Building a Greener Future: How One San Francisco Private School Is Making Sustainability a Way of Life

From a visit from Plastics Odyssey to Leaf club students planting trees or studying (in) nature at the botanical garden, sustainability is woven into the curriculum from the primary years all the way through High School.

At the Lycée Français de San Francisco, sustainability isn't a unit in the curriculum. It's how we operate.

What began as a shared goal at our 2023–2024 Gala has grown into one of the most comprehensive sustainability programs among private schools in San Francisco — built not by a single department, but by faculty, administration, parents, and students working together across all three of our campuses.

From a Community Goal to a Living Program

In 2023–2024, our community raised $310,000 for the Fund for the Future Sustainable Development program. Those funds went directly to work — and what has grown from them reflects the best of what a school community can do when it commits to something together.

At the center of the program are our Eco-Delegates: students elected each September across our three campuses to lead real environmental action among their peers. This year alone, 41 delegates were elected. Every month, Eco-Tuesdays bring a new United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to life — through film screenings, community surveys, expert interventions, and creative collaborations. This year's calendar has included a screening of Plastics Odyssey on responsible consumption, a Green Mobility survey of how our community travels to school, and a video project with Jeunes Reporters entered in a national environmental competition. Coming up: sound baths and mindfulness sessions addressing eco-anxiety in April, a sustainable food systems field trip in May, and a photo exhibition in June celebrating the full year of student work.

Sustainability Starts Young

At the primary level, environmental education begins as early as age three. Young students tend the school garden, breed earthworms, monitor compost bins, and care for native plants. First graders spend a night at Slide Ranch learning about sustainable farming. Second graders complete a full unit on ocean preservation. Third graders study coastal ecosystems firsthand at Ocean Pines. Across campuses, students bring their own utensils, use cloth towels in place of paper, and participate in beach clean-ups at Ocean Beach and Crissy Field. A weekly Green Club maintains planters, vegetable beds, and composting systems. The monthly Bike & Roll and Walk & Roll events, run in partnership with local organizations and authorities, reward students with badges for choosing sustainable commutes.

Recognition at the Highest Level

This work has earned the Lycée two of the most meaningful sustainability distinctions available to a school:

• The California Green Ribbon School designation at Green Achiever level — the highest level possible — awarded by the California Department of Education, recognizes schools that reduce environmental impact, improve health and wellness, and deliver effective sustainability education.

• The EFE3D Level 3 label — the highest tier awarded by the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) — recognizes sustainable development excellence in French schools worldwide.

To hold both simultaneously is rare. It reflects what is measurable and visible every day: a 31% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at our Ashbury campus since 2018, solar-paneled aquaponics aquariums, water cisterns, living green walls, an expanding garden at our Sausalito campus, and active partnerships with Matter of Trust, Recology, SF Environment, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and Zero Waste Marin.

What Comes Next: Rethinking Lunch

The next chapter of the Fund for the Future focuses on something every student experiences every day: the meal at the center of the school day. We are completing construction of a new kitchen facility that will host our Cantine Service and will allow Acre, our culinary partner, to prepare sustainable, organic, and locally sourced meals for students across all three campuses. $400,000 remains to bring this project to completion — and with it, the promise that what our students eat reflects the same values they are learning in the classroom.

Every contribution brings us one step closer to a school where sustainability is truly lived — from the classroom to the lunch table.

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