Virginia Naturally (VAN) Schools is the official environmental education school recognition program of the Commonwealth and is administered by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. The goal of the Virginia Naturally Schools Program is to recognize the exemplary efforts undertaken by Virginia schools to increase the Environmental Literacy of its students.
If your school has been working to include education about the environment in the curricula, DWR encourages applying for the Virginia Naturally School Recognition Program during the open application period April 1-June 30 each year. This is not a one-time award, but one upon which you may build and achieve additional recognitions each year you participate. We can’t wait to recognize the wonderful efforts of Virginia schools to increase the environmental literacy of our youngest citizens.
Application Directions
Schools seeking VAN Recognition are evaluated based on two criteria:
- Authentic, hands-on, real-world learning that takes place in the classroom, emphasizes environmental/sustainable education, and includes civic engagement and/or STEM connections.
- Learning that expands beyond the classroom setting (often referred to as meaningful field experiences) to connect back to what students are learning in the classroom.
See VAN-Application-Directions-and-Requirements-2025 for more information.
The application window is open between April 1 and June 30 of each school year. The recognition will be awarded by the Fall of the following school year.
Application
The application is an online form. We suggest you compose your answers to each question in a savable document and then cut and paste your answers into the online form to prevent you from losing your work. In order to help you accurately know your school’s recognition year, please see this Virginia Naturally Schools List up to Fall 2024. Each year, the application opens on April 1st and closes on June 30th.
Program Awards
A tiered recognition program has been developed to award Virginia’s schools:
- For each year of recognition schools will receive a certificate of recognition and a digital badge featuring a Virginia’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN).
- Schools will be able to scale and use the digital badge image for email signatures, websites, newsletters and if the school chooses to produce any products with the digital badge such as shirts, bumper stickers, etc.
- Example of Recognition Year 1 badge- A green badge with the Virginia SGCN species, the Peregrine Falcon:
- In addition to the certificate and digital badge each year, schools will also receive the following awards during these benchmark years:
- Year 1: Wooden plaque to display the school’s recognition certificate
- Year 5: Congratulatory letter from the DWR director
- Year 10: Metal Virginia Naturally Schools sign for the schoolyard
- Year 15: Set of DWR’s field guides (Virginia’s Guide to Bats; Turtles; Snakes; Frogs and Salamanders; etc)
- Year 20: Invitation for recognition at a DWR Board meeting
- Year 1: Wooden plaque to display the school’s recognition certificate
- Pennant flag awards are being phased out and are only available to schools that have already began the process of collecting them prior to the 22-23 application cycle.
If you have any questions about the Virginia Naturally Schools Recognition Program, please contact Courtney Hallacher at courtney.hallacher@dwr.