Sustainability
Our Mission
At Middlesex we recognize that sustaining our promise requires stewardship of our environment. We pledge to use our curriculum, programming, and resources to foster environmental sustainability and action. Our goal is to lead by example, establishing an environmentally focused culture within our own community and the wider world.
Sustainability Programming
SENSE OF PLACE
Middlesex takes advantage of the extraordinary natural resources that surround our campus to help students cultivate a sense of place that inspires stewardship and appreciation of the natural world. Students explore and conduct labs in Estabrook woods, swim and sample the water quality in Bateman's Pond, and remove invasive species on campus and in partnership with the Concord Land Trust on conservation land.
CURRICULUM
Middlesex weaves sustainability into learning experiences, from classroom instruction to school wide and small-group speakers, where students explore real-world environmental challenges and solutions. Beyond academics, students are empowered to lead campus sustainability efforts through active student clubs and dedicated senior leadership roles.
- Courses Offered: AP Environmental Science, Forest Ecology Elective, Climate Change Elective, and English electives.
- Middlesex's inaugural Green Summit was held in April 2025 bringing together members of the local community to discuss environmental impact and solutions to a more sustainable way of life. The next Green Summit will be held in the spring of 2027.
- Student-run environmental club called Common Sense
- Sustainability Officers - senior leadership position focused on sustainability actions on campus
- Recent Speakers on Campus
- During the 2025-26 school year, Robbie Fawcett '25 presented an Independent Student Project on oyster farming and carbon credits.
- Myroslav Bur '24 zoomed with Common Sense regarding studying and doing research about the environment at college
- OARS 3 Rivers Watershed Group spoke to AP Environmental Science classes
- Trips to Hurricane Island - sustainability officers' trip in August 2025.
- Trip in August 2026 will be open to student leaders and AP Environmental Science students.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Middlesex is working to identify measurable goals for reducing the School's carbon footprint and emphasizing sustainability in future campus planning. We are members of the Green School Alliance and use the START questions to evaluate our process. Currently two buildings on campus are heated and cooled using geothermal systems. During the year, we focus on ways to reduce our waste in the dorms and in our consumption habits, such as;
- Green Sale where students donate unwanted dorm items to the School to be resold at the beginning of the year
- Clothing Recycling and MX Free Thrift program
- Rachel Carson Center geothermal and campus heating system change (2013 Replaced No. 6 fuel oil and propane with greener and cheaper natural gas/De-centralized heating system and installed 20 high efficiency boilers)
- Our new field house, which will be LEED Certified with geothermal technology
Green Summit 2025
The Middlesex Green Summit, held in April 2025, brought dozens of students and professionals together to gather for a day focused on environmental sustainability. The day kicked off with a panel featuring author and New York Times opinion writer Margaret Renkl (shown above).
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