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  1. Home
  2. Healthy School Environments
  3. Creating a Healthy School Environment

Assess and Improve Your School Environment

Start with these EPA guidance documents to improve the school environment. Pollutants found in the school environment can be especially harmful to children's health, compared to adults. 

Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments

Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments

Audience: Facility managers, custodians, principals, administrators, teachers

This brochure addresses some of the most common areas of environmental health concerns found in schools. It also discusses existing low cost or no cost, affordable measures, programs and resources available to help prevent, reduce and resolve environmental hazards. 

  • Read: Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments (PDF).

Assess Your School's Health

EPA's Healthy School Checklist

Audience: Facility managers, custodians, principals, administrators, teachers

This 16-page voluntary assessment, adapted from materials in the brochure Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments, will help you assess your school's current environmental health, and reduce and prevent exposures to common environmental health hazards in your school. 

  • View the checklist (PDF).

School Environmental Health Guidelines

State School Environmental Health Guidelines

Audience: Facility managers, district administrators, principals 

These guidelines are intended to assist states in establishing and implementing school environmental health programs. The practices recommended within these guidelines can also be applied, with appropriate adaptation, to a wide range of school-related institutions, including child care and early learning centers.

  • Read the School Environmental Health Guidelines (PDF).

School Siting Guidelines

School Siting Guidelines

Audience: Facility managers and district administrators 

EPA developed voluntary School Siting Guidelines that will encourage, inform and improve consideration of environmental factors in local school siting decision-making processes. 

  • Read the School Siting Guidelines (PDF).

Sensible Guide for Healthier School Renovations

Sensible Guide for Healthier School Renovations

Audience: Facility managers and district and school administrators

This booklet provides an overview of how to avoid key environmental health hazards and ways to minimize children’s exposures as schools prepare for and undergo renovations.

  • Read the Sensible Guide for Healthier School Renovations (PDF). 

Healthy Child Care & Early Learning Facilities Self-Assessment

Adult sits with kids at child care

Audience: Facility managers, custodians, principals, administrators, teachers

Simple to use checklist that helps you identify common environmental exposures and risks. It provides easy to implement solutions helping users tackle environmental challenges. 

  • Take the Healthy Child Care & Early Learning Facilities Self-Assessment 

Healthy School Environments

  • Creating a Healthy School Environment
    • Assess and Improve Your School Environment
    • Combating Air Pollution at Schools
    • Using Chemicals and Cleaning Safely at School
    • Disasters, Emergencies and Schools
    • Managing Asthma at School
    • Reducing Waste at Schools
  • Environmental Health Threats at School
  • Resources for Educators
Contact Us about Healthy School Environments
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on July 17, 2024
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