One might assume that, within the walls of a school, it is the shared responsibility of the school nurse, guidance counselor, physical fitness instructor, and food services staff to protect student health. In truth, such an important responsibility also belongs, in very large part, to the educational facility planner and school maintenance staff.…

In their own words, 50 students in two Los Angeles area schools reveal their feelings about litter, graffiti, and the appearance of their schools. The analysis includes a discussion of the research in environmental psychology as it pertains to overcrowding, noise and pollution, design and appearance, and their effects on productivity. Excerpts of…

Schools certified under the LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification support educational programs are the beacons to sustain our Earth. Green schools are a mechanism for learning and their existence is pure example for the future of school facility planning. The purpose of this article is to discuss the various approaches…

In practice, a green school is the physical result of a consensus process of planning, design, and construction that takes into account a building's performance over its entire 50- to 60-year life cycle. The main focus of the process is to reinforce optimal learning, a goal very much in keeping with the parallel goals of resource efficiency and…

Everyone wants kids to grow up smart. A child's educational success depends on good teachers, challenging curricula and involved parents. Student achievement also can be affected by the healthfulness of a school's environment. That environment includes the restrooms that consume millions of gallons of water on campuses throughout the nation.…

When selecting furniture for education institutions, administrators often consider durability and ergonomics as givens. The furniture they select must be comfortable for a variety of age groups and body types, and be able to withstand heavy use and last into the future. But many school officials are adding sustainability to their furniture…

In this article the author discusses how inadequate ventilation, poor air quality, mold and other conditions can have a detrimental impact on the health of students and school staff. She states that, these unsafe environmental conditions can cause a negative effect on students' health as well as their achievement. Furthermore, she discusses…

Children can be exposed to dangerous chemicals and toxins in the most unlikely of places: Their schools. This brief article describes the types of threats that school environments pose to students' health, including such pollution and chemical exposures as lead, mercury, arsenic, molds, and poor indoor air quality. The article provides tips for…

This paper presents a transcript of the speech delivered by the author at the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing, Washington, DC, May 15, 2007. The author talked about how the Healthy Schools Network works to ensure that every child will have an environmentally healthy school that is clean and in good repair. The organization…

This report makes the case that no one is in charge of protecting children from harmful environmental exposures at school and recommends steps at the federal and in New York State to begin to address this hidden world. With information gleaned from adult occupational health experts, from new national studies and reports, and from the reports of…