Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will host nearly 1,000 volunteers, lawmakers and county leaders from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. on Monday, April 22, for the Resilience, Education, Action, Climate, Habitat (REACH) Hub groundbreaking ceremony and Earth Day volunteer event at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School. 

As part of “Out-of-School Time” programming, hundreds of middle and high school students, along with MCPS staff and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, will spend time building portions of the farm, rehabbing a courtyard garden, planting bio retentions at Loiederman and at nearby Weller Road Elementary School.

The REACH Hub at Loiederman is being developed by MCPS in partnership with the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming. Based in Silver Spring, the nonprofit land trust is dedicated to creating and supporting neighborhood farms that provide educational opportunities, improve food security, build community connections and promote land conservation. Through support from Montgomery County Green Bank’s Technical Assistance Program, site designs are being developed by MCPS to increase resilience. 

The hub will support food production and climate resiliency, as well as serve as an accessible resource for over 17,000 students (89 percent minority) from 20 school locations within two miles, including four schools within walking distance. In addition to Loiederman as the host site, schools within walking distance include Weller Road  Thomas Edison High School of Technology and Wheaton High School. 

What: Volunteer and groundbreaking for the first REACH Hub urban farm to help serve thousands of students and families 

When: 9 a.m.–2 p.m., Monday, April 22

Who: 

• Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich
• MCPS Board of Education and Leadership
• Montgomery County Councilmembers
• Montgomery County Government Agencies
• Charles Koiner Conservancy
• Habitat for Humanity
• Montgomery County Green Bank
• University of Maryland Extension
• Nature Forward
• PEPCO
• Covanta 

Where:

• A. Mario Loiederman Middle School, 12701 Goodhill Road, Silver Spring, MD 20906
• Weller Road Elementary, 3301 Weller Road, Silver Spring, MD 20906

Note: April 22 is also an asynchronous learning day for students to make up for a snow closure earlier in the year.