"The Willow School experience will help each child to be knowledgeable and wise, curious and creative, responsible and confident. The Willow School children of today will grow to become the leaders of tomorrow. " article by Renae Jensen |
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It is with a sense of native pride and a comforting feeling of new hope that I offer this presentation to our readers on the Willow School, winner of the U.S. Green Building Council’s esteemed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification. This New Jersey school has become an international role model for both green building and educational reform.
Ranked in the top 10 by The Green Guide, the Willow School, located in Gladstone incorporates an integrated ecological approach in both it’s buildings and programs. The K-8 school features a beautiful country campus built with native, recyclable and renewable building materials. Mark Biedron, school founder has created a place where children can regain their connection to the earth and to each other. “Through classroom teaching, reading, research, and outdoor experiences, Willow School children gain a realistic understanding of their roles as stewards of the earth and its resources.”
How important is it to create healthier learning environments? Does the building and classroom impact a child? As health concerns continue to rise among children, including drastic elevations in allergies and asthma, we need to address the issue of our learning environments. Studies by SSP Architecture of Somerville, a leader in environmentally sustainable design, report that high performance green building results in a 2 to 16 percent increase in worker productivity; two and a half day earlier hospital discharges; and a 20 percent increase in school test scores. The American Institute of Architects report that by implementing green building techniques in schools the benefits go beyond the environment. Both test scores and student health have been proven to increase. The
pressure is on for kids to achieve high marks from a very early age, with college
choices and future salaries hanging in the balance. But many schools are failing
to prepare children on two fronts—by not providing them healthy environments
in which to do their best, and by neglecting to integrate the environment into
their curriculum, particularly in terms of outdoors learning and using the natural
world as a teaching tool. A healthy school building is no small matter when nationwide
asthma attacks result in 14 million missed school days each year and exposure
to peanuts and tree nuts can prove fatal. Beyond eliminating allergens and chemical
contaminants, schools need to better the conditions in which kids perform, offering
more daylight (shown to boost test scores when glare and noise are eliminated),
providing healthy meals, and cycling out stale air.
Green building is the practice of designing and constructing structures to minimize adverse impacts on the surrounding environment. It incorporates site design, construction techniques, operation and maintenance procedures and increased utility (energy, water, etc.) efficiency. The AIA, based on a study of 30 green schools,reports that building green would bring a financial savings of $100,000 a year for an average school. This does show that building green has a cost advantage and is cost effective. The total financial benefits from green schools outweigh the costs 20 to 1.
Building green emphasizes the use of recycled materials and the Willow School’s use of recycled materials include all the wood in the school from doors and windows that came from old catsup and vinegar vats to posts and beams that came from an old cotton mill to a roof made from recycled toothpicks to building insulation from recycled blue jeans. The Willow School incorporates a 57,000-gallon tank that collects rainwater, which is used to flush toilets and nourish plants after a cleansing process; green lights in classrooms that go on when the outside temperature is between 65 and 80 degrees, signaling children to open the windows; maximizing natural lighting by having the school sit on an east-west orientation to harvest daylight while sensors dim artificial lighting when the natural light is strongest; maximizing indoor air quality by selecting glue, paint, piping and wire coating with the minimum toxicity; and emphasizing native plants with deep roots on the school grounds that give rainwater the best chance to reach underground aquifers.
Components to a High Performance
School are designated as 1. Healthy, 2. Smart, 3. Green,
and 4. Cost Effective. 1.
Healthy – Good Indoor Air Quality Plan :
2. SMART- Promotes Student
Performance
3.GREEN 4.Cost Effective – expected cost = $300/sq ft. Willow
School Founders: Gretchen Johnson Biedron & Mark Biedron
The Willow School was founded in 2000 by Gretchen and Mark Biedron of Tewksbury, New Jersey. Along with a thirteen-member Board of Trustees and a professional staff of four, they developed a distinctive and exciting mission for the school. Mission Statement The Willow School, a small, independent coeducational day school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, is committed to combining academic excellence and the joy of learning and to experiencing the wonder of the natural world. Mastery of the English language is an essential element in an integrated curriculum that helps students comprehend the patterns of how things are connected and prepares them for all areas of their secondary education. The school is dedicated to maintaining an environment where respect for the individual, an outstanding faculty, and an understanding of place foster independent thinking, creativity, responsibility, and integrity. The Willow School education enables children to develop an ethical approach to all relationships, to realize their full potential, and to believe in their power to effect positive change. Components
for a Healthy School Joy
of Learning Mastery
of English Integrated
Curriculum The
Willow School
Article Resources USGreenBlg/attach/DFGreenBldgsSeminarsept07
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