What does sustainability look like for Emma Willard School? How can we grow our education, practices, and policies on sustainability for our students and our community? How can we get inspired by, and inspire, peer schools and other members of our local community?

There is no need to reinvent the wheel! Much wisdom already exists on sustainability in schools. Previous research conducted during fall 2024 by our own Environmental Sustainability Curriculum (ESC) sub-committee outlined various degrees of involvement and engagement with sustainability in our peer schools. Based on that research and my own, I began engaging more intensely in research and conversations with representatives from other schools. 

I started with Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), with whom I have collaborated closely since fall 2024. We created the first annual Constellation Conference, for and led by students, which took place in January 2026. This collaboration inspired the creation of our student-leader program for sustainability, the whole-school Ecolympics competition this April, and many conversations on leadership in the world of sustainability. We plan to continue this partnership next year, with a nature hike already planned for September 2026 and inspirational work for our respective EcoLeaders. This will be followed by remote and in-person collaboration in winter and again later in the spring—all with the hope of empowering and inspiring our students towards leadership in the world of sustainability.

 

Through several one-on-one remote meetings with sustainability coordinators from peer schools all around the country and Canada, I gathered wisdom from their past experiences. All of them have sustainability as a core value in their institution, which gives them legitimacy to the students and the whole community, resources to lead projects, support, and the forward-thinking that is desperately needed for sustainability—a great goal for Emma Willard!

I attended the Institute for Global Learning (IGL) conference for Climate Educators in Toronto, Canada. Very thorough and well-planned, this conference gave me the opportunity to engage with many actors in sustainability: Indigenous leaders, researchers, educators, policymakers, students, and fellow teachers. This reinforced for me that sustainability is “everyone’s problem” and that we need to work collaboratively and break away from the “silo structuring” of our society and school communities.

While taking some of our students to the Adirondacks Youth Climate Summit, I connected with more educators in and out of the classroom, all interested in finding ways to engage students in the important issues surrounding sustainability. I worked with our students to present how to build a green team at their school, reflecting with them on our successes, challenges, and areas of growth. There, I was able to engage with other partners in sustainability, both educators and local partners. For example, out of this conference came our partnership with Center for EcoTechnology (CET), a local independent, nonprofit consulting agency. Representatives of Emma’s Facilities Team, Director of Construction Management and Planning Scott Kosnick, and Dining Services Director Ana Russo joined me in partnering with CET for a comprehensive audit of our waste practices on campus, as well as a thorough review of our existing contracts. Since last December, we worked together leading up to contract renewal season, and we continue to partner with CET to identify the best service providers for our community moving forward.

 

After gathering ideas and glimpses at what other institutions do, I took a deeper dive into what our community already does and/or aspires towards to get a clearer and more realistic sense of our sustainability practices. This exercise resulted in meetings with colleagues from the following departments:

• History: Exploration with History Instructors Maggie Curtin (Local Indigenous History) and Dr. John Riley (AS US History) to determine where we engage with sustainability in our curriculum.
• Languages: Discussion with Spanish Language Instructor Dr. Charles LeBel on his Spanish IV course during which he studies Costa Rica and their commitment to land stewardship and divesting from the military in order to invest in sustainability efforts.
• Science: Discussion with Science Instructor and Department Chair Dr. Devin O’Brien on his AS Entomology course and the study of how insects interact with humans and are impacted by climate change.
• Math: Discussion with Mathematics Instructor and Department Chair Katie Robbins on her trigonometry regression (data gathering on the evolution of temperatures between 1900–2000)
• Residential Life: Discussion with Student Activities Coordinator Mariah Sanford-White, Associate Director of Student Life for Boarding Nicole Miranda, and Dean of Students Shelley Maher on how to create more sustainable practices for our students on campus, including developing an outdoor activity curriculum to be implemented in our neighborhoods starting in 2026–2027.
• Facilities: Discussion with Director of Construction and Planning Scott Kosnick on various projects, including hiring a new waste management company that embraces the green practices we aspire towards (work and RFP developed with CET’s senior waste reduction consultant).

Through these conversations with colleagues, the ESC, and the director of curriculum and innovation, I developed:

• A multi-layer proposal for a position to carry out the momentum and work on sustainability for our community. 
• A framework to continue having conversations with colleagues in order to further our work on sustainability on campus, particularly after we conclude our school-wide curriculum mapping.
• A partnership with the ESC group as a sounding board for all sustainability questions.
• A closer collaboration with NMH and Vermont Academy to continue to inspire our students and each other as sustainability educators.
• A sustainability track and course of action for our Signature capstone program.
• An outdoor curriculum for our students to be conducted within the context of neighborhood activities during the 2026–27 school year.
• An all-school Sustainability Day, set for October 28, 2026.

And now? There is so much more to explore for our community to engage more deeply with sustainability, including with our alumnae, families, friends of the school, and local partners. It is my most sincere wish that this work sustainably carry onward and upward.

 

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This piece was written by French Instructor Manon Sabatier in summation of her year-long Curriculum Innovation Project (CIP). Read more about CIPs here.