Which factors affect the health and learning of our students?
Air Quality
Improving indoor air quality can reduce student illnesses and asthma related absences, while improving student performance.
Lighting
Studies show that natural and adequate light can improve student performance significantly.
Exercise
There are wide differences in the amount of exercise students students. We help students create healthy habits for exercise.
Sleep
Student health and learning deteriorates when sleep is missed. Observing their performance with different amounts of sleep is a great lesson for students.
Asthma triggers and toxins
Removing or reducing asthma triggers and toxins in schools and homes can improve the health and attendance of students.
Community/Belonging
Loneliness can be as dangerous to health as cigarettes. Our project brings students together to collaborate in small teams
Healthy home programs
Connecting families to programs that upgrade the health and energy efficiency of their homes improve the home environment, improves their health, saves them money, and builds home equity.
Acoustics
Loud or distracting noises can interfere with attention, students ability to hear their teachers and classmates, and increase stress.
Stress
Students study how to stress affects their health and learning and ways they can reduce or respond to their stress successfully.
Nutrition/Water
Nutrition and water intake affects the health and learning of students
How do we benchmark these factors?
Typically, we start by talking with administrators, teachers, facility staff, and students about their school and problems they have noticed. Sometimes we create short surveys to gather more information on what needs attention at the school.
Next, we observe school conditions and operations using three different protocols: Tools for Schools Checklists, an Operations Report Card worksheet, and Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
Tools for Schools by EPA helps students and teachers proactively identify and remediate potential air quality issues like mold, dust, chemicals, water leaks or blocked ventilation units.
Our Operational Reports offer insights into the lighting, air quality, acoustics, temperatures, humidity and air quality of areas of the school.
Energy Star Portfolio Manager by EPA, enables us to benchmark and compare the energy and water use of a school against other similar schools. so we can . enter energy and water data into Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
We set up monitors to track air quality, temperature, and humidity.
We engage students and teachers in these activities so they can learn how to create these benchmarks and repeat these benchmarks each year.
“Success begins–and continues–with the health and learning of our students.
Shan Gordon
Cool Green Schools