Glenbrook Greenhouse

"The state-of-the-art Glenbrook Greenhouse is the first of its kind. There are no other school district owned and operated greenhouses that have this level of yield potential. No other district in the nation has a facility this size on school grounds. The greenhouse has been designed with 7 bays. The 1st bay is the occupied warehouse, and the remaining bays are part of the grow facility.

 

Colorado has a short growing season, you can only harvest until the first frost. The greenhouse will allow us to grow beyond those environmental limitations. The greenhouse is solar powered and has been situated on the highest part of the 12 acre plot of land so that it has maximum sun exposure. The greenhouse helps meet our sustainability goals through its solar-powered energy source. The electricity produced by solar panels is clean, renewable and emission free. In addition to our energy source being sustainable, all of our green waste and vines are composted. 

The greenhouse has its own friendly pollinators! Using bumble bees to pollinate plants inside the greenhouse is one way to improve crop quality, increase yield, and reduce labor.

The greenhouse facility is managed by Greenhouse Supervisor Hayden Robbins and Greenhouse Techs Harry and Will. Theresa Hafner, Executive Director of Enterprise Management, oversees the project for DPS.

As of April 2024, Theresa and her team have harvested 23,000 tons of produce. Produce harvested includes tomatoes, snacking peppers and strawberries- and future plans are wide open.

The entire plot of land located at Glenbrook is 12 acres. The greenhouse was originally planned to be a 1 acre structure, but was reduced to be 2/3 acre structure due to the cost of steel increasing by 300% from the original plan. The 2/3 acre structure, plus the retention pond, parking lot, driveway and related infrastructure occupy roughly 4 acres. There are plans for a 2/3 acre community garden consisting of approximately 30 individual plots.

The 28,000-sq-ft commercial greenhouse is the first facility of its kind dedicated to providing public school students with fresh produce. 

 

In addition to providing food for students, educational greenhouses are a growing trend, and as educators focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) there is a vision in place to utilize this new space and create future educational programming for students interested in agricultural careers."