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 Founded by Susan and John Medlin, Foothills School of Arts and Sciences opened its doors to a fledgling class of 12 students in the fall of 1992. The students, who ranged from 5 to 10 years of age, met as an integrated class in a Sunday school classroom at the Boise Unitarian Fellowship. The school had one full-time teacher, one paid aide, two volunteers who joined the school over the course of the first year, and a large black and white cat named Clyde.
The school was the first non-sectarian, independent school in Boise.
In 1993, the school expanded to two classrooms for 26 students. The teaching staff included three full-time teachers, a volunteer music teacher, a part-time Spanish teacher, and a volunteer art teacher. By the fall of 1994, we expanded further, opening the school year with 45 students in grades K-6, and occupying all available space at the Unitarian Fellowship. Continued rapid growth made relocation a priority. Through the generous contributions of parents and two significant grants, the school raised
$90,000 to move to our current location at 618 South 8th Street.
In the fall of 1995 we occupied only 6200 square feet—only a small portion of
the space we occupy today. The following year we undertook a 3500 square foot expansion to provide additional classroom space and a large meeting space for school assemblies and other group activities. In 1998, we made a commitment to begin a pilot program called the Early Learners for children aged 3 to 5. The J. A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation provided a $208,000 grant to create an Early Childhood Learning Center and Laboratory School based on the research our Early Learners faculty had done on the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Building expansion included space for the Early Learners’ program, an observation area for our early childhood outreach program, and space for a ninth grade seminar class. In the years that followed the school was expanded to include a new music studio, a larger Senior classroom and a second art studio.
After 11 years of growth and progress, in the spring of 2003, our director and
founder, Susan Medlin resigned. School management was reshaped and expanded to meet the growing needs of a school moving from adolescence into maturity. We continue to dream about what is possible. Together, our community of committed teachers, administrators, board members and parents continue to take on the challenges of educating our children for the future.
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