Visiting Schools
at the Farm School
We farm with kids. School groups of up to 40 students each visit for 3-day programs throughout the school year.

visiting schools

  • Our Program for Visiting Schools is the centerpiece of The Farm School. Each school year, over 1,500 children come to help us care for our farm during 3-day visits. The students come with their classes, in groups of up to 40 children at one time, many times splitting a week between two groups from the same school. Many schools bring students for multiple visits spread out over several years. While they are here, the students find value in real work, create community that persists when they return to their classrooms, and experience first hand what it means to be stewards of the earth. It’s simple and it’s magical.

    Schools are charged tuition on a sliding scale based on their participation in the federally funded school lunch program. Half the students that come pay a reduced tuition, the balance of which is made up by donations to The Farm School. Every school that has come has returned. As a result, our calendar is usually quite full. However, we welcome inquires about possible visits and are always looking for ways to stretch to fit in more programs! If you are interested, fill out the form below to begin a conversation about your school coming to The Farm School.

    Fill out the PVS Inquiry form.

     

  • The work and care of the farm is the mainstay of the program. The farm itself is 130 acres, with about 40 acres of open land and 90 acres of woods. It is an incredibly productive place, with large vegetable gardens designed to help feed all that come, young orchards, a maple sugaring operation, a dairy with up to 6 cows milking, pigs, beef cows, goats, chickens, oxen, a woodlot that keeps us busy producing firewood and lumber and lovely pastures and fields for the kids and animals to roam. Students are fully integrated into the farm operations, rising early for milking, tending to the garden, fields and forests, and helping to cook meals with the food they have harvested. By the time they leave, the farm is theirs.

  •  Day 1 Getting to Know the Farm
    10:30  Welcome, settle into the bunk rooms, get cups & nametags
    10:45  Opening Circle
    11:15  Farm Explore Tour ; Visiting Staff Meeting
    12:00  Lunch (students bring from home)
    2:30    Games
    1:00    Farm Work: Barn, Garden, Forest
    4:00    Snack / Free Time
    5:00    Chores
    6:15    Dinner and clean-up
    7:15    Evening Activity
    8:15    Quiet Evening Routine
    Day 2 Working the Land
    6:15    Wake-up
    6:30    Chores
    7:30    Breakfast/Clean-up
    8:15    Yoga
    9:00    Community Meeting
    9:15    Farm Work groups rotate
    10:15  Snack
    10:30  Back to same Farm Work
    11:30  Options Intro
    12:00  Lunch and clean up
    1:00    Class
    2:15    Options
    3:45    Snack/Free Time
    5:00    Chores
    6:00    Dinner and clean-up
    7:00    Evening Activity
    8:00    Quiet Evening Routine Day
    Day 3 Farmers Now!
    6:15    Wake-up
    6:30    Chores
    7:30    Breakfast and clean-up
    8:00    Pack and clean- bags out front
    8:45    Farm Work Rotate
    10:00  Closing Circle
    10:30  Clamber on Bus – Goodbye!

  • Program for Visiting Schools Staff

    Every staff member at the Program for Visiting Schools is both a Farmer and/or Chef AND a Teacher.  As a result, every single person here is equally devoted to the farm and to the students who come to care for it with us.

     
    Carmen Mouzon, PVS Program/Summer Program Director and Farmer/Teacher – Garden

    Hi wonderful people. I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA.  Growing up, I lived on a dead-end street and right behind my house was a forest.  Some of my best memories and after school activities were wandering through those woods, jumping over make believe quicksand and creating forts. Somehow, I have kept this love of nature and imagination in my heart.  It is what makes my soul happy and really keeps me grounded.  I have been lucky to share this adventure with youth in the North GA mountains and most recently at the Amigos Community School in Cambridge, MA.  I have always wanted to work alongside youth and I’ve also wanted to farm.  One of the kiddos at Amigos told me about The Farm School and how he loved his summer program experience there.  When it came time for me to explore my dream of farming, I found myself following his footsteps.  I am happy to step into this journey as the Program Director of the Program for Visiting Schools. I am so looking forward to all the possibilities that will arise in this wonderful space!  To good times, land, laughter and adventure! 

    Cristina Garcia, Chef/Teacher 

    Cristina was dreaming of becoming a lunch lady when she found The Farm School. She loves the power of a shared meal and the connections made possible through humble ingredients. As a chef/teacher she can’t get enough of a kitchen with views of cows on pasture or the rotating cast of pint-sized sous chefs.

    David Graham, Farmer/Teacher – Barn

    David grew up in Concord, MA. He farmed in Colorado and the Minuteman National Historical Park before coming to The Farm School. He works in the Program for Visiting Schools and loves the opportunity to share the farm with people from all walks of life.

    Josh Pincus, Farmer/Teacher – Barn

    Josh teaches animal husbandry and coordinates the management of all the livestock on the farm with the adult student farmers and visiting children at the Program for Visiting Schools.

    Taylor Pauls, Farmer/Teacher – Barn 

    Hey. I work in the barn. I was apart of the summer program staff for three summers before coming to the Program for Visiting Schools. My favorite part about the program are the meals, the support system, and the kind smiles and laughter that fill this place each day.

  • The tangible outcomes that are most important to us are a healthy farm and kids who love it. The success of our educational programs for children and their teachers has attracted national media attention, and placed The Farm School in the privileged position of being able to serve as a model for other programs. If you think our model could offer you some ideas, please check out a very thorough evaluation of the Program For Visiting Schools, The Lay Of The Land and please don’t hesitate getting in touch with Founder Ben Holmes, who would be happy to offer any help he can in the development of your idea or existing program.


  • The Farm School is located in rural, north-central Massachusetts straddling the towns of Orange and Athol, MA, with the dormitory for the Program for Visiting Schools at Sentinel Elm Farm and the schoolhouse for the Chicken Coop School at Maggie’s Farm.

    Map Projection UTM Zone 18 N, NAD 83. Contour Interval 10 feet. Digital Elevation Model from MassGIS. Using: ArcGIS Version 10.2 and Adobe Creative Suite 5