Stine Environmental Center

Community and Sustainability

Stine

Situated along the Severn River and close to the Chesapeake Bay, our location offers an opportunity to challenge students to examine, debate, and discuss issues of ecological preservation.

The James M. Stine Environmental Center is a nearly 3-acre parcel of land behind Teel Campus where our students make authentic connections with the local ecosystem and experience the benefits that nature brings to our physical and mental health.

In this Section

The Stine Environmental Center was given by the Stine and Igler families in loving memory of James M. Stine.

Our Environmental Philosophy

Through meaningful acquaintances and interactions one builds understanding and respect. It follows, then, for one to build respect for the earth, one must know and see value in it. We provide our students authentic experiences with the natural world and foster a sense of responsibility for our local ecosystems and an understanding of our impact on the global environment.

Connection Inspires Action

A project several years in the making, the James M. Stine Environmental Center is an open space for teachers and students to take learning outside. The center includes a spectacular stone-tiered classroom, walking trails, a counsel ring, a challenge course with low-ropes to promote team building, and an artist reflection area.

Teachers and students alike find creative ways to use the center — from staging a production of Midsummer Night's Dream and hosting our Middle School Coffeehouses to team building on the ropes course and creating artistic representations of how local foliage decomposes over time. We use the center to educate our students explicitly about conservation and sustainability, but also to cultivate an appreciation for our home along the Severn River.

To become a true steward of the environment, you have to make real connections that foster compassion and inspire action. At our Teel Campus back door, the James M. Stine Environmental Center is a place to examine, study and enjoy our natural landscape while learning about the larger impact we have on the Earth.

A Culture of Sustainability

The Stine Environmental Center is just one piece of the larger framework of environmental responsibility at Severn. We are a certified Green School by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education and encourage everyone in our community, especially our students, to take ownership over sustainability and environmental programs in and outside the classroom. By creating a culture of appreciation and awareness, we ensure that each future class of students has a strong foundation of sustainability practices upon which to build.

Student-led initiatives include:

Junior class reusable water bottle sale
Middle School student council initiative to reduce paper cup waste
6th grade erosion & invasive species control project
8th grade civic responsibility speeches focused on relevant environmental issues
5th grade "Hour of Power" to develop environmental passion projects and promote schoolwide
Student-designed recycling signs with clearly identifiable examples to follow
Upper School Eco Club drive to encourage recycling by creating specialized bins for specific types of waste
Upper and Lower School "bike to school" days
Annual Earth Day events