Programs in Action
A curriculum built around real community problems.
“Real work is the curriculum, and the classroom is wherever real problems are being solved.”
Not Hypothetical Scenarios. Real Challenges. Real Students. Real Outcomes.
Every great quilt begins not with fabric, but with a vision — a sense of what the finished whole might become when disparate pieces are joined with intention and care. A skilled quilter does not simply sew squares together. They see each piece: its weight, its pattern, its history. They see what others cannot yet see — the warmth and beauty that no single square can offer alone.
Unity Foundation is that quilter.
Across the St. Louis region, remarkable institutions are doing meaningful work in isolation. Schools are breaking ground on greenhouses. Universities are planting gardens in city neighborhoods. Community organizations are mentoring youth who have never been handed a real opportunity. Without someone to hold the needle, these efforts remain separate squares — valuable, but incomplete.
Unity Foundation's signature curriculum program — developed in active partnership with Hazelwood School District — is not built around what students might someday encounter. It is built around what their community is living right now.
The Smart Greenhouse Program
The Smart Greenhouse Program is a comprehensive, 26-session Computer Science and Sustainable Agriculture certificate curriculum designed for students in grades 9–12. Unlike traditional survey courses that sample disconnected topics, this program is built around a single, cohesive project: students design, construct, and operate an automated greenhouse control system over the course of the year.
A Curriculum for the Real World. The program is structured to mirror professional engineering environments, emphasizing “Workforce Readiness” through practices such as documentation, peer review, design reviews, and professional communication. Students do not just learn to code; they learn to maintain a system. Every new concept — from basic Python variables to complex sensor-driven automation — is introduced at the exact moment it is needed to improve the greenhouse system, ensuring that learning is applied rather than abstract.
Key Features of the Program
Accessible to All Learners
Designed for mixed-readiness classrooms, the curriculum assumes no prior programming experience. It utilizes a "scaffolding ladder" approach that helps novices gain confidence early while challenging experienced students with deeper architectural and engineering tasks.
Classroom-Ready
Every one of the 26 sessions is fully developed, containing talking points, lab procedures, safety protocols, differentiation strategies, and contingency plans for technology failures. The curriculum is intended to be open and taught, without requiring the instructor to be a computer science expert.
Optimized for Infrastructure
The program is fully browser-based, requiring only district-issued Chromebooks. It avoids the need for administrative software installations or specialized local storage, making it compatible with standard school technology environments.
Safety-First Design
Safety is embedded into the curriculum, with dedicated protocols for hardware sessions, including the use of GFCI-protected circuits and a "test mode before live mode" rule that protects both students and equipment.
The Learning Arc
The program is divided into three distinct units, each building toward the final Capstone Showcase.
By the end of the year, students have built, tested, and documented a functional automated system, preparing them for future paths in agricultural technology, software engineering, and systems administration.
The Connected Community Workforce Development Model
Unity’s emerging workforce development model creates a coordinated pathway that connects education, community organizations, employers, researchers, and industry partners into a shared ecosystem that prepares individuals for meaningful careers while helping communities address real workforce challenges. Participants build foundational professional and technical skills, engage in industry based capstone projects that address authentic community and business needs, and receive mentorship from professionals. The result is a learning experience that develops both career readiness and the leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed in today’s rapidly changing workforce.
Unity is collaborating with university researchers studying workforce pathways, community needs, and long-term outcomes while exploring innovative technology that helps individuals navigate education, training, employment, and support resources more effectively. Along with community-based partner organizations, early pilot cohorts will serve individuals who are exploring, launching, transitioning, or rebuilding their careers, providing valuable insight that will guide future expansion.
The vision extends beyond preparing individuals for a single job. By strengthening connections between learners, educators, employers, researchers, and community organizations, the ecosystem continuously grows, creating new opportunities for individuals while helping communities build a stronger, more resilient workforce for the future.
The Growth Rings Model
Our Growth Rings model structures how participants develop: from first exposure through contribution, mentorship, and leadership. The model connects three essential elements: People (students, early-career professionals, and career changers seeking meaningful work); Mentors and Institutions (industry leaders and organizations with real challenges and the expertise to guide emerging talent); and Real-World Challenges (mission-critical problems across sectors that demand innovative solutions). The result is a self-sustaining ecosystem where learners become contributors, contributors become mentors, and purpose-driven work attracts and retains top talent.
Cross-Sector Scalability. What begins in classrooms extends into broader applications. The same models that serve students support work in healthcare, energy, finance, defense, and manufacturing — creating continuity between education and the workforce.
University Partnerships. Unity Foundation collaborates with institutions including Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and Maryville University and other regional higher learning institutions about formal program partnerships. Each collaboration is shaped by a consistent philosophy: authentic software engineering and technology education, not academic exercises.
Our Growth Rings model is not a fixed structure handed down from organizational leadership — it is a living system that evolves in direct response to constituent feedback. See How We Listen for documented examples of how that feedback has already reshaped this curriculum.
The Cost to Families Is Zero.
Equity is not a program feature here — it is a design constraint that shaped every decision before a single lesson was written. All materials, hardware, and software are provided.
- Cost to familiesZero. Every material, tool, and platform is free — running in a Chrome browser on existing district Chromebooks.
- Language accessVisual scaffolding, translated key vocabulary, and multilingual peer learning structures are embedded by design, not added as afterthoughts.
- IEP & 504Accommodations are integrated at the lesson design level. The curriculum does not require modification for inclusion.
- Device accessAll tools run on district-issued Chromebooks. No family purchase required at any grade level.
Unity Foundation is actively committed to equitable access, working directly to dismantle barriers related to race, income, geography, language, ability, and educational background in every program and partnership we lead.
This is what workforce-aligned education looks like when it is designed for the students who need it most — not adapted for them after the fact.