FREEDOM FARMER ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS
Education that Grows Community
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Freedom Farm is to create a high school experience that utilizes place-based learning and social justice as frameworks for education, resulting in authentic, student-driven, and engaging learning experiences to help create informed, empowered, and passionate students who do relevant and important work in our community and world now and in the future. As part of this work we grow produce for the Olympia School District, Thurston County Food Bank, City of Olympia SKIP lunch program, Safe Place and our students.
For more information and footage of our space, check out this OSPI video featuring our Freedom Farm program:
Freedom Farm Video
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2 cohorts of programming
We are offering two cohorts of programming for the 2025-2026 school year. See below for more information about each program and application links. If you have any questions please reach out to Cindel Tobias at [email protected].
FF2 Cohort
The Freedom Farm FF2 cohort will continue to be a full-time high school program in the 2025-2026 school year. The main focus of this program will be sustainable agriculture, climate farming, and environmental stewardship. The FF2 cohort will take on physical farm maintenance, plantings, harvests, and food processing responsibilities. Work will include implementing climate farming practices, ecosystem restoration work in the prairie and greenbelt, perennial food system implementation, and deeper understanding of soil, plant, and water functions in healthy ecosystems.
Credits Offered (Tentative–Subject to Change):
ELA 10 or 11 (based on each student’s need)
US History
Geometry
PE
CTE Agroecology (Elective/Science)
CTE Farm Management (Elective/CTE)
FF2 Application Link
FF3 Cohort
The Freedom Farm FF3 cohort will be a full-time high school program in the 2025-2026 school year. The main focus of this program will be educational leadership and ambassadorship. Farmers will have the opportunity to take the foundational skills they have learned and apply them to community-based outreach. The vision for this program is that students will be working with our community partners and other schools in our district, both on and off our campus. Partnerships will include Jefferson Middle School, Washington Middle School, Centennial Elementary DLC, and Reeves Middle School. Students will be responsible for leading field trips on our farm, visiting partner schools in supporting their garden and outdoor education projects, and teaching both sustainable agriculture and native plant lessons.
Credits Offered (Tentative–Subject to Change):
ELA 11 or 12 (based on each student’s need)
Civics / Social Studies Elective: The History of the Public Education System
Applied Art
Statistics
Natural Resources (Science / CTE)
Tend (Science / Elective)
FF3 Application Link
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LOCATION:
Students will primarily meet and work at our district farm site off-campus from Olympia High School – 4800 Siskiyou Street SE Olympia, WA 98501.
We also will schedule service learning field trips in partnership with local community organizations and programs.
TRANSPORTATION:
At this time, we are only able to provide limited morning school bus transportation to our farm site. There is a morning shuttle school bus that picks up students from OHS or CHS and brings them to the farm. Students are responsible for getting home from the farm on their own. Our farm site is conveniently located on a city bus route (#68). Students are also welcome to drive themselves or have family coordinate their pickup and drop off. Please let us know if consistent transportation to and from the farm is a barrier and we can work together to figure out a plan.
APPLICATION:
If you are interested in joining the program in fall 2025, please complete an application for the FF2 or FF3 cohort (link for applications above). Only students who fill out applications will be considered for the program.
After submitting an application, we will be in contact with students to schedule a tour and interview/ try-on day at the farm. We welcome any interested students to apply and prioritize students who have credit retrieval needs, have had attendance struggles in the past, and/or qualify for special education services. Applications will be considered in the order of which we receive them. Depending on space in each program, some students may be asked to join a waitlist.
Please contact Cindel Tobias at [email protected] for any questions about applying to the program.
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OUR CORE VALUES AND VISION
Centering Justice and Equity
- Amplifying voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and fostering authentic allyship, with racial equity and the dismantling of systemic injustice as driving forces of our collective work
- Recruiting and retaining Educators of Color to ensure our faculty members and stakeholders reflect the diversity of our students
- Utilizing restorative justice practices that value relationships, self-growth, and reconciliation
- Engaging students who thrive in a hands-on, high context educational setting with prioritization of students with special needs, students of color, and students with low-incomes.
Valuing Student Agency
- Creating relevant, engaging, and empowering curriculum that places student needs and gifts as central
- Welcoming students as crucial stakeholders in their own education, emphasizing student autonomy, student governance models, and student participation in teacher hiring, teacher evaluation, and curriculum planning
Engaging Community Partners
- Building connections in our community so student learning is in the context of real community work and learning can take place both at our central hub and out in the community with partners
- Engaging families, community members, and students in meaningful, open, and ongoing communication
Valuing Genuine Learning
- Offering team-taught courses with integrated subject areas that aim to build skills and connections for students to utilize in their post-high school journey
- Preparing students for their future by developing job and career skills, personal finance skills, and social/emotional awareness
- Adopting a schedule that is aligned with teen development and allows for teachers to engage in meaningful collaboration for planning, reflection, and outreach
Providing Intentional Support
- Offering access to consistent and integrated mental health support for all students
- Providing consistent drug and alcohol counseling to students in need of support, emphasizing health and wellness over disciplinary action
- Assisting students in navigating systems and institutional barriers to ensure all students have access to basic necessities, resources, and opportunities