Environmental Literacy

Albemarle County Public Schools is committed to creating learning environments where all students thrive as curious, capable, and responsible members of their communities. The Environmental Literacy Plan reflects this commitment and aligns with our Strategic Plan priorities—Thriving Students, Affirming and Empowering Communities, and Equitable and Transformative Resources.

Environmental literacy, as defined by the Virginia Department of Education, encompasses the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to address challenges that impact ecological, economic, and social systems. Embedding these competencies into the ACPS learning experience prepares students to navigate and contribute to an increasingly complex and interconnected world.

Through authentic, place-based learning, environmental literacy engages students in investigating real-world phenomena, analyzing issues at local and global scales, and developing informed perspectives. These experiences cultivate curiosity, deepen understanding, and foster meaningful engagement.

As students make connections between content and their lived experiences, they also reflect on their roles within their communities and the broader world. This process builds their capacity to act as informed, caring, and responsible citizens, advancing the ACPS Portrait of a Graduate vision—ensuring students are prepared academically, socially, civically, and personally for the challenges and opportunities they will encounter.

Goals

Student Outcome

Continually increase students’ age-appropriate understanding of the watershed through participation in teacher-supported, meaningful watershed educational experiences and rigorous, inquiry-based instruction, with a target of at least one meaningful watershed educational experience in elementary, middle and high school, depending on available resources.

Environmental Literacy Planning Outcome

Each participating Bay jurisdiction should develop a comprehensive and systemic approach to environmental literacy for all students in the region that includes policies, practices and voluntary metrics that support the environmental literacy Goals and Outcomes of the 2025 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES)

The Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) supports Albemarle County Public Schools in developing and achieving its division-wide sustainability goals. The committee fosters environmental awareness by building shared tools, knowledge, and strategies that strengthen sustainable practices across schools.

ACES also coordinates the implementation of Albemarle County’s Climate Action Plan as it relates to ACPS, focusing on key areas such as Transportation and Land Use, Buildings and Renewables, Sustainable Materials Management, and Landscape, Natural Resources, and Agriculture. In addition, ACES advances the integration of climate action concepts into classroom curriculum, ensuring that sustainability is embedded throughout teaching and learning.

School Sustainability Liaisons

The School Sustainability Liaisons extend the sustainability work happening in ACPS Operations departments into the classrooms, engaging with students and managing sustainability actions in each school. Liaisons are responsible for ensuring the success of the school’s recycling and cafeteria composting programs and they identify opportunities for the reduction of carbon emission and environmental impact through behavioral or physical changes.

Recycling Projects

Across Albemarle County Public Schools, recycling is an established and growing practice that helps students develop daily habits of waste reduction and environmental stewardship. Schools such as Broadus Wood, Mountain View, Henley, Walton, and Burley maintain consistent classroom and schoolwide recycling systems, with clearly labeled bins and student-led collection routines that reduce contamination.

Mountain View’s efforts contribute to its Eco Schools Silver Level designation, while Walton Middle School alone diverted nearly 1,600 pounds of paper from the landfill in the 2024–25 school year.

Student leadership plays a key role countywide, with environmental clubs organizing recycling campaigns, classroom pickups, community plastic recycling drives, and educational outreach to peers. These hands-on efforts reinforce the importance of conserving resources while empowering students to lead meaningful sustainability initiatives within their schools and communities.

Composting Projects

Composting initiatives throughout Albemarle County Public Schools connect waste reduction directly to learning about soil health, gardening, and sustainability. At Broadus Wood, Greer, Stony Point, Mountain View, Walton Middle, and Murray, students actively sort food scraps in cafeterias and classrooms, often in partnership with Black Bear Composting. The resulting nutrient-rich compost is returned to school gardens, where it supports plant growth and provides an authentic, hands-on learning experience about natural cycles. Visual signage, student monitors, and peer education help reinforce proper sorting and build lasting habits.

Schools such as Greer and Stony Point integrate composting with garden-based instruction, while Walton Middle composted more than 3.34 tons of organic waste in a single year.

From elementary through middle school, composting in ACPS fosters environmental responsibility, reduces landfill waste, and helps students see how everyday actions contribute to healthier ecosystems.

**School Sustainability Liaisons**
TBD Agnor	TBD Baker Butler	Dimitra Aumiller Broadus Wood	Jodi Sell Brownsville
Mary Morales Mountain View	Laura Neu Crozet	Melanie O'Dea Greer	Beth Rapp Hollymead
TBD Ivy	Calder McLellan Murray	TBD Red Hill	Christina Panella Scottsville
TBD Stone Robinson	Kathy Anish Stony Point	TBD Woodbrook	Michael Barber Burley
Lars Holstrom Community Lab	Margot Diaz Henley	Lydia Dolvin Journey	Alex Scully Lakeside
Heather Kepple/ Jennifer Peart Walton	Diana Webber Albemarle	Erikka Goff Monticello	TBD Western Albemarle
	TBD ACE Seminole Place	TBD ACE Lambs Lane

Grade Band Literacy Targets

Our grade band environmental literacy targets define what students should know and be able to do at each stage of their education. By building skills over time, these targets help prepare students to understand environmental challenges and take informed action in their communities.

Elementary

By the end of Grade 5, ACPS elementary students will engage in standards-aligned environmental literacy learning experiences that:

Address environmental literacy as outlined in the Virginia Science SOLs (K-5),
Occur in schoolyards or outdoor learning spaces and emphasize local environmental phenomena,
Include Guaranteed Field Experiences, hands-on learning experiences intentionally designed to develop field-based skills and scientific and engineering practices,
Engage students in sustainability education and action projects aligned to the Climate Action Plan for Albemarle County, and
Provide all students with the opportunity to participate in at least one complete Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE).

Middle

By the end of Grade 8, ACPS middle school students will engage in standards-aligned environmental literacy learning experiences that:

Address environmental literacy as outlined in the Virginia Science SOLs (6-8),
Occur in schoolyards, outdoor learning spaces, and local community environments, supporting place-based investigations of environmental phenomena,
Include Guaranteed Field Experiences and hands-on learning experiences that build on elementary foundations and deepen systems thinking,
Engage students in sustainability education and problem-solving projects aligned to the Climate Action Plan for Albemarle County,
Provide all students with the opportunity to participate in at least one complete Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE), and
Develop students’ ability to connect human activities to environmental systems and evaluate tradeoffs related to environmental decision-making.

High

By the end of high school, ACPS students will engage in standards-aligned environmental literacy learning experiences that:

Address environmental literacy as outlined in the Virginia Science SOLs for high school courses and college board for Advanced Placement (AP) courses,
Occur in schoolyards, outdoor learning spaces, local watersheds and community-based settings, connecting classroom learning to real-world environmental systems and challenges,
Include field-based and applied learning experiences that serve as the primary context for students to engage in the scientific and engineering practices of Environmental Science,
Engage students in sustainability initiatives, stewardship projects, or community-based problem solving experiences that connect environmental science to civic responsibility, workforce pathways, or postsecondary opportunities,
Provide all students with the opportunity to participate in at least one complete Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE), and
Foster environmental literacy skills that prepare students to make informed personal, civic, and career-related decisions related to environmental issues.

Grade Level Learning Experiences

Our grade-level learning experiences bring environmental literacy to life through meaningful learning. Each experience is designed to build knowledge, spark curiosity, and connect students to the world around them.