NWHS Brief Summary
Northwest High School is a public high school located in Germantown, Maryland, a
suburb of Washington D.C. The school district is one of the largest 50 in the nation and
Northwest High School is the 4th largest school within Montgomery County. It serves 2300
students from culturally diverse backgrounds of which approximately 26 % are FARMS.
Northwest has been practicing a green lifestyle and promoting sustainability in and out of
the classroom for over five years and continues to grow greener every year. The passion for a
healthy and sustainable future is demonstrated throughout the school and engaged in at all levelsfrom administration, to staff, to students, and the community. Within the last five years
Northwest’s green culture has flourished at all levels within the school community.
The administrators, in particular, Matthew Niper, promote and direct green activities and
initiatives within the school. He runs green professional development training for the staff,
promotes student and staff participation in SERT competitions, sends out regular SERT tips of
the week and promotes energy conservation by advocating schoolwide energy shutdowns over
long weekends. His efforts have been noteworthy were featured in the MCPS Environmental
Sustainability Management Plan featured television show with Superintendent Joshua P. Starr.
The staff and school personnel promote green activities in and out of the classroom. The
staff provides a holistic integrated approach to learning by embedding environmental issues
within the curriculum across all grade levels and core subjects. Staff support students in creating
winning entries for the county Watt’s Up Poster Contest. Staff members have documented the
school’s green activities allowing Northwest to win the Lead by Example county award for a
number of years. Staff and school personnel model green best practices by conserving energy
and recycling throughout the school. The building services team won the county’s GEM award
for reducing energy consumption in the fall of 2013.
One outgrowth of the curriculum integration and staff professional development has been
the student driven green activities of the Green Team. The students have written green tips that
are read weekly on the school’s televised daily announcements. They have created and mounted
light switch reminders for all classroom, made recycling station signs for the hallways, created
water conservation signs for the science labs and conducted a recycling receptacle inventory.
They have conducted an energy audit of the school and actively promote energy conservation by
presenting classrooms with green tickets for positive green behaviors. They have designed and
organized a reusable water bottle sale to promote sustainability and reduce plastic waste. All of
their activities are displayed and documented on the Green Team bulletin board and the Green
Team website.
Northwest conducted promoted green activities in the community by sponsoring a paper
shredding and donations event.
Northwest’s environmental consciousness was recognized by the SERT Spirit Award.