Admissions
Why the Environmental Charter School?
As the world changes and becomes increasingly more complex, global citizens will need to be equipped with skills that allow them to be flexible thinkers, creative problem solvers, and effective leaders.
ECS offers a program that develops students into critical thinkers, thoughtful innovators, and well- rounded scholars. We provide students the tools and educational foundation to become tomorrow’s global citizens, and we strive to teach students how their choices impact the world around them. By using environmental content as a lens for instruction, ECS provides students a context in which to explore ideas and observations, to practice inquiry, and to actively problem solve. Throughout their academic career at ECS, students build core skills across all disciplines, and then actively apply these skills to support the impact of learning.
Our outcomes suggest a reliable tradition of excellence. For the fourth consecutive year, ECS celebrated meeting the benchmark for yearly progress (AYP) on the Pennsylvania System of State Assessment. In 2012, in Mathematics 79%; in Language Arts 77%; and in Science 92% of our students were proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania System of State Assessment measure.
Outstanding educators are committed to our students and academic program. ECS relies heavily on outstanding educators committed to delving into content and providing authentic opportunities to engage in learning. ECS faculty have a "whatever it takes" attitude toward student achievement, and align all professional behaviors to the ECS Guiding Principles of Catalyst, Character, Collaboration, and Commitment. Click here to learn about our Guiding Principles
We value collaboration with our community and recognize the power of systems thinking. We believe that respectful, transparent, and reflective dialogue among our consituents (students, faculty, neighbors, and regional partners) is necessary for elevating educational experiences for all learners. Learn more about our collaboration with families by visiting our Parent Community Organization's website: PCO Website. Click here to view a list of our community partners.
ECS commits to providing multiple outdoor instructional experiences to students. Instructional experiences in Frick Park, the Regent Square and Park Place neighborhoods, Nine Mile Run, and other local areas in the East End of Pittsburgh go beyond traditional recess time provided daily. Students hike, make observations, collect data, gain inspiration for writing journals, run tests, inventory native plants, practice bird identification, and complete a variety of other instructionally-based activities in the outdoors each week. During the past school year alone, ECS logged nearly 1,000 outdoor instructional experiences with students!
