Pacific Crest School’s farm campus on Vashon Island is an ideal setting for extending and expanding the experiences of the middle school community. Small groups go out regularly to continue their work at the rural campus. Academic subjects, the arts and physical education are combined with the physical work of the farm and the business of harvesting and marketing for the urban campus farmer’s market and the roadside stand at the farm. These experiences come together as an integrating force in the development of the students. They begin to see themselves as part of a vital, productive community that serves, not only the needs of each student, but also the needs of our communities.

Montessori recognized that an ideal setting for the young adolescent is land away from the city that will connect the student with the agricultural roots of civilization and to the cycle of production of food, from seed to planting, to harvest and finally to market. The land campus also allows young people to participate in the exploration and development of sustainable living.