About Us The Gunston School is located in Centreville, MD on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay. The school’s direct access to the Corsica River has developed a sense of environmental responsibility in both the students and faculty who study and work here each day. The Gunston student experience is deeply intertwined with the waterfront, from the time they arrive at Gunston by boat their freshman year to the time they disembark by boat as graduating seniors.
Environmental Strategic Plan Building on the Gunston’s two-decade history of environmental education innovation, the school’s Strategic Planning Committee set an ambitious goal for the school: to become a regional and national leader in environmental teaching and learning. In January 2016, the plan was presented to and adopted by the Board of Trustees, and the school has begun the process of implementing the plan’s recommendations. The plan itself focuses on curriculum development, the environmental sustainability of the school’s physical plant, the cultivation of community partnerships, and the exploration of new programs. We have moved the theme of sustainability into the center of our curricular efforts, and the Environmental Strategic Plan is the roadmap for these efforts.
Systemic Partnership Gunston maintains robust partnerships with many environmental organizations. Recently, we have developed a partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to offer professional learning opportunities for teachers and school leaders.
Celebration: Earth Day The Gunston School’s annual Earth Day celebration focuses on increasing student awareness of the surrounding environment. A wide variety of workshops are available for students to participate in, all geared toward fostering a relationship between students and the environment. Guests from local organizations are invited to spend the day with students and share their knowledge of environmental topics during these workshops.
School-Wide Environmental Behavior Changes The school's 100-year history is replete with high-quality student environmental learning experiences, but during the last five years, the school has established environmental sustainability as one of the school’s primary areas of emphasis. Our recent accomplishments include: - A revised mission and philosophy statement that places environmental learning at the center of the Gunston experience. - A board-level leadership focus on environmental strategic planning that prioritizes environmental stewardship as a central school emphasis. - A school-wide integration of environmental stewardship topics into the curriculum across all disciplines. - A $6 million facilities renovation of our academic buildings where sustainability and energy-efficiency were a top priority, installation of LED lighting in the Field House, and replacing septic systems with state-of-the-art BAT systems. - The development of ongoing faculty and staff administrative professional development protocols that now make environmental stewardship one of the four areas of primary focus for faculty professional development and orientation experiences. - New faculty orientation includes a full-day tour of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to introduce faculty to the Bay region, and each faculty member must pursue an bi-annual environmental professional development experience as part of their ongoing training. - A dedicated area on our website focused on the school's commitment to highlighting the school's efforts in environmental stewardship. - A revision of our 20-year old Bay Studies curriculum that provides students with a more structured, intensive, and academically-robust environmental education experience. - A heightened campus focus on paperless communication and recycling.