At Trabuco Elementary School, sustainability and environmentalism are woven into the fabric of the school.
Over the years, it’s become a place where the community can learn more about how nature works – and how it can be protected – through outdoor gardens, an on-site farm, a robust field study program, and more.
The Saddleback Valley Unified School District campus, which is located in Trabuco Canyon and serves just under 100 students, was recently honored for its conservation efforts by being named one of two 2024 Green Ribbon schools in California by the U.S. Department of Education.
The school was selected for its “innovative” efforts to offer sustainability education, improve health and wellness on campus, and reduce its utility costs and environmental impact, the department said in a prepared statement.
“I’m so proud of our community members and our students all coming together with our staff members to make this happen,” said Principal Lindsey Gatfield. “We absolutely couldn’t do it alone. It takes a village and I’m very grateful for what they’ve been able to accomplish for our students.”
The school’s environmentally friendly goals are consistent with those of the local community, Gatfield said. Established in 1879, the school is surrounded by O’Neill Regional Park and serves a rural community where neighbors often live on ranches, raise their own chickens, and use sustainable practices like composting, she said.
The campus uses various methods and programs to give students – and visitors – hands-on experience with nature and conservation.
Trabuco Elementary has three outdoor gardens, for example, including a fruit and vegetable garden where students can learn about organic farming, a “pollinator” garden where students can observe insects and pollination in action, and a new “mindfulness” garden where students can get in touch with their feelings if they’re having a trying day.
“We kind of took the idea of a sensory garden and a meditation garden and combined them,” Gatfield said. “It’s like a little quiet zone on campus where students can kind of retreat to as they need to.”
The campus also boasts a school farm, complete with miniature donkeys, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, and other animals.
And the school’s Coyote Green Team, a group of about 30 students coming from all the grades, meets regularly to brainstorm ways to make the campus more eco-friendly. Under the group’s leadership, for example, plants have been placed in classrooms to help improve indoor air quality, and the school has seen a 19% reduction in its energy usage, officials said.
“This year, we really focused on empowering our students,” Gatfield said. “They look, they see what they’ve accomplished, and they’re really excited about it.”
The school also teaches others about the environment – and how humans can impact it – through its field study program, which can draw up to 120 visitors a day. As part of it, classes of students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade can take field trips to the campus to learn about STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts through hands-on activities, a guided trail hike, interacting with farm animals, and more.
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Trabuco Elementary also carries out conservation efforts in day-to-day activities, by utilizing a rainwater capture system, using reusable ketchup bottles and compostable lunch trays during meal service, hosting a recycling program that generates funds for the school gardens, and more, officials said.
Looking ahead to the next school year, Gatfield said Trabuco Elementary will continue to build on this year’s conservation efforts by recruiting additional student leaders, planting more trees on campus, streamlining projects and having students take a bigger role in teaching peers and community members how they can better care for the environment.
In addition, students will also begin doing food demonstrations on a mobile kitchen cart during lunch time to show classmates how they can cook up dishes using native produce.
“Really, the ultimate goal is for students to learn about the benefits of our environment,” Gatfield said. “Why we take care of it, what we can do to take care of it. I just think that’s so important. And so we’ll continue to refine our practices for next year.”
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