School Principal Message

Welcome to our school,

The Terra Nova Science and Sustainability high school program began in 2014 as an idea formulated between two Beaverton School District science teachers. They wanted to teach science in a more hands on, experiential way. Utilizing the vacant building and grounds previously occupied by Bonny Slope Elementary, the teachers taught biology in a creative, hands-on, engaging way. The program soon expanded to include chemistry until it grew to the program we are today; a small farm program focusing on science and sustainability. 

At the Terra Nova Science and Sustainability program, it is our mission to be a project-based science and sustainability program that empowers students to grow food, engineer solutions, and build community. Students benefit from numerous opportunities to connect to what they have learned in the classroom. Students from Beaverton School District comprehensive high schools learn chemistry and biology on our farm. Our 4-acre farm housing poultry, a greenhouse, orchard and field crops, kitchen, and wood shop provide an ideal environment for students to educate themselves and their peers within a project-based framework. As an approved CTE program of study, we work together to grow and cook organic food, practice self-sufficiency, and promote sustainability.  

We believe all kids learn and think best when they are invested in a project of their own design and curiosity. At Terra Nova, students work within a unique environment to prepare them for relevant and rigorous real-world learning.  Students are offered an interdisciplinary nurturing environment that gives them a sense of belonging. One of the unique and educationally sound aspects of this instructional program is the relationship between classroom instruction and learning by actually doing.