How to Become a Blue School

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The Blue Schools program is divided into 5 consecutive activities that culminate with the implementation of water conservation strategies in the school.

A Blue School is a school committed to protecting our aquatic ecosystems. It is a school that has completed all 5 program activities, is actively implementing water conservation strategies and can demonstrate a reduction in school water use as a result.

Assessment & Evaluation

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Assessment and evaluation of student learning and performance throughout the Blue Schools program is at the individual teacher’s discretion. Specific links to Ontario Curriculum expectations and the categories of knowledge and skills identified in the achievement chart (Growing Success, 2010) are indicated for each Activity to assist with student assessment and evaluation.

Certification

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Schools are encouraged to participate in the Blue Schools program annually to progress through the four levels of certification. Recognizing that water conservation initiatives will vary from school to school, certification is based on types of actions implemented.

Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
School Level Actions	Community Level Actions	Community to Community Actions	National Level Actions
Complete Activities 1-5 Implement actions within the school property	Complete Activities 2-3 to measure success of actions implemented in Level 1 Identify new actions to add to the action plan developed in Level 1 Implement actions at the community level	Complete Activities 2-3 to measure success of actions implemented in Level 1 & 2 Identify new actions to add to the action plan developed in Level 1 & 2 Implement actions at the community to community level Maintain actions implemented in Levels 1 & 2	Complete Activities 2-3 to measure success of actions implemented in Level 1, 2 & 3 Identify new actions to add to the action plan developed in Level 1, 2 & 3 Implement actions at the national level Maintain actions implemented in Levels 1, 2 & 3
Examples may include: Awareness campaign Install and use rain barrels at the school Build or plant a rain garden on school property	Examples may include: Shoreline garbage clean-up Attend a tree planting event Communicate Level 1 success at a community event	Examples may include: Host a fundraiser for a water local conservation group Initiate a social media campaign for water conservation Host a water-audit workshop for another school	Examples may include: Host a fundraiser for a national water conservation group Get involved with an international water charity group

Timeline

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Blue Schools is a long-term, 8-month program. Suggested timing is October to May.

October	November – December
Establish support (admin, support staff) Make a plan Determine scope of the program	Data collection Data analysis & presentation Action Plan development

January – May	Following Year
Action plan implement	Repeat!

Materials

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