The Paxton Trust is pleased to partner with INMED USA to build the new INMED School on the campus that will provide vulnerable children in our community with an educational curriculum that includes adaptive agriculture education and introduces them to the campus’ new environmental sustainability programs. This new project proposes a private school for middle-school and high-school students. In addition to a regular general education curriculum, as part of its regular class schedule, INMED will offer innovative curricula in sustainable agriculture, health, nutrition, business development, marketing, economics, environmental science, international studies, and horticulture centered around an aquaponics greenhouse and outdoor organic school gardens. INMED has an impressive history of aquaponics and adaptive agriculture education around the world, especially in South Africa, the Caribbean and Peru. The INMED School at Paxton will partner with our INMED affiliates in these countries to offer exciting opportunities for international collaboration for our Loudoun students. All INMED projects include environmental protection and preservation as a core objective. As a good neighbor, we will continue that commitment at Paxton by preserving the existing trees and vegetation boundaries to the fullest extent possible by incorporating permaculture principles.
Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is sustainable agriculture that helps preserve nature, protect plants, and foster ecosystems for plants, animals, and humans. Additional landscaping that promotes pollination and development of ecosystems—such as butterfly gardens, bird watching areas, sensory gardens and plantings of a variety of indigenous trees, shrubs, vines—to foster campus ecosystems will be deeply welcoming for both the wild world and people, offering food and other natural products for self-reliance, as well as beauty and inspiration.
INMED is a nonprofit international humanitarian development organization that has been building pathways for vulnerable children and families to achieve well-being and self-reliance in Loudoun County since 1994. Its Opportunity Center in Sterling is building strong families, resilient children, and opportunities for economic independence, regardless of socio-economic status, disabilities, or special needs.
For more information, please contact Jennifer Smith, Director of US Programs, at: jsmith@inmed.org.
Informational Brochure to read more about INMED aquaponics and the INMED School.