Academics
PROGRAMS / Sustainability
At Grace, sustainability is not a unit of study, but a lens through which students learn to understand and engage with the world. From urban gardens to Lab Studies electives and community partnerships, the program asks students at every level to consider their relationship to the natural world and to act on what they find.
Some of the most distinctive sustainability work at Grace happens outside of the classroom. Environmental clubs in the Middle School and High School lead composting and recycling initiatives that challenge students to rethink the waste we produce. Students maintain green spaces and urban gardens on Grace’s rooftop, growing plants, raising bees, and experiencing firsthand the responsibilities and rewards of food cultivation. Collaborating with nonprofit organisations such as Grassroots Grocery, The Bowery Mission, Got Sneakers, WeCycle, and TerraCycle, students build relationships in the broader community to achieve shared sustainability goals. River-side clean-ups and visits to local recycling centers provide students the opportunity to see sustainable practices enacted at the civic level.
Sustainability is woven into the academic program across divisions. In the Middle and High School, many students develop environmental science projects and present their findings at the annual science fair or the IP10 Symposium. All seventh graders take a sustainability class, and ninth graders engage with sustainability themes through their Lab Studies sequence. Juniors and seniors can choose electives that focus on sustainability initiatives like the Billion Oyster Project, which restores oyster reef habits in New York Harbor, and urban gardening, which develops their understanding of food systems, urban ecology, and community resilience.
Sustainability at Grace is not the work of students alone. The Parent Sustainability Group engages the full Grace community, promoting an environmental mindset at schoolwide events, activities, and initiatives throughout the year. Students, parents, administrators, faculty, and staff all work together every day to ensure that Grace’s sustainability efforts reflect the values at the heart of our mission: care for one another, care for the world, and the conviction that how we live matters.
“Environmental stewardship is a natural extension of our school’s commitment to courage, humility, curiosity, and kindness. Knowing that our local actions have global consequences, gaining an understanding of the patterns in the natural world and climate, and learning to be an engaged local community member are critical parts of school life at Grace.”
Kim Chaloner, Dean of Faculty
