On April 23, 2012, the US Department of Education announced the first-ever Green Ribbon Schools.  There were only 78 high schools that received this special award.  The 78 awarded schools were named winners from among nearly 100 nominees submitted by 30 state education agencies, the District of Columbia and the Bureau of Indian Education. More than 350 schools completed applications to their state education agencies.

Bernards High School is one of only four schools in the state to receive this Green Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education.

U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS) is a federal recognition program that opened in September 2011. Honored schools exercise a comprehensive approach to creating "green" environments through reducing environmental impact, promoting health, and ensuring a high-quality environmental and outdoor education to prepare students with the 21st century skills and sustainability concepts needed in this growing global economy.

The U.S. Department of Education recognizes schools that save energy, reduce costs, feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces, protect health, foster wellness, and offer environmental education to boost academic achievement and community engagement.

On April 21, the Green Team partnered with the Borough to host our 2nd annual Electronics Waste Recycling event.  We collected 65,000 pounds of materials, including over 450 TVs, which will be averted from landfills.

Taylor Hwong and his wife, Jessica Koster, in the picture, embody the true spirit of zero-waste recycling as they deliver their items by wheelbarrow.

The items will be recycled by Newtech Recycling in their state-of-the-art facility in Somerset, NJ.  Newtech maintains a zero-landfill policy, with recycling of all materials back into raw materials that are funneled back into the production stream.  

If you would like to view a short video that will show the entire process from collection of the materials to the end product, Newtech Recylcing Video.

May 1, 2012                                           Contact:  Teresa Lyons
Borough of Bernardsville, NJ                908-766-3000, ext 145


BERNARDSVILLE – The May 7 Board of Adjustment meeting has been canceled.  Application 12-01, 101-1 Ballantine Road requested an adjournment to afford experts additional time to address issues raised at the last meeting.  New hearing date will be June 4, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

The Recreation Department has announced the Summer Camp 2012 schedule and the registration date.  Registration will begin on Saturday, April 14, 2012.  You can register online at the Community Pass System starting at 8:00 AM or in person starting at 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM at Borough Hall, 166 Mine Brook Road. Please make sure you complete the Program Registration Form if you are registering in person or by mail.

For information on what programs will be available, refer to the Summer Camp 2012 brochure.

Some of the programs that will be offered are Lifeguard Classes, Pony Camp and Pony Grooming, Cartooning, CSI: Radical Reactions & Detection, Exploring Video Game Design, and Fly Fishing, to name just a few.  There are over 20 classes to choose from.

There is also a Recreation Summer Camp from 9:00 AM to12:00 PM and an Extended Summer Day Camp  from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM.  For those enrolled in the morning day camp, campers will enjoy arts and crafts projects, sports and games, fin and feather week, and swimming at the Bernardsville Pool.  For those campers enrolled in the afternoon session, this session offers after lunch story time, sports and games, swimming and other fun activities.  There are also Field Trips for this session to choose from, so don’t miss registering your children because there is limited space on trips. Trips fill up fast so register early. Registrations on the day of the trip will not be accepted.

Last July 28, 2011, the New Jersey Audubon Society, in partnership with Duke Farms, the Victoria Foundation, and the Johanette Wallerstein Institute, hosted a how-to workshop for municipalities, county governments and large property owners on "Managing Deer in the Suburban/Urban Landscape of New Jersey."  Some of the most experienced speakers in the state identified best management practices  and provided guidance and experience from lessons learned by other municipalities.  As a result of this Workshop, the Bernardsville Green Team began to seriously look into how these ideas might be applicable to benefiting our own community.

Bernardsville is almost like the “hole in the donut” – surrounded by towns with deer management plans.  In fall 2011, the Green Team decided to help in developing a plan sustainable for the long-term.  Before implementing any plan, they will initiate a public questionnaire to ensure that whatever they undertake to address the issues definitely fits the unique character of the community.

They took their first practical step with a Forest Health Monitoring test on December 21, 2011, in the midst of the holiday season and despite the intermittent rain, when volunteers Bob Baker, Wanda Knapik, and Ed English planted 100 Red Oak seedlings on a forested property.  They were guided by respected ecologist Michael Van Clef using simple and inexpensive, but scientifically rigorous methods.  The "Sentinel Seedling" method determines severity of deer browse.  

In June 2012, they plan to return to the seedlings to find out how many were browsed by deer and determine how the results can be used for our Deer Management Plan in order to strike the right balance for the community in the future.