Foothills Academy Lower School
In the years between pre-kindergarten and fourth grade, learning is monumental in scope and substance. These are cornerstone years when attitudes about learning partner with a growing toolbox of skills to provide enduring foundations. In Foothills Academy's Lower School, social, emotional, cognitive and neuromuscular agendas meet in an enriched and interwoven curriculum fostering skills while extending children's sense of wonder and love of discovery.
Lower School classrooms are filled with children happily engaged in the business and joy of learning. Educational knowledge coupled with a keen regard for each learner allows teachers to capture interests, readiness and enthusiasm. The result is students eager to come to school and to learn.
We welcome your interest in our program and invite your further inquiry.
Charlie Szumilas, Interim Lower School Division Lead
Small classes forge secure relationships
Because a nurturing environment is vital to optimal learning, small classes provide the comfortable setting in which each child feels secure. A family feeling supports students as individuals and important classroom members while fostering the social and emotional well-being on which cognitive and academic learning relies. Classrooms and playgrounds hum as work and play come together for students who are confident participants in class, the school community and learning.
Connections deepen learning
Not only do children thrive midst caring relationships, they learn best when learning is meaningful. Capturing children's interests connects them deeply to learning. Receptive teachers observe, listen and respond to students and their curiosity so that lessons not only incorporate interests, but arise from them.
Whether studying robots or animals, music, Shakespeare or the solar system, learning strands interweave as reading, writing, art, social studies, math and science come together around themes. Integration allows students to approach from their interests and strengths to see a bigger picture. In addition, because the world is rich with opportunity, young Foothills students regularly venture into the community on field trips and outings. These trips offer varied experiences and expose children to places, people and active ways of learning in the world's classrooms.
Students develop learning skills
In the early grades, kindling natural curiosity and joy in discovery is coupled with ever-expanding academic and cognitive skills. Young students not only mature in reading, writing, artistic expression, the ability to understand and manipulate numbers, but grow in thinking. Asking questions and providing opportunities for investigation provide roots for critical thinking and problem-solving. Asking "How do you know that?" or "What else would you like to learn about that?" is as important as teaching specific skills. A strong belief in the power of learning processes to provide a sturdy scaffolding anchors and promotes skill development.
Learning is expanded and enhanced by communication
Because they are important to success, communication skills are cultivated in the Lower School. Opportunities for sharing thoughts, knowledge and ideas are promoted. Working together, collaboration and cooperation expand learning and depend on receptive and expressive skills. Attention is given to both. The ability to write, speak, use technology and art to present and facilitate learning develops when students have something to say and learn how to say it with proficiency born of practice. This begins in the early years as young children, for instance, express learning by writing and illustrating original books and presenting these at a book-signing party for family and friends.
In the years between pre-kindergarten and fourth grade, learning is monumental in scope and substance. These are cornerstone years when attitudes about learning partner with a growing toolbox of skills to provide enduring foundations. In Foothills Academy's Lower School, social, emotional, cognitive and neuromuscular agendas meet in an enriched and interwoven curriculum fostering skills while extending children's sense of wonder and love of discovery.Lower School classrooms are filled with children happily engaged in the business and joy of learning. Educational knowledge coupled with a keen regard for each learner allows teachers to capture interests, readiness and enthusiasm. The result is students eager to come to school and to learn.
We welcome your interest in our program and invite your further inquiry.
Charlie Szumilas, Interim Lower School Division Lead
Small classes forge secure relationships
Because a nurturing environment is vital to optimal learning, small classes provide the comfortable setting in which each child feels secure. A family feeling supports students as individuals and important classroom members while fostering the social and emotional well-being on which cognitive and academic learning relies. Classrooms and playgrounds hum as work and play come together for students who are confident participants in class, the school community and learning.
Connections deepen learning
Not only do children thrive midst caring relationships, they learn best when learning is meaningful. Capturing children's interests connects them deeply to learning. Receptive teachers observe, listen and respond to students and their curiosity so that lessons not only incorporate interests, but arise from them.
Whether studying robots or animals, music, Shakespeare or the solar system, learning strands interweave as reading, writing, art, social studies, math and science come together around themes. Integration allows students to approach from their interests and strengths to see a bigger picture. In addition, because the world is rich with opportunity, young Foothills students regularly venture into the community on field trips and outings. These trips offer varied experiences and expose children to places, people and active ways of learning in the world's classrooms.
Students develop learning skills
In the early grades, kindling natural curiosity and joy in discovery is coupled with ever-expanding academic and cognitive skills. Young students not only mature in reading, writing, artistic expression, the ability to understand and manipulate numbers, but grow in thinking. Asking questions and providing opportunities for investigation provide roots for critical thinking and problem-solving. Asking "How do you know that?" or "What else would you like to learn about that?" is as important as teaching specific skills. A strong belief in the power of learning processes to provide a sturdy scaffolding anchors and promotes skill development.
Learning is expanded and enhanced by communication
Because they are important to success, communication skills are cultivated in the Lower School. Opportunities for sharing thoughts, knowledge and ideas are promoted. Working together, collaboration and cooperation expand learning and depend on receptive and expressive skills. Attention is given to both. The ability to write, speak, use technology and art to present and facilitate learning develops when students have something to say and learn how to say it with proficiency born of practice. This begins in the early years as young children, for instance, express learning by writing and illustrating original books and presenting these at a book-signing party for family and friends.
