Prince William County Public Schools

Center for Environmental and Natural Sciences

The Center for Environmental and Natural Sciences (CENS) specialty program at Freedom High School offers a rigorous four-year program of studies designed to include strong laboratory and field investigation components. The program emphasizes interactive science research and projects that make use of the on-site CENS lab, greenhouse, aquarium, diverse habitats, and wet pond.

The mission of CENS is to promote environmental citizenship and a sustainable community through service and challenging hands-on collaborative learning experiences that promote innovative thinking, problem-solving, and leadership within our school and community. Freedom High School aims to create a sustainable society of students that embodies respect and care for the community of life and ecological integrity.

Students will complete service hours and a sequence of required CENS science courses. Students will select pathways within CENS:

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Engineering

Within each pathway, students can earn a CENS Certificate, CENS Merit, or a CENS Medal. Additional information on the pathways can be found on the school website.

Note: Applications for this program are open for rising 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students.

Program Type

Transfer Program – Students participating in this program will transfer to the program location for all courses and activities. Express Bus Transportation is available to accepted students living outside the program location boundaries through Specialty Program Transportation.

Program Location