Founded in 2008 in one of Chicago’s underserved communities, The Academy for Global Citizenship was founded on the principles of environmental sustainability, global education and rigorous academic standards. Our dedication to environmental sustainability reaches from our mission statement through our green cleaning products, meal program, purchasing decisions and curriculum.

For many of our students, a day at AGC begins with a healthy walk or bike ride as part of our Walking School Bus and B2S program. Utilizing parent volunteers, we have set up supervised walking and biking routes. The multi-faceted goals of the program are to remove cars and pollution from the neighborhood, alleviate traffic, provide healthy opportunities for kids and their families and build community by showing our presence on the streets en route to a world-class education.

Upon arrival, a 100% organic, homemade breakfast awaits the kids. At breakfast they learn about healthy food. As kids leave the cafeteria, they separate out their waste, recycling and compostable material into three separate bins. They stack their glass cups and plastic trays for wash and reuse. They are taught the value of waste reduction, reduce/reuse/recycle and the importance of thinking and acting responsibly. This is the same process at lunch.

Nearly every aspect of our education is rooted in concepts of sustainability, as the framework lends itself to multi-curricular education. Students partake in their daily health and wellness class where they work in the organic garden, and soon they will be able to explore in their playground greenhouse. They can relax looking back at our solar panels that help offset our electricity usage and teach the kids and our community about alternative energy production.

Throughout ACG is an environmental awareness where everyone is responsible for turning off the lights when they leave a room, to feeding their worm bins in a classroom. Purchasing decisions go through a rigorous process that strives for minimal environmental impact, from local honey to local paper purchasing, we consider the life cycle of products before they reach our door. Recently, we replaced our water heater and in place of throwing it out, it was transformed into a rain barrel that is placed near the garden.

Looking to the future, we are working closely with architects and environmental leaders to design, create and run a net-zero energy building. We are consciously working to create a space that enhances everything it touches, from the education to the power production on the roof, to the garden space.