Salisbury Academy
Fifth grade students planted herbs and tomatoes in the Spark Center garden during a planting day with Happy Roots. Students tasted several kinds of mint and learned about the importance of a healthy root system for a plant. 
SA Green School Highlights
2018 - 19
Year in Review: Environmental learning and a passion for conservation

Whether through facilities upgrades like the expansion of LED lighting to the SA Spark Center, conservation efforts with partner organizations, or environmental learning in and outside of our classrooms, the 2018-19 school year has been an exciting period in Salisbury Academy's sustainability journey. We continue to embrace opportunities to expand our environmental programming while advancing our efforts to support a healthy earth.  

Step into an SA classroom on a typical day and you'll find meaningful conversations and hands-on environmental learning experiences taking place, whether in kindergarten's unit on taking care of our earth, a student-led "Green Day" in fifth grade, or school-wide inquiry into earth science. These lessons are often learned and applied outdoors as students take class outside, go on field trips, and gain insights from places and experts outside of the school grounds. 

As we move into the final weeks of this school year, we look forward to a summer of outdoor learning followed by another fulfilling year of working towards sustainability as an NC Green School of Excellence. 

Warm Regards,

Beverly Fowler, Head of School
Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students planted sunflowers native to North Carolina at a Three Rivers Land Trust preserve last week and were educated on the harmful nature of invasive species.
Student Awards


Congratulations to Gray Davis for winning first place in the sixth grade division for the Rowan Soil and Water Conservation District's "Living Soil" poster contest. 

Congratulations also to our students who participated in the NC Zoo's "Endangered Species Awareness" poster contest.  Elsie Richter's Bengal tiger, Kendall Colwell's Sumatran elephant, and Mollie Sullivan's dhole each placed as a top five finalist in the state. 





Thank You to our Community Partners in Environmental Education
Kelli Isenhour of Rowan Soil and Water leads a tree identification lab for Salisbury Academy middle school students.
Salisbury Academy's outdoor education is enhanced by the expertise and passions of a variety of partner organizations. It was a great pleasure to work with Happy Roots in a recent gardening activity (pictured at top), and the Rowan Soil and Water Conservation District led several highly engaging outdoor labs on tree, animal, and track identification for middle school science students. 

After launching a partnership with Muddy Sneakers in the summer of 2018 and organizing a community hike in a combined effort with their organization in the fall, Salisbury Academy looks forward to another summer of Muddy Sneakers-led outdoor expeditions for our summer campers. 

Building on our partnership with Three Rivers Land Trust, Salisbury Academy's middle school students continued their mission of earning their Leopold Society passports this year. Named for Aldo Leopold, a great American environmentalist, conservationist, ecologist, and author, the Leopold Society encourages young people to develop environmental awareness and a deep appreciation for nature. Salisbury Academy students in grades sixth through eighth participate and most recently planted sunflowers and learned about invasive species on a Land Trust property.
Catawba College continues to be a strong partner in conservation. It was a privilege to host Elizabeth Howard, sustainability coordinator for Catawba's Center for the Environment, and her team for a visit earlier this year (pictured left). Additionally, Salisbury Academy's JK and third grade students greatly enjoy outdoor discovery on their monthly hikes at the Catawba Nature Preserve. 

Earth Day at Salisbury Academy
Seventh and eighth grade students assist in a clean-up effort at Wilson's Landing with the Coastal Conservation League of SC as part of their week-long Earth Day celebration.
Second grade students release butterflies after observing their progress through the different lifecycle stages.
Salisbury Academy held a week-long Earth Day celebration this year with a variety of fascinating outdoor and conservation connections. In the eighth grade, students enjoyed a tree identification and animal tracking program by Kelli Isenhour of the Rowan County Soil and Water Conservation District. 

Looking to the health of our oceans, sixth grade students began their research papers on ocean pollution as their peers in seventh and eighth grades rolled up their sleeves on a habitat clean-up with the Coastal Conservation League of SC. The clean-up will help to preserve healthy habitats in which local sea turtles can survive and thrive. Seventh and eighth grade students also toured the Turtle Survival Alliance to feed animals and learn more about the work the alliance does to protect endangered turtle species around the world.

Also during Earth Day week, fifth and sixth grades took in the sights and sounds of North Carolina's Outer Banks through visits to the NC Aquarium, Jockey's Ridge, and the OBX Wildlife Center. These hands-on opportunities helped students make connections between pollution and the impact it has on the world around us.

Lower school Earth Day highlights included the hatching of baby chicks in the Spark Center, a butterfly release, JK's trip to Correll Farms, and second grade's outdoor excursion to Patterson Farms where they made compasses and learned outdoor navigational techniques through a geocaching exercise. And for third grade, time spent exploring the wooded and natural areas of Camp Thunderbird provided inspiration for meaningful outdoor inquiry (pictured below). 

Happy Earth Day from Salisbury Academy!