Sustainability

Princeton Day School’s mission is to prepare students “to act knowledgeably, to lead thoughtfully, to share generously, and to contribute meaningfully.” To fulfill this mission, we must graduate students who understand the ecological consequences of their actions. We believe that the students themselves are our largest carbon footprint, that their personal and professional decisions now and in the future will help determine the fate of the planet.

Our goal is to nurture a culture of environmental stewardship by working simultaneously in facilities, behavior, and curriculum. We want our graduates to understand that they live in a world of limited resources, that everything is connected, and that how they use those resources affects the lives of future generations.

We decided in 2006 to make greening the school one of our major initiatives; it was clear that a 21st century education was incomplete without teaching eco-literacy and modeling ecological decision-making in our institutional behavior and on our campus. Today our sustainability program is considered one of the best in the country and our graduates are known for their environmental activism and stewardship. We are founding members of OASIS (Organizing Action on Sustainability In Schools), a NJ non-profit school consortium, helping to model and lead the way to school sustainability statewide.