Stewardship & Sustainability

At our Short Hills Campus, the Big Blue Garden—a well-used learning garden and outdoor laboratory, of sorts, created by students, faculty, and staff—allows K-2 students to dig deep into interdisciplinary learning, critical thinking, and collaboration. Students have the opportunity to:

• Work together to separate school trash for composting and prepare soil beds for a range of flowers and vegetables;
• Employ their math skills by calculating optimal grid spacing for crops;
• Sharpen their research and writing skills by studying the garden's plants, including its herb garden, and describing the many sights and smells;
• Enjoy the fruits of their labor by sharing their produce in the lunchroom;
• Practice mindfulness techniques in the garden's "quiet classroom";
• Hone their artistic skills, using the garden's natural surroundings as inspiration during art classes.  

A second garden, the Three Sisters Garden, exists on the opposite side of the Short Hills Campus. Constructed by Grade 4 students and used in Grade 4 social studies and science classes, it reflects Lenape culture. Each spring, classes plant corn, beans, and squash (considered the Lenape's "three sisters"), and harvest them when school resumes in September, providing a hands-on learning experience so students can better understand Lenape farming practices and food.

Students at our Basking Ridge Campus can choose from many courses with an emphasis on sustainability and environmental practices. In addition, many courses outside of those with “environmental” in their name use Pingry’s farm, forest and composter as experiential laboratories for their work. Pingry’s Upper and Middle School science courses perform labs on anatomy, food webs, soil and water chemistry, and many more. Many language classes grow vegetables on the farm and use them to create food representing the diversity of the cultures around the world. Choral groups have used outdoor spaces to perform Appalachian songs in a woodland setting and art classes use the campus as a subject and canvas for studies on movement, still life, materials and more. The list goes on.
 
        A few specific courses are highlighted below:

• Art and Nature
• Environmental Science Class

        Summer courses:

• Muddy Boots
• Outdoor Adventures in Sustainability

Global:

• Belize
• Utah
• Pingry in the North Woods

Extracurricular Activities

• Middle School: Green Group, Outdoor Adventures, Friday Fitness
• Upper School: Green Team, Outing Club

The new Pottersville campus offers a gorgeous palette for outdoor exploration. As we continue to develop programming for this new satellite campus, we are keeping in mind our pillar of Stewardship and Sustainability. Pilot programs such as the one below will serve as models for how to use this new space to further students’ education on protecting, preserving and enjoying nature.

Pingry Explorers - May 2022
Two juniors planned and executed an adventure filled day for some of our 4th and 5th grade students. Teaching about the “Leave No Trace” principles, the upper schoolers then lead the younger students on a hike around campus. The day ended with a stream exploration, as students learned to identify macroinvertebrates and how to tell if a body of water is polluted based on their findings. Students had a blast!