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Sustainability
In the spirit of Fenn's motto, Sua Sponte, we embrace the responsibility for the well-being of our local and global environments and communities through our collective choices and actions. This is our vision of sustainability for Fenn.
By means of open communication, innovative practice, and sound education, Fenn summons our students and charges the members of our school community to be responsible environmental citizens and leaders. Additionally, we strive to meet the principles and good practice of environmental sustainability in our planning, operations, and curriculum.
Fenn is in the perfect place to tackle issues of environmental sustainability. As a school, we are used to asking difficult questions and relying on logic and reason to guide us. The four qualities of a Fenn boy indeed allow us to focus our energy daily on ecological issues—honesty lets us openly evaluate our current practices and habits, respect requires that we treat all natural spaces and human life with reverence, empathy asks that we have a better sense of our place in the world, and courage gives us the energy to make changes in our community and take big steps towards a cleaner, healthier future.
Fenn's Path Towards Sustainability
Over the past 14 years, Fenn has and continues to work intentionally to be sustainable and climate-forward. In 2010, we completed a sustainability audit, followed by a ProtoStar self-assessment in 2014; both studies started Fenn down a path towards better institutional sustainability. In February of 2021, a comprehensive master planning exercise then helped us to thoughtfully integrate sustainability into the School's programmatic, operational, and strategic goals. Led by a Core Planning Team of faculty, staff, current and former parents, and trustees, Fenn carried out an inclusive community engagement process that produced a five-year, institution-wide sustainability plan organized into three important focus areas described below. We look forward to reporting out on the successes we are achieving through these critical community efforts.
SPOTLIGHT:
Student Sustainability in Action
Fenn offers students a number of opportunities outside the classroom to take action on sustainability issues. Every October is Manpower Month, where students are encouraged to use fossil fuel-free forms of transportation to and from school and around their neighborhoods on weekends. Every April brings a multi-week game of Lightbulb Baseball, where Blue and Gold teams score runs for shutting off lights and projectors in unoccupied spaces on campus, and students also "power down" academic spaces before all school breaks. Lower School students can also be found traversing campus running a recycling program, which is supplemented by collection receptacles in the Dining Hall and other campus locations. Visit our Dining page to learn more about these efforts and our school composting!