“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Highlands Farm School is a two-day-a-week program for ages 7-14.
We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:15 am to 2 pm from September through May.
Parents join the community as parent helpers during the school year.
Students learn through active engagement with a 5 acre homestead on the East Renton Highlands. The homestead includes friendly farm cats, rabbits, an English Shepherd dog, chickens, Muscovy ducks, goats, sheep, a mini horse, a Belfair cow and calf, honeybees, gardens, an orchard, pastures, a seasonal pond, a playground and a cedar tree that is great for climbing.
School days start with farm chore and nature exploration time. This includes care, feeding and handling of the animals, gardening, taking a closer look at natural occurrences like spiderwebs, frost and shadows, and skill development such as sawing fallen branches into kindling, starting fires in the woodstove and tying useful knots.
Students bring their own lunches, and work up an appetite as we spend time outside.
Our routine includes the following:
● Record-keeping as we do farm chores
● The integration of reading, writing, and arithmetic into practical projects
● Singing hymns, patriotic songs and folk songs
● A Bible story told in both English and Spanish
● Literature discussion
● additional Spanish immersion games and conversational activities throughout the day
● Poetry
● Folk dancing
● Music listening, singing games and performance activities such as playing choir chimes
● Fitness
● Lots of hands on science
● Nature log entries made while students are in their own space somewhere on the homestead.
We encourage parents to arrive at 1:30 pm so that there is time for the adults to connect with the teachers, each other, and the students before departure.
The Highlands Farm School program is designed to help parents meet their educational goals. Parents retain the primary responsibility for the education and upbringing of their children. Each family is expected to participate in the Highlands Farm School community in the following ways:
● Submit the official “Intent to Homeschool” notification to the School District
administration where the family resides in accordance with state law.
● Complete annual testing requirements in accordance with Washington State law.
● Provide diligent instruction in the additional subjects that comprise the balance of
your children’s curricula, and on days when the Highlands Farm School does not meet.
● Serve as Parent Helper on a rotational basis.
● Deliver students no later than 9:20 am each school day and arrive for pickup by 1:40 pm at least once a week.
● Be willing to help as needed with academic and community activities such as
coordination of Parent Helper schedule, school field trips, class parties, etc.
● Communicate any concerns and ideas for improvement directly to teachers.
For more information, contact Kathy at HighlandsFarmSchool@gmail.com.
Enrollment for the 2026-27 school year is currently full.
