Two Gloucester County schools and, in its final year, Thomas Hunter Middle School in Mathews, were named to the Virginia Naturally School Recognition Program for the 2025-2026 school year. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources honors schools that are working to include environmental literacy in their curricula through this program. This was the fourth year that Thomas Hunter Middle School was recognized. In Gloucester, Abingdon Elementary School made the list for the eighth time, while Peasley Middle School earned this honor for the 25th time. As the state’s official environmental education school recognition program, DWR’s Virginia Naturally School Program honors exemplary efforts undertaken to increase environmental awareness and stewardship among K-12 students.Schools were 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 conne...