School Farm

Coupeville's School Farm was launched in 2020 when Coupeville School District won a two-year, $93,000 USDA Farm to School Grant.  Under the skilled guidance of Kylie Neal, Coupeville's first School Farmer, the back field off Ebey Road was transformed into a 1-acre educational farm, hosting students from all grade levels and producing thousands of pounds of produce each season for our cafeterias. The School Farm has been further supported by Washington State Outdoor Learning Grants and through the district’s ongoing partnership with the non-profit Coupeville Farm to School, which provides funding for both garden educators and farm staff. 

 

In 2023, Kylie passed the baton to current school farmer Arwen Norman, who brought over a decade of farming experience including almost a decade on Whidbey to the position. She started just in time for the fall harvest season and its deluge of tomatoes and cucumbers, which are very popular on the salad bar and kept farm produce in the cafeteria all winter in the form of pickles. In the 2024 season we completed a new welcome circle to give arriving classes a place to gather on the farm, constructed two new greenhouses with support from the Boeing Employee Community Fund, and enjoyed the blooms in a new native prairie wildflower patch. 

 

One goal for the farm is to expand its reach beyond the school day and the school year through after school programs and summer camps in cooperation with Coupeville Farm to School, but also in open days for families and community members. Events we are planning this spring include an Earth and Ocean Month celebration in April and an after-school open house in May, with self-guided tours and the opportunity to lend a hand on the farm. “Farmily” days will be weekly in the summer, with opportunities to harvest, explore, plant, and play. Please feel free to contact Farmer Arwen if you have other questions or are interested in volunteering.

The District partners closely with a local non-profit, Coupeville Farm to School (CF2S), which began  in 2013 when a group of parents, teachers, school food service staff, and local food advocates  identified ways local food could integrate into the District. The conversation evolved into  establishing the non-profit CF2S organization that is now independently funded through community  donations and grants.  CF2S staff and volunteers provide garden-based education to elementary students in the District, have just this year initiated exploratory opportunities for our middle and high school students, and coordinate family and community outreach events throughout the year. In 2019, the District built on the strong foundation of CF2S and ended a decades-long food  management contract, establishing a self-operated lunch program to provide scratch-made foods. Since launching, student lunch participation has more than doubled from 2018-2019. We established a School Farm in 2020 that is able to now provide vegetables for our meal programs and space for outdoor education.