No matter the label, Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District educators have made a commitment not only to the academic success of their students, but to taking care of the world those students will inherit.
"We want to be aware of our natural resources and how to best use them," said Superintendent Kelvin Lee, who is retiring at the end of this month. "We owe it to our community and our students."
Lee and the Dry Creek district trustees received recognition Thursday from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools for their commitment to creating environmentally sustainable schools.
In June 2003, the school board passed a resolution requiring the district to meet at least the minimum CHPS criteria in the building of each new school. So far, Coyote Ridge and Barrett Ranch elementary schools have been built according to CHPS guidelines, and the upcoming west Placer middle school also will be.
CHPS incorporated as a nonprofit in 2002 in response to the state's energy crisis and poor test scores in schools. Made up of school officials, designers and representatives from public utilities and state agencies involved in public schools, CHPS provides information and resources about making schools more environmentally sustainable.
High-performance schools, in particular, use less natural resources like energy and water, have better air quality and are designed to have minimal impacts on the environment.
Dry Creek was among the first three school districts in California to commit to CHPS criteria, said Sara Greenwood, communications and outreach manager for CHPS.
Today, 15 districts statewide have passed such a resolution.
"It illustrates the district's value in high-performance schools and their commitment to making their schools sustainable," Greenwood said. "We wanted to be sure to recognize (Lee), because he was a real champion in his district in making sustainability a part of future construction and facility plans."
CHPS guidelines fall into several categories, including water, materials, energy and indoor environmental quality. A school's design is evaluated and given points based on criteria for each category. The design must earn at least 28 points of a possible 81 to be designated a CHPS school.
Officials say that building according to CHPS criteria typically doesn't cost more -- the trick is setting priorities and sometimes taking more time in the selection, design and building process.
But using CHPS standards can result in savings. CHPS officials say energy costs for new high- performance facilities can be 25 percent lower than typical buildings'.
Officials also say studies show that students and employees in these facilities tend to perform better and are happier to be at school. For teachers, that means a school district spends less for substitutes and possibly less on health care. For students, it means they miss less of their education and also generate more average daily attendance money for the district.
"All these amount to cost-savings," Lee said.
In the Dry Creek district, officials have, among other things, made natural lighting a priority. New schools include skylights and more efficient light bulbs, as well as control systems that allow teachers to adjust lighting, depending on the activity, such as watching a movie.
Greenwood also said Dry Creek officials volunteered to participate in an ongoing CHPS study since late 2003 of ventilation systems designed to produce better air quality.
The district's willingness to be a part of an experiment -- which in the end could help students and employees -- also makes it worthy of recognition, Greenwood said.
"They've taken big risks and been a guinea pig," she said.
Diane Howe, Dry Creek's board president, said the district's emphasis on sustainable facilities is just part of its educational efforts.
"Everything in our district we try to focus on one major goal: academic achievement," she said.
CRITERIA
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools has established criteria for determining whether a school can be designated as a CHPS School. A school's design earns points in several categories, such as "water" and "indoor environmental quality," and must earn at least 28 of the possible 81 points to earn the CHPS designation. Here is a list of specific criteria they evaluate:
