Farm Discovery School - Wolfe's Neck

COVID Update: To ensure the safety of all participants and staff, Wolfe’s Neck Farm Camp will be following CDC guidelines with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Families will be required to fill out a daily health prescreen before arriving on campus, and campers and staff will need to wear masks at all times; the only exceptions will be during snack and lunch time, where participants will be spaced at least six feet apart. All Farm Discovery School programming will take place outside, except for activities occurring in the livestock barns, or in the case of inclement weather, when students may take shelter in some of our large tents. Camp groups will have little to no interaction with each other throughout the day. Wolfe’s Neck Center will provide multiple hand-washing and sanitation stations throughout our campus to promote proper health and safety practices.

This spring, we are partnering again with RSU5 to offer Farm Discovery School. Students from Morse Street and Mast Landing will attend FDS for 11 weeks from March 15-June 4. The program spends 1-2 weeks in each of our five focus areas: animal husbandry, plant-based food production, woods and water ecology, research and science, and outdoor living skills. This time of year is particularly exciting as students will have the opportunity to see the farm come alive as the temperature warms, animals are born, trees bud, and seedlings are planted.

Parents: Please check back here for weather and program updates & announcements.

Meet the Staff

Michael Messina

Manager of Visitor Education

About FDS

Farm Discovery School was created in the fall of 2020 as a way to support local families while they navigated the hybrid learning model implemented by many school districts. After a few weeks of running the program privately, RSU5 (the district representing Freeport, Pownal, and Durham) reached out to discuss the possibility of a partnership. On days when students would normally be at home doing virtual school, they would instead spend a half day at Wolfe’s Neck and enrich their learning with experiential, farm-based education. With the aid of funding through the CARES Act, this possibility became reality, and almost 200 students joined us at the farm every week during the months of November and December.

FDS in the News

Read the Portland Press Herald’s feature on Farm Discovery School: “Amid COVID restrictions, Wolfe’s Neck offers Freeport kids breath of fresh air – and animals.”

Watch WMTW’s video: “Wolfe’s Neck Center Gives Students a Unique Outdoor Learning Experience.”

Questions?

Please contact Michael Messina, Education Programs Assistant, at [email protected] or (207) 865-4469 x106.