absenteeism, fewer bronchitis cases reported by school staff, an increase in comfort, and a 25 percent reduction in the number of visits to the school nurse with complaints of stomachaches and headaches. "We saw a significant decrease in the absenteeism rates of children, especially for a child with severe asthma attending the school, since we completed the IAQ upgrades." Priscilla Santiago, school nurse of Little Harbour School.