La sostenibilidad
AGC invita a múltiples puntos de vista y voces a esforzarse por lograr prácticas sostenibles significativas en nuestra escuela. Nuestro plan de estudios, cultura y operaciones del campus utilizan una lente de justicia ambiental para construir un futuro equitativo para nuestros estudiantes y nuestra comunidad.
El centro comunitario que alberga ACG incluye una infraestructura ecológica que lo hace único en toda América del Norte. Mediante el uso de energía solar, pozos geotérmicos, materiales de construcción renovados, captación de aguas grises, aislamiento estructural, una granja de vegetales sustentable, senderos naturales, jardines comunitarios, sistema de compostar, reciclaje y diseño arquitectónico intencional, reducimos el uso de recursos críticos como el agua, optamos por abandonar el uso de combustibles fósiles y lograr una producción neta de energía positiva.
Los estudiantes de ACG desempeñan un papel importante en el programa de sostenibilidad al investigar, diseñar y tomar medidas sobre los problemas ambientales y de salud comunitaria más urgentes de nuestro tiempo. En el plan de estudios de PreK a 5.º grado, los estudiantes participan en un curso semanal dedicado a la sostenibilidad y al huerto culinario para desarrollar su comprensión y habilidades en el jardín, la cocina y la comunidad. Los estudiantes de 6-8 de ACG desarrollan estas habilidades e ideas fundamentales en el curso de Diseño Sostenible, donde practican acciones para lograr un impacto personal y comunitario positivo.
Our Sustainability Philosophy
Sustainability is for Everyone
We believe there are many ways to practice sustainability—and no single right way to start.
At AGC, our approach is inclusive, solution-oriented, and focused on progress over perfection.
If we want lasting, positive change, both individual and collective action are needed.
Our Campus
The Greenest Building That Keeps Growing
Located on Chicago's Southwest Side, AGC's 70,000-square-foot facility was designed to close the loop on energy, water, and waste.
The site sat fallow since 2011. Today, it generates more energy and captures more water than it uses, sending the surplus back into the community.
As of 2026, the Academy for Global Citizenship is the first and only building in Illinois, as well as the first and only whole school building in the world, to meet the standards of the Living Building Challenge—the world’s highest environmental certification from Living Future.
Fifty geothermal wells, 550 kW of on-site photovoltaic panels, and on-site battery storage power the building—a system so efficient that AGC produces 107% of the energy it uses, returning the rest to the grid.
From solar panels to nature playscapes to our urban farm, AGC’s award-winning campus serves as a third teacher, engaging hundreds of students and community members in a more regenerative way of living every single day.
Campus Features
Educational Gardens
Hands-on growing spaces integrated into classroom learning, where students plant, tend, and observe across every grade level.
Urban Farm
A two-acre working farm harvested five days a week, giving students direct, daily access to where their food comes from and how it grows.
Environmental Learning Commons
An outdoor gathering deck extending over our rain gardens that invites students to learn from nature while experiencing firsthand how green infrastructure captures, filters, and restores rainwater.
Outdoor Learning Balconies
Classroom-adjacent outdoor spaces where students step outside to learn, reflect, and connect with fresh air as part of the daily rhythm of school, not a separate trip outdoors.
Medicine Wheel
An outdoor gathering space co-designed by local artists, students, and a curandera from Mexico, featuring handmade ceramics, reclaimed wood from Chicago Park District trees, and planters growing African and Latin American heritage crops, honoring the community's roots while nurturing new ones.
Community Gardens
Open growing spaces that extend the farm's bounty and its benefits beyond the school day, connecting families and neighbors to fresh food and the land.
Our Culture
Nurturing Curiosity and Compassion
At AGC, our most powerful energy source is our people.
Every person in AGC's ecosystem—students, staff, and families alike—plays a role in our shared commitment to environmental justice.
From our global professional development program to the new traditions we celebrate throughout the school year, we work to cultivate an environment that reflects our core values, strengthens our mindfulness, and sustains our mission as a living, breathing movement to inspire more positive action across humanity.
Together, every day becomes an opportunity to make things better and brighter for each other and for the historically underrepresented communities we're proud to call home.
Culture
Sustainability Onboarding
Every new staff member is welcomed into AGC's sustainability culture from day one, with training on how to model environmental stewardship for students in simple, meaningful ways.
Innovation Fund
AGC’s annual professional development fund supports educators in pursuing sustainability-expanding programs and international experiences that also strengthen their teaching practice.
Community Engagement
All staff dedicate a minimum of 12 hours annually to community stewardship, from park cleanups to habitat restoration, modeling the global citizenship they teach.
Seedling Sale
An annual AGC event where students sell a variety of plants and herbs for neighbors, families, and community members across Chicago so they can grow more sustainable greens at home.
Wellness Integration
AGC’s commitment to sustainability includes prioritizing holistic health for long-term wellbeing, from spending a third of each day outdoors and to hosting a full-day retreat dedicated to educator restoration.
Green Festival
AGC’s annual holiday celebration that spotlights local Chicago vendors and businesses, designed to give students and families an opportunity to practice conscious gifting.
Our Campus
The Greenest Building That Keeps Growing
Located on Chicago's Southwest Side, AGC's 70,000-square-foot facility was designed to close the loop on energy, water, and waste.
The site sat fallow since 2011. Today, it generates more energy and captures more water than it uses, sending the surplus back into the community.
As of 2026, the Academy for Global Citizenship is the first and only building in Illinois, as well as the first and only whole school building in the world, to meet the standards of the Living Building Challenge—the world’s highest environmental certification from Living Future.
Fifty geothermal wells, 550 kW of on-site photovoltaic panels, and on-site battery storage power the building—a system so efficient that AGC produces 107% of the energy it uses, returning the rest to the grid.
From solar panels to nature playscapes to our urban farm, AGC’s award-winning campus serves as a third teacher, engaging hundreds of students and community members in a more regenerative way of living every single day.
Curriculum Elements
Educational Gardens
Hands-on growing spaces integrated into classroom learning, where students plant, tend, and observe across every grade level.
Urban Farm
A two-acre working farm harvested five days a week, giving students direct, daily access to where their food comes from and how it grows.
Environmental Learning Commons
An outdoor gathering deck extending over our rain gardens that invites students to learn from nature while experiencing firsthand how green infrastructure captures, filters, and restores rainwater.
Outdoor Learning Balconies
Classroom-adjacent outdoor spaces where students step outside to learn, reflect, and connect with fresh air as part of the daily rhythm of school, not a separate trip outdoors.
Medicine Wheel
An outdoor gathering space co-designed by local artists, students, and a curandera from Mexico, featuring handmade ceramics, reclaimed wood from Chicago Park District trees, and planters growing African and Latin American heritage crops, honoring the community's roots while nurturing new ones.
Community Gardens
Open growing spaces that extend the farm's bounty and its benefits beyond the school day, connecting families and neighbors to fresh food and the land.
