A SUM OF SMALL PARTS

Sustainability At Mka

Wecannot go through our daily lives without our actions affecting something or someone else. Some people travel through their days unaware of their metaphorical footprint, while others walk through life with a strong understanding of the ways their behaviors have an impact beyond themselves. At MKA, we hope that all students, faculty, staff, and community members walk through their daily lives aware of their impact and with a sense of duty and pride for the environment. To ensure that this is part of the ethos of our community, it is our job to inspire our community to step up and conserve, preserve, and regenerate our resources in order to ensure the long term viability of humanity as well as address environmental and related social justice issues to promote health and quality of life for all.

Fundamental to our mission to provide students with a transformative education that inspires them to lead lives of noble character, purpose and distinction, MKA must ensure that students gain the knowledge, vision, integrity, and skills necessary to develop habits that enable them to make responsible stewardship decisions and contribute to a more sustainable and just world. As educators, we must model impactful sustainability principles and practices throughout all aspects of school life.

In 2021, the Board of Trustees adopted a Commitment to Environmental Sustainability ensuring that all school decisions will be considered through the lens of environmental sustainability before being made. This commitment shows that the work we need to do to ensure our future as a school and as a member of a global society is not only a job for MKA’s Sustainability Coordinators or the MKA Tri-Campus Sustainability Committee, but it is also a job for each and every one of us. To ensure that this happens, our sustainability initiatives at MKA are divided into three categories: our physical space, our organizational culture, and our educational program. These three aspects of school life must work collaboratively to enact change and provide our students with a true understanding of what it takes to make an impact.

As part of our physical space, we commit to incorporating and holding ourselves accountable for prioritizing best practices in sustainability in the construction, renovation, and maintenance of our facilities and in all school operations. Some examples of this include a recent boiler replacement for better energy efficiency, LED lighting installations, and new insulated roofs that will have the ability to house solar panels. As part of our organizational culture, we commit to fostering a sense of environmental responsibility and urgency. To do this, we will strengthen our sustainable practices across the organization and connect our commitment to environmental sustainability and justice through our school values, strategic priorities, and investment strategies. One example of organizational culture is our TriCampus Sustainability Committee, which is composed of faculty, administration, and a board member. Currently the committee is prioritizing the Sustainability Strategic Plan Goals and making an action plan for implementation.

As part of our educational program, we commit to intentionally integrating sustainability principles and best practices into both curricular and co-curricular programming. By integrating this work into the fabric of our curriculum, our students will understand their relationship with our environment and actively participate in making our world a better place for all to live, grow, and flourish. Some examples of this include Brookside’s collection of plastic caps and lids which are being turned into a bench for the Primary School campus. At Middle School, a new sustainability-focused trip to Costa Rica is being planned for eighth grade students, and at Upper School, student activists created the Carbon Neutrality Commitment Committee with the hopes of helping others understand their carbon footprint.

As you look through the Review magazine, we hope that you are able to recognize the ways this commitment plays out on a daily basis within the walls of our institution. As co-chairs of the Tri-Campus Sustainability Committee, we hope the work we have done and the commitment to future work is evident within these pages. Sustainability work is not a check-box initiative you can mark as complete and then forget about. This work is an ongoing journey, and we are grateful to be part of an institution that values this process and understands that our commitment to sustainability is a small but integral piece of building a more just and sustainable world.

Shanie Israel , Associate Director of Curriculum, Professional Development, and Multicultural Innovation and Co-Chair of the Tri-Campus Sustainability Committee and Merrick Andlinger , Board of Trustees member and Co-Chair of the Tri-Campus Sustainability Committee