The Farm School

There is something to be said for names that tell you in simple language what it refers to. So it is with The Farm School. The Farm School is a school that teaches agricultural practices so that students, both children and adults, can "experience first hand what it means to be a steward of the earth."

The school has four distinct programs. Fundamentally, The Farm School allows middle-school students time to work on a farm. Originally, the program allowed middle-school students to work on the farm for 3-5 day stretches during the school year. More recently, the school established a full-time middle school for local children. For its adult students, the school provides a year-long residential training program in organic agriculture. Additionally, The Farm School runs summer programs to provide students with additional time on the farm once the school year officially ends.

There is a multitude of independent schools in these United States, but schools like this really harness the potential that such independence affords. Additionally, the partnership that this school seems to have with nearby traditional public schools is a promising instance of the healthy relationships that could be built between different kinds of schools, different kinds of educators, and different kinds of kids.

You can visit The Farm School here: http://www.farmschool.org/index.html