EcoSchools Platinum Certified & Future Sustainability Award

Ontario EcoSchools award Stamford Platinum Status for the 3rd year in a row!  Congratulations Ms. McBurney and Eco Freaks!

Platinum certification allows high-achieving schools to deepen their existing program through rich opportunities that engage students in environmental learning and practice.

To achieve Platinum, schools must:

• Submit a Platinum Yearly Planner before the November 30th deadline
• Meet the minimum requirements for Gold level certification (75% of points in each 6 sections) 
• Complete the Platinum section and achieve a minimum of 20 out of the 25 available points
• Receive a site visit

This is what Ontario EcoSchools had to say about Stamford:
Stamford Collegiate, your whole school is a true inspiration to us at Ontario EcoSchools! Through your many eco-initiatives, and with your staff and student leadership, you certainly go above and beyond the EcoSchools program. Excellent to see that you use social media to educate the greater school community about happenings at Stamford. As time goes on we know this will be a key element to continually growing your successful campaigns. Your monitoring practices and communication strategies in Energy Conservation and Waste Minimization are clearly having an impact. Excellent to see that you now have recycling bins in the hallways to maximize your diversion rate. Your compost program is incredibly unique and showcases just how dedicated the whole school is to minimizing waste. We love your School Ground Greening projects! Each of these outdoor spaces (vegetable patches, pond courtyard, outdoor classroom, No Mow zones, and the Strawberry Fields) continually benefit students, the community and local biodiversity. It is impressive how involved the students have been in all aspects of the project. Great Curriculum submissions – it’s wonderful to see environmental education taking place across various grade levels and subjects. We hope the Grade 10’s had fun visiting The Walker Living Campus. Your Environmental Stewardship campaigns go above and beyond while engaging the entire school community in environmental action and learning – great job! We love your Earth Day celebration; a great way to raise awareness throughout the whole school. It was a true pleasure to see firsthand all of the amazing work you are doing and to see how passionate your students are about creating a more sustainable world. Keep up the fantastic work Stamford Collegiate!  

Stamford's Specialized High Skills Green Industry students also received accolades for their environmental efforts. 

Each year the City of Niagara Falls Park in the City Committee, the Niagara Parks Commission and the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture organize the Niagara Falls Schools In Bloom Program. This program gives schools across the city the opportunity to participate in rewarding activities to landscape and beautify their schoolyard areas, while continuing to learn about horticulture and the environment.

This year, our students were awarded the "Future Sustainability Award" for their environmental efforts.  The community particularly liked our "No Mow" zone along the Drummond side of the school.  In this "No Mow" zone, students have cultivated natural prairie grass in an effort to balance what is done to the environment by having overly manicured lawns.  As the trees mature, they will shed their leaves to create a rich leaf litter which will be a natural weed suppressant - creating a healthy, diverse ecosystem.

We can also celebrate our partnerships with our feeder schools and the awards they won!

Cherrywood and Stamford have been working together since Spring of last year to create an Outdoor Classroom. The results led to Cherrywood being awarded the "Sensory Garden Award" by Schools in Bloom. This space has exceeded everyone's expectations and is a joy to behold. Although I cannot show you a video with elementary students present - here is a peak at the space.  You just need to imagine children examining plants, watering gardens, exploring nature, smiling and talking and learning while playing. Click here for the video.

Stamford has also recently teamed up with River View - helping to plant mature trees and lay the ground work for a similar space to Cherrywood.  River View was awarded the "Creative Outdoor Learning Award" by Schools in Bloom.  

Students helping students - schools working together - it doesn't get much better than this!