About Us

Environmental Sustainability

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Sustainability on the Hilltop

At Berwick, we are working to build a culture of sustainability that empowers our community members to be stewards of the environment. As we embrace our location on the seacoast, we understand that it is our obligation to care for the environment through our daily actions and institutional decisions, acknowledging the Wabanaki people who cared for the land before us. In caring for this land, we invest in the world our students will live in when they are on campus and when they leave the Hilltop.

Areas of Focus

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  • Culture

    We are striving to make sustainability a core part of our community culture. These efforts require the involvement of students, faculty/staff, parents, and the Board of Trustees. Each individual plays an integral part in shaping our culture.
    At Berwick we are…
    • Increasing awareness about sustainability through initiatives led by the Upper School Sustainability Club and Grade 8 Environmental Student Leaders
    • Bringing speakers to campus who are experts in this field
    • Emphasizing the importance of daily actions to contribute to a cause bigger than ourselves
    • Focusing on sustainability as part of the Courage To Climb Strategic Plan
    • Working with the Berwick Parent Committee to educate families and solidify student habits
    • Offering opportunities for our faculty to learn about ways to incorporate sustainability into their classroom

  • Curriculum

    Education is the driving factor in our push towards environmental sustainability. Education starts with our youngest learners and continues through the time our twelfth graders walk across the stage at graduation. We are working to incorporate developmentally appropriate lessons about sustainability in all divisions.   
    At Berwick we are…
    • Taking a place-based educational approach in the Lower School, incorporating seasonal curriculum and creating outdoor classroom spaces, and participating in professional development opportunities to inform faculty
    • Centering the science curriculum around environmental topics in the Middle School, incorporating sustainability into the Grade 7 Global Ex Project, and offering Activity periods
    • Offering electives focusing on environmental sustainability in the Upper School and encouraging students to explore sustainability-related Innovation Pursuits

  • Facilities

    At Berwick, we are working to reduce our impact on the Earth by understanding the resources our community consumes and the waste we produce. The Director of Campus Facilities and Food Service Director lead the way in our efforts to reduce consumption.  
    At Berwick we are...
    • Producing approximately 2,500 pounds of compost each week to send to Mr. Fox Composting 
    • Sourcing food locally when possible through Sage Dining Services
    • Using compostable packaging in The Commons dining hall and at school events
    • Generating energy through solar panels installed on the roof of the Athletic Center
    • Transitioning to LED lights in spaces of high use 
    • Installing water bottle fill stations in all of our buildings
    • Using domestic water to irrigate our green spaces

    • Third graders learned about how Berwick's campus compost bins become soil at Mr. Fox Composting.

Berwick Campus Garden

Our campus garden gives members of our community the opportunity to learn through doing. Students from all three divisions participate in planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops. The soil in the raised beds came from Mr. Fox Composting, our composting partner at Berwick, giving students a chance to see connections within our campus food system. This garden also provides a platform for students to learn about food science in our Wellness Kitchen and food justice in the seacoast community.

Sustainability Snippets

Land Acknowledgement

This Land Acknowledgement is condensed from the full version written by Grade 6 Humanities students. These students spent the year learning about Indigenous Communities in the Americas. With this foundation, the class took a close look at the history of South Berwick to create a land acknowledgement for the land where Berwick Academy exists.  
Berwick Academy Acknowledges this Land:
We acknowledge the beauty of the land in South Berwick with natural features such as the Salmon Falls River, Orris Falls, and Vaughan Woods State Park. The Wabanaki Tribes that have lived on this land are the Houlton Band, The Passamaquoddy Tribe, The Penobscot Nation, and The Mi’kmaq Nation. The Wabanaki people walked on this land, used this land, and believe that no one is in charge of this land. We acknowledge the care the Wabanaki have given the land. We strive to think about those who walked on this land before us and work to follow in their footsteps so that all future generations can continue to exist in harmony with this space.

Contact Us

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Berwick Academy

31 Academy Street
South Berwick, Maine 03908

Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 520 students, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 and Postgraduates. Berwick students are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and several countries. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves.

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