LOSD Sustainability Update
LAKE OSWEGO SCHOOL DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN – SUSTAINABILITY PRIORITY
Information from Larry Zurcher, LOSD Sustainability TOSA
LOSD adopted a new Strategic Plan in 2021 after a three year development process composed of four pillars. The pillars are 1) Create a Culture of Belonging, 2) Achieve Equitable Academic Outcomes, 3) Promote Health and Resiliency, & 4) Teach and Practice Sustainability.
Priority: Teach and Practice Sustainability
Outcome: Preserve and sustain our shared resources while accelerating our students’ ability to combat climate change
Evidence of Success: Create stewards of our shared resources
Strategies:
- Establish organizational structure accountable to sustainability (Behave)
- Promote sustainability curriculum, activities and practices (Teach)
- Prioritize sustainable building practices and facility operations (Build)
Teach
Students and teachers from the district advocated for a climate education bill (Senate Bill 854) in Salem. See: A climate education bill, spearheaded by students and teachers, gets a spotlight in Salem. The bill, which requires every Oregon school district to address climate change K-12, is at the forefront. LOSD students traveled to Salem to meet with legislators to advocate for the bill. The article also addresses how LOSD is working on climate change beyond the science classrooms.
“From my own experience as a storyteller, I don’t know if science always speaks to every student,” reflected Stephanie Leben, LOHS English teacher. “Sometimes stories are what gets to people. That’s why it was important to me to find texts that were about climate change, so that stories could [reach] students that might not understand or connect in the science classroom.” One emphasis for the district is to explore authentic access points for students to engage with climate education.
Sustainability electives and Farm to School Internship are offered at both high schools. Ecology classes and Green Teams have are partnering with Oswego Lake Watershed Council on a variety of campus improvements. A variety of STEM electives are available at the middle schools that relate to environmental research and building resilience. Leadership classes also ran food waste audits this winter.
Behave
LOHS Green Team presented to the Sustainability School Board Advisory
Committee. They expressed a variety of needs for the district.
- We need a designated sustainability framework with a clear purpose and structure because it will keep us accountable and promote district wide sustainability.
- We want a structured plan that will help us use our resources (people, time, money, information, equipment, etc.) effectively to work towards our environmental goals.
- We want a leadership structure at the district and secondary levels.
- We see a need for more sustainability positions across the district.
The LOHS Sustainable Sewing Club held a clothing swap in the fall. They collected clothes and then shared them with the student body during lunch. It was hugely successful. The club also held work parties where they designed, repaired, and improved designs.
LHS Sustainability Elective students researched, recorded, and produced public service announcements of a variety of topics. Teams shared them with their peers and had them on display at the LO Sustainability Resource Fair. Check out the videos here.
LOSD is working towards compliance of METRO Food Scraps Separation Policy # 20-5067. By May of 2024, all school district kitchens will need to be separating food scraps from landfill waste when preparing student meals. We are 91% of the way to having all of our schools up and running. This was made possible through the collaboration with Clackamas County’s Waste Reduction Education Coordinator Laurel Bates, LOSD food services, and LOSD facilities team.
This spring we are piloting a reusable serving container system from Bold Reuse at Lakeridge Middle School. Dorothy Atwood and Mary Ratcliff introduced LOSD to Bold Reuse last winter which led to discussing exploring a partnership. Bold Reuse supplies reusable food containers for serving lunches, students deposit them after eating, and the containers are collected to be sterilized. The pilot will run for six weeks and our goal is to eliminate 8,000+ single use serving paper boats from ending up in the landfill.
Read the LOSD-Bold Reuse press release.
Elementary students have taken action to improve their campuses this year. A variety of opportunities from popup debris pickups to grade level service work have given students a chance to show how much they care for their schools. School staff and parents lent a hand in what will hopefully become annual events.
Build
Both high school Outdoor Classroom, Greenhouse, & Agricultural CTE Spaces are rapidly being built this spring. We project for the 23-24 school year that 13 different classes will have a direct connection to the outdoor learning environments. This equates to approximately 750/1300 [58%] of our students having access to learn and explore in our new spaces.
Projected, but not limited to be used by:
Science Classes: Ecology, Geoscience, AP Environmental Science & AP Biology
Culinary Career & Technical Education Pathway: Culinary Arts 1-3 & School to Farm Internships
Lake Oswego High School
Lakeridge High School
Rivergrove Elementary School
River Grove Elementary is being built for resilience. Sustainable systems that lead to the path of Net Zero were at the forefront of the design process. Here are some examples of how resiliency systems will positively impact our newest school upon completion.
- Electrification – All systems included in the design are electric, no fuel fired systems.
- Existing Building Comparison – 70% energy use reduction compared to an average, existing elementary school in Portland’s climate.
- Beyond Energy Code – 30% energy reduction compared to a code minimum, new-construction elementary school.
- Solar PV Array – 32% of energy consumption covered by PV Array annually.
- Microgrid – 250 kW battery will reduce peak electricity demand by an annual average of 18%; system will charge when the grid is cleaner and discharge when grid carbon emissions are high reducing overall building carbon emissions.
- High Performance Windows – Double pane with thermal spaces reduce heat transfer, saving energy
Insulation – The roof is R30 equivalent and walls are R24 equivalent.
Lakeridge Middle School
Lakeridge Middle School solar array was installed in the fall of 2022. They are located on gymnasium and commons roof. It’s predicted they will generate 213,000 kWh annually. At a cost of $360,000, it’s predicted to break even in less than 13 years. LMS Science teachers met with the Daniel Camacho from the Bond Team and Peter Greenberg of Energy Wise Services to learn more about the PV system. One of our goals is for the actual building to become a learning tool as they explore sustainability systems.
Checkout the System Performance page.
