Pureology and Global Green USA has announced the grand prize winner and four runner-up schools in the Global Green USA Green School Makeover Competition, presented by Pureology. The Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) will receive the grand prize—the ultimate Green School Makeover worth $130,000—while four runner-up schools will each receive a $2,500 cash prize to be used toward sustainability upgrades.

The grand-prize winner and runners-up were selected by a panel of judges out of a pool of more than 220 public, private and charter K-12 schools that submitted proposals for green school renovations.

"Global Green USA has been greening schools for more than a decade—we believe every child deserves a healthy learning environment,” said Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green. “Green schools improve student performance, increase average daily attendance, and reduce operating costs, energy and water consumption. We are deeply excited to be able to bring those benefits to the students and teachers at the extraordinary Texas School for the Deaf.”

“Our salon is so excited to congratulate the Texas School for the Deaf on winning the grand prize for Global Green USA's Green School Makeover competition presented by Pureology!” says Francisco Villa, Owner of Francisco’s Salon in Austin, TX. “When I first heard about the Green School Makeover from Pureology, I knew this school would be an ideal fit and am so proud of their achievement and success for winning first place out of more than 220 entries. I look forward to seeing the upgrades and how these impact the school and our shared local community – thank you Pureology and Global Green USA for making this world a better place for us to live in.”

TSD is the oldest continuously operating, publicly funded school in Texas will receive the ultimate Green School Makeover including $65,000 for school renovations and an additional $65,000 worth of technical assistance.  Since 1857, over 10,000 K—12 grade students have graced the halls of TSD and benefitted from the school’s diverse programs to ensure that each student can learn at their most effective rate.

“We are so excited that Pureology and Global Green have given us this opportunity,” said TSD Superintendent Claire Bugen. “Unlike other public schools, we live on this campus 24 hours a day and we generate a lot of waste.  This prize will help us take our fledgling recycling efforts to the next level and install some important tools, like automatic faucets, to help us become more sustainable.”

“All great accomplishment in schools come from community partnerships and so it was with Francisco’s Salon.  After doing a few great makeovers and a cut-a-thon in support of TSD, Francisco suggested we try to get a green makeover for the campus and that’s how we learned about the Green School Makeover Competition.  South Congress is a great edgy, hip and eclectic community and we are sure glad that Francisco moved into the neighborhood.  We just wish he'd gotten to Austin sooner! We’ve been here for 155 years,” Bugen continued.

Additionally, the four runner-up schools will each receive $2,500 towards their proposed sustainable upgrades:

1. Garlough Environmental School (St. Paul, MN)

2. Heritage Middle School (Berwyn, IL)

3. Samuel Powel Elementary School (Philadelphia, PA)

4. Zimmerman School House/Abi's Place (Coral Springs, FL) (Children w/ disabilities)

To follow the progress of TSD’s green makeover, please visit Pureology’s Facebook page.  Pureology will be documenting the renovation process with photos and videos from January through June of 2012.