This qualitative case study of Island Community School provides a detailed description of how one school incorporated place-based, environmentally conscious education over the course of more than a decade. The study explored the conditions that supported and constrained this approach in an isolated rural community. Data came primarily from interviews with educators, students, and community members but also from participant observation. Four themes helped explain relevant dynamics: leadership by the principal, interaction with seasonal residents, teachers' varied practices, and school culture invested in student inquiry. The research illustrated an approach that prepared students in one rural community with environmental awareness and skills that might serve them wherever they choose to live as adults. (Contains 8 notes.)