District-Wide Initiatives
District-Wide Sustainability Committee
The district-wide sustainability committee has representation from CUSD students, teachers, administrators, staff, board members, and community based partners. This committee meets once every two months to plan, implement, and supports sustainability initiatives that take place across the campuses (facilities - buildings and grounds - and operations), curriculum and instruction, community and culture. To contact the sustainability committee please reach out to Joseph Centoni by email.
Campus Sustainability Dashboard
In order to better support students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members understanding and management of the ecological footprint of CUSD’s facilities and operations, CUSD worked with the San Mateo County Office of Education to develop a Campus Sustainability Dashboard that provides data on utilities such as energy, water, and waste. Thank you to Peninsula Clean Energy for sponsoring this dashboard project, and helping us to achieve our environmental literacy and sustainability goals!
Explore the Cabrillo Campus Sustainability Dashboard
Water Resilience
In partnership with Flows to Bay, CUSD is moving forward efforts to have water capture, stormwater pollution prevention, and reuse on every campus. Rain barrels have already been installed at Farallone View Elementary, El Granada Elementary, and Half Moon Bay High School.
Zero Waste
District administrators, teachers, and the HMBHS Environmental club collaborated to roll out a TriBin waste sorting system at the high school campus. This project built upon the school’s efforts to recycle in classrooms, and is being used as a model for the other schools in the district. TriBins are now installed at Cunha Intermediate, Farallone View, El Granda, and Hatch Elementary. Every school site is in compliance with California law to service green waste pickups. Additionally, water bottle refill stations have been installed on multiple campuses and have contributed to the reduction of single use plastics across the district.
Living Schoolyards
District leadership expanded upon the partnership with The HEAL Project (THP) in order to ensure equitable access to sustainable agriculture and health education to all four elementary schools. In School Year 2021-22 THP established garden spaces at both El Granada Elementary and Kings Mountain Elementary, and continued to grow the gardens at Hatch and Farallone View. The HEAL Project will host the Intensive Garden Program, which includes 26 weeks of hands-on garden and nutrition lessons in the garden spaces, for all 2nd and 3rd graders in CUSD.
Hatch School Garden; Rain Barrel
Green Transportation
CUSD works with Safe Routes to School to encourage walk, roll, bike and carpool to school. CUSD currently has about 30% of its students utilizing SRTS transportation.
CUSD has applied to Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to receive funds to transition the current diesel fleet to an EV school bus fleet. Additionally, CUSD is expanding access to EV Charging Stations to promote the transition to clean energy.
Environmental and Climate Literacy
The Coastside Land Trust collaborates with local elementary schools and HMBHS students to promote environmental literacy and stewardship of local ecological resources. CUSD is partnered with ELSI to offer environmental literacy to all of our students.
