It’s appropriate that a profile about certified grounds manager Rick Scutt should be featured in George School’s “Under the Trees” newsletter; after all, he is the school’s arboreal expert. Rick spends a fair amount of his days under, between and all around the campus trees. Luckily, it’s where he finds challenge and enjoyment.

A former physical plant team member at the school and now its grounds and fleet manager, Rick heads up a team of three highly skilled and versatile employees. 

“This role changed after Vince [Campellone], my predecessor, left,” he said. “He was the working supervisor, so he was able to stay and work in the field. Now that I’ve taken on the grounds manager role as well as managing the fleet, half my time is in the office.”  

The fleet is made up of maintenance department equipment, grounds vehicles and equipment and vehicles the Office of Student Life uses for field trips, weekend activities or excursions to the airport. The team — together with a contracted mechanic — maintains these, along with approximately 15 school golf carts. Rowing team shells might soon be on the maintenance docket as well.

On the grounds side, Rick and his team manage 20 acres of athletic fields and about 50 acres of common areas. This includes keeping parking lots and roads snow-free, safe and navigable. The entire school property is 240 acres, and a great deal of it is canopied with centuries-old trees. “Some are state champions,” Rick said with pride, “possibly national champions.”

The beauty of George School’s physical environment is essential to its identity — an asset within the very heart of the school. This knowledge deeply influences the way Rick approaches his work.

Recently, the campus lost a tree that dated back to the Civil War. “I was sad to see it go down,” said Rick. But his landscape strategy is guided by legacy planting: “Last year, we planted that same kind of tree elsewhere on campus,” he said. “We try to stick to native plants for longevity. But we also have good-looking specimen plants. I try to keep an arboretum type of feel in the bigger areas.” Recently donated plants also found a home at the pond.

To keep the grounds functional as well as beautiful, Rick has been implementing new practices across campus that are sustainability-driven and cost-smart.

“We’ve just purchased a topdresser so we can change the composition of the soil on the fields and help us maintain water,” he said. “During the dry months, the soil gets really hard. We’re trying to introduce more compost onto the fields. It’s softer and hopefully safer for the athletes.”

Managing the amount of leaves dropped by some 200 acres of trees takes strategy too. Rick’s team has begun tackling the issue with specialized equipment to catch and recycle as many of the leaves as they can, as mulch. The reduced material is left to nourish the soil beneath the trees or added to the fields. And felled or fallen trees find new purpose as firewood, chips or lumber. “We try to recycle as much as we can,” said Rick.

Recycling also has a role in efficient fleet management. The team has updated decades-old mowers, and a recent auction to sell unused machinery freed up space and brought in cash. “We had tractors from 1955,” Rick continued. “The auction made enough money to add an electric vehicle to one of the fleet. My supervisor has been changing our fleet over to electric for our maintenance department.”

Rick hopes to add more hands to his team, ideally with two workers dedicated to the athletic fields, four to handle landscaping and others for mechanical tasks. A more balanced distribution of labor would allow him to assist where needed, as well as put in solid admin time. 

“One of the things I learned from Vince is to just keep going. It’s a process,” Rick said. “We’re trying to get to a better standard. It’ll get there.”  

His newest initiative is reforesting near hectic Route 413, which promises to be “a noise buffer, a visual buffer and a space where you can reflect,” he said. “Your attention is taken away from all the outside noises. It gives you time to relax and get your mind set.”   

At a time when the global temperature is high, both literally and figuratively, Rick values the daily opportunity to create “a space of comfort” for the George School community. 

Learn more about Campus and Sustainability at George School here.