Matt Murphy and Mike Hurley trek daily from their respective Northeast Philly homes to Roxborough.

What awaits them is an education in agricultural sciences.

The two 11th graders attend W.B. Saul High School, a school with a focused curriculum that is perhaps the only public educational institution of its kind in the country.

What makes it so unique is the specialized instruction combined with the acres upon acres of farmland situated across busy Henry Avenue, still well within the city limits.

Last week, Murphy and Hurley, students in Jessica McAtamney's agroecology class, led visitors on a tour of the tilled land, on which grows an array of fruits and vegetables, including eggplant, lettuce, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes and watermelon.

The produce is being grown as part of "Henry Got Crops!," a Community Supported Agriculture program done in conjunction with Weavers Way, a Mount-Airy-based farming and food cooperative.

Last week's event, which included the tour, workshops, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrated $33,000 in in-kind donations the school received. The funds went toward a new shed, tools, produce wash stations, and a water conservation system.

"This is great for the kids. It allows them to be part of something," said McAtamney, the teacher.

The money came from the WaterWorks grant. Sponsors included Rodale Inc., the Pennsylvania-based publisher of healthy living magazines, and Aveeno, a producer of skin care products.

"The whole idea is to be sustainable, not use city water," said Ginger Horsford, editorial assistant at Organic Gardening magazine, a Rodale publication.

Horsford, who attended last week's event, was referring to the new water harvesting system, green roof technology in particular. The eco-friendly roof traps storm water, which might otherwise overflow storm sewers, oftentimes contaminating them with pollution. Aside from helping to mitigate flooding, the water can also be reused on the CSA farm.

Tammy Hobar, Organic Gardening's marketing director, said the grant also helped with other projects, such as the construction of the farm's new driveway. Community Supported Agriculture programs work by having members of a community buying into the venture, then picking up their requested produce throughout a harvesting season. For those picking up produce at Saul's CSA, things were made difficult by the fact that there was no driveway, only a mud-filled path from Henry Avenue onto the site.

The driveway was constructed using recycled materials, such as pieces of concrete that once formed city buildings.

"It's using materials that would have ended up in a landfill," Hobar said of the driveway, which was installed in August.

Horsford and Hobar were also looking forward to the day's green roof demonstration. The plan was to show off the storm water management system by giving tour-goers a glimpse of the process, which involved two cisterns that collect water - one from the "green" side of the roof, the other the non-green side. Not surprisingly, the green side would emit very little water runoff, since most of the precipitation seeped into the organic materials. The cistern catching runoff from the nongreen side was expected to be filled with much more water.

"We loved this project because it is so unique," Hobar said of Saul's CSA, explaining why her company decided to help with grant funding. "We thought it was a great place to partner with in this project."

Another person impressed with the work done thus far is Rachel Milenbach, Weavers Way executive director.

"Saul, to me, is just an amazing, amazing gift for the city," said Milenbach, who also attended last week's ceremony.

The CSA in particular is something she's pleased with, since it gives students a chance to interact with neighborhood residents.

"It's really about building community, and it's incredibly hands-on learning for kids," she said.