There’s something captivating about the Growing Up Green Charter School in gritty Long Island City, a community better known for its industrial landscape.

The Dutch Kills-area school - located at 39-37 28th Street - might be in its infancy, but visitors nonetheless can expect to witness any number of examples of green culture in the making as daily life at the school hums along.

Weather it’s through the management of worm-laced compost bins or through discussions about where garbage comes from and how it ends up in landfills, the kindergarteners and first-graders that currently make up the student body are most definitely immersed in everything green.

Matthew Greenberg, the school’s founder and principal, said he first became intrigued with the idea of starting a green-culture school in an urban setting about four years ago, while studying to become a principal. With the idea came the conviction that the school should be anchored in a strong science and math curriculum.

“I thought what a great opportunity to focus on science with [young] kids,” said Greenberg.

Most of the 147 students at Growing Up Green are from School District 30, which covers Western Queens. But a couple of students come from as far away as Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Charter schools with their distinctive curricula offer appealing academic options to families that otherwise might not be able to afford them.

Growing up Green’s unique teaching philosophy is expressed in the daily Explore and Discover time, which serves as enrichment for traditional classroom instruction. The Explore and Discover activities engage the children in learning through art, music, movement, and other creative activities.

“We’re teaching children with a holistic approach that creates excitement,” said Greenberg.

Christine Ramos-Diaz, the school’s science coordinator, said that while the children are currently learning about animal species indigenous to New York and taking a look at weather patterns, they are also developing ties to the community outside their school window.

They have adopted neighborhood trees and planted tulip bulbs in flower beds (currently buried under banks of snow) in front of the school building. Teachers, students, and parents, who are encouraged to get involved in school culture, are happily anticipating the spring. That is when the edible garden will be planted. It will be used in tandem with classroom instruction to teach students about food production.

And if all goes as planned, the next school year will see the arrival of a school-top greenhouse. So how does all of this impact the student’s lives?

Ramos-Diaz said the school’s culture will help city kids foster a deeper connection to their surrounding environment.

“For our kids [taking care of their environment] is going to come naturally,” she said. “It’s going to be something that’s in them. It’s not just something that we teach for a month or two.”