Each morning, the green fields and hills of Sacred Heart Greenwich’s campus greet students, faculty, and staff as they arrive to school. These 110 acres of land, from the native meadows to the sports turfs to the orchard, owe their maintenance to the work of the grounds team. This winter, Mr. Wilford Smyers, Grounds Manager, along with Mr. Sean Malmgren, Mr. Patrick Watson, Mr. Jaime Hernandez, and Mr. Matt Cirillo, are taking on new projects to allow students to engage with the campus for sustainability and sports.
Currently, the group is working down the hill from the main campus, near the sports fields. There, they will add lights and data service to the turf fields, enabling more flexible athletic scheduling. Bringing electric connections to this area will also prepare the observatory for future expansion.
Over by the Upper School soccer field, Mr. Smyers and his team are preparing to install a practice putting green. The green will support the Sacred Heart golf program by enabling players to practice during the off-season and earlier in the spring season.
The grounds staff recently renovated the campus garden, redesigning the layout and increasing the number of garden beds to 11. These new, smaller beds will allow students to access the plantings more easily and cultivate a greater diversity of crops. Just outside the garden gate, the team upgraded the old telescope pad and remodeled the patio into an outdoor classroom. Mr. Smyers detailed the intention behind these projects, referencing the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria.
“I am always in favor of enhancing the student experience at Sacred Heart Greenwich,” Mr. Smyers said. “That is why my team and I take pride in the presentation of campus. We want all of the students to be able to use campus in their own way, whether for faith, athletics, arts, science, nature, et cetera. We then work to accomplish this while keeping Goal Three, Criteria Four in mind: caring for God’s creation and practicing effective stewardship.”
In terms of stewardship, the grounds group continued to manage multiple environmental efforts in the fall and early winter. In collaboration with the Sustainability Club, they aided in the ongoing composting of food scraps from the cafeteria and organic matter. They replaced old shrubbery with native and perennial plant species, which are hardier and more pollinator-friendly. They also tracked campus biodiversity, installing two wildlife cameras to monitor animals and adding new bird feeders to offer nutrition to migrating and overwintering birds.
Last year, Earth-aware projects like these enabled Sacred Heart to become the third school in the United States to achieve Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status. Under the guidance of student, faculty, and staff leaders, the school also became a Connecticut Green LEAF (Leading, Educating, Achieving, Fostering) member in the fall. Mr. Smyers explained that sustainability can harmonize with new campus work and development.
“We are trying to educate the students and faculty that we are environmental stewards and how everyone plays a part in the process,” Mr. Smyers said. “With thoughtful planning, you can make enhancements and still be environmental stewards.”
Looking forward to the spring, Mr. Smyers, Mr. Malmgren, Mr. Watson, Mr. Hernandez, and Mr. Cirillo anticipate adding more fruit trees to the garden as well as the orchard area along the driveway. Additionally, the student-run Garden Club hopes to partner with the grounds team to establish an herb garden closer to the school’s main buildings. Mr. Smyers reflected on the extraordinary opportunities that the campus provides for members of the Sacred Heart community.
“I think our campus and the upgrades are to allow the students to have flexibility with our campus, whether it be utilizing the observatory, gardening in the greenhouse or garden, spending quiet time reflecting in the meadow or by the statue of Mary, taking a wellness or bird stroll, drawing some of the plants in our shrub beds, or playing on one of our sports fields,” Mr. Smyers said. “To be able to start plants in a greenhouse and see them come to fruition in the garden, learn about and see bee hives in action, pick apples from our own trees, take water samples from a pond, see the compost being utilized for plantings, and more is something that many campuses cannot offer.”
Featured Image by Avery Kim ’24
