The Foothills Difference

• Our low student-teacher ratio permits personalized attention to student needs.

• Faculty members are committed to our unique approach to education and to learning about each student - the relationships our faculty have with students are part of what makes the Foothills experience markedly different from other schools.

• Our classrooms include students from two grade levels – called dyads - which allow us to be flexible in grouping students for their best learning outcomes.

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

• Unlike 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 just 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 schoolwide makes it possible for students to learn core content in the classroom appropriate to their challenge level.

• We teach foreign language, visual arts, and performingn arts 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 weekly electives program - called CHOICE - gives students in grades 1-8 an opportunity to explore their passions and interests through courses offered by community organizations that partner with Foothills.