Since its inception in 1992, Foothills School has worked to bring a different kind of education to the Treasure Valley.  By focusing on the individual needs of students alongside national curricula in all academic areas, the school has come to attract families that are interested most in their children's autonomy and skill development as learners.  We are proud to be producing a next generation of innovative thinkers and problem-solvers who are capable of working in community contexts.

Teaching Through Inquiry

Foothills School of Arts & Sciences holds at its central core the socio-cultural model of teaching through inquiry. Inquiry is asking questions, investigating, gathering information, considering possibilities, coming to tentative conclusions that are then tested and justified.  Over the past 35 years, educational research has proven that people learn best through the model of inquiry teaching, yet it continues to be used in less than 3% of the schools in the United States. 

Our educational philosophy and teaching implement best educational practices through:
•Engaging learners more deeply in their learning
•Making learning relevant - students learn best when they're               learning about what matters to them
•Integrated, hands-on, collaborative projects
•Social construction of knowledge

Our inquiry learning program ensures that students are:
•Learning to learn
•Learning to think, know and understand
•Learning to relate, participate and care
•Learning to live full, healthy lives
•Learning to create purposeful, personal meaning
•Learning to act ethically

Differentiating for Students

The second component of our educational philosophy is the differentiation of instruction for learners – at Foothills, we work every day to deliver personalized education to each student.     Differentiation of instruction is the response of a teacher to the different and unique needs of each student in the classroom.  A teacher differentiates instruction when s/he responds to a student’s readiness by creating tasks that extend that student’s knowledge, understanding, and skills a bit beyond what the student can do independently.  A teacher can also differentiate instruction when s/he responds to a student’s interests through learning tasks that ignite curiosity or passion in a subject.  By differentiating instruction through learning profiles, the teacher encourages students to complete learning tasks in his/her preferred manner of learning.  Teachers continually observe and assess students in order to adjust instruction by readiness, interest and learning profile to meet their needs.  When teachers assess each student to determine his/her needs, and then provide appropriate learning activities for that student, they assure that the range of students' needs, from advanced to emerging, are met.

As a community, we work at every level to promote and advocate for these outcomes and ask that all members of our community – faculty, staff, volunteers, students, parents, extended families and friends – reflect on how they can and do contribute to these educational values each and every day.

Our education program receives leadership from the Head of School and Director of Education and is implemented daily by the outstanding faculty at Foothills School.

© 2009   Foothills School of Arts & Sciences. All Rights Reserved
A Foothills Education:
A Vibrant Learning Experience

What Distinguishes Us
Our low student-teacher ratio of 9:1 permits personalized attention to student needs.

We hire, train, and retain outstanding faculty who are committed to our unique approach to education and to learning about each student - the relationships our faculty have with students is part of what makes the Foothills experience markedly different from other schools.

Our faculty teach in teams so that we are able to bring a breadth and depth of perspectives in each dyad's instruction.

Our classrooms include students from two grade levels, which allows us to be flexible in grouping students for their best learning outcomes.

Unlike all public and charter schools, we are not "graded" in the public sector and are not required to spend classroom time preparing students for or administering standardized tests; our alumni have proven time and again that their skills as thinkers and problem solvers enable them to succeed at test taking - we simply don't believe it's a way to encourage the love of learning that drives our daily experience at Foothills.

Our classroom curricula are benchmarked against national standards in each academic area.

Alignment of classes in mathematics and language arts schoolwide makes it possible for students to learn core content in the classroom appropriate to their challenge level.

There is foreign language, fine art, and music instruction schoolwide; while these programs are being reduced or eliminated in other programs, we are expanding our commitment to these areas because we know they are vital to students' learning.

A Friday afternoon electives program - called CHOICE - gives students K-9 a half-day to explore their passions; this self-directed approach to learning is liberating for our students.
A Foothills Education
Contributing to Education...
On Dec. 3 and 4,2009, Foothills hosted Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson, the nation's leading expert on differentiation in the classroom. The two-day inservice included the entire teaching team at Foothills and more than 120 teachers from across the state. The school is proud to be a change-agent, working with colleagues to improve education for all of our communities.

The Only School to Experience the Artists of Gee's Bend...
Foothills School's unique electives program offered a quilt making class that culiminated in a visit to the school by the internationally-known Gee's Bend Quilters. The work of these outstanding artists has been featured at the Boise Art Museum throughout the Fall 2009.