About Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to engage the DPS community in meaningful outdoor experiences. We do this through environmental education, community engagement events, and capacity building for outdoor learning across DPS.
The Hub Farm is a central component in a healthier school system where interdisciplinary and experiential outdoor learning supports well-being of students, staff, and the DPS community.
Land History- Historical Background
In late 2011, a team of educators, teachers and community members brainstormed ways to put to use 30 acres of vacant public school land behind Eno Valley Elementary School. The team coalesced around the idea of an education farm that would serve as a “hub” to connect DPS students and the community. With the support of DPS’s Career and Technical Education program, the Hub Farm had its official vine-cutting launch in October 2012 at the site.
The land that the Hub Farm sits on is the ancestral land of the Shakori, Eno, Occoneechee, and Catawba people, and more generally, the Carolina Siouan. Many of these descendants live among the Catawba and Lumbee today. Before the land was owned by DPS, George Lunsford Carrington (1893–1972), was the proprietor. A generous donor to educational, medical and religious causes, Mr. Carrington donated the land to Durham County during the early 1900s. Mr. Carrington’s interest in education was present throughout his life; during college he was the editor of The University of North Carolina Daily Tar Heel and published many research papers, and upon graduation he served as a principal in the Durham school system for a year before entering medical training
Annual Reports
Check out our 10 Year Anniversary Report!
The Hub Farm was founded in 2012 and continues to grow and change with each passing season. Explore our Master Plan below, a vision of what the Hub Farm could become in time, conceptualized by local landscape architect Katherine Gill of Tributary Land Design + Build.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
This is an evolving action plan. We remain open to feedback and committed to ongoing improvement.
I. Program Improvement
– Implement culturally responsive teaching practices
– Adopt restorative practices in conflict resolution
– Continually seek and address feedback
II. Equitable Access to Site & Programs
– Improve physical access to the Hub Farm site
– Improve access to meaningful outdoor experiences for communities with different abilities
– Commit to language justice
III. Leadership and Representation
– Expand recruitment for staff, interns, volunteers, and Friends of the DPS Hub Farm board members
– Listen to, learn from, and publicly represent DPS student and community voices
IV. Commitment to Staff Learning
– Participate in DPS Equity Champions program
– Host monthly staff DEI working sessions
– Commit to ongoing professional development
V. Capacity Building for Outdoor Learning in DPS
– Leverage Building Outdoor Learning Durham (BOLD) to offer outdoor learning at all DPS schools
– Network with community partners to expand access to outdoor learning outside of DPS
For even more detail on each of these sections, click here to access our working DEI Action Plan document.
