Foothills Academy Middle School
Students entering Foothills Academy's Middle School step into a world of higher order thinking. Our integrated and rich curriculum uses themes that stretch across academic disciplines and present the proving ground for increasingly abstract thinking. Students connect learning from one arena to another while adding their unique perspectives. The academic curriculum is underpinned by rich social experiences that foster responsibility and community. This pairing of cognitive expansion with social care encourages students to grow academically and personally as they move from childhood to young adulthood.
I invite you to explore the hallmarks of Foothills' Middle School program. Thank you for your interest.
Eric Robertson, Middle School Lead Teacher
Relationships foster growth and learning
In combined grade classes, students of the 5/6 and 7/8 learn in small-by-design groups. Here, not only do students know one another, teachers know students well; with a sense of community and belonging, students constructively explore academic and social boundaries. Focus on personal responsibility affirms students as individuals and contributing group members. It empowers them to learn, to take appropriate risks and, in a cooperative spirit, work with classmates to do the same.
Learning is connected
In Foothills' Middle School, students are challenged to see the world in new and ever-expanding ways. The interconnectedness of ideas emerges as students learn in thematic units. A study of the Renaissance, for instance, may include learning about the physics and history of inventions while challenging students to create personal inventions using not only principles of science, but art, design, and knowledge of history in hands-on exploration. By consolidating and processing information, students generate ideas and apply knowledge to their world and to further inquiry and move beyond restating information to deep understanding, knowledge that is demonstrated in critical thinking and problem-solving.
Outings are an essential element of learning beyond the classroom. Middle School students participate in three of these per year. Curriculum-integrated and progressing in rigor and duration, outings extend classroom learning while building outdoor and cooperative social skills, camaraderie and personal resilience.
The array of learning tools expands
In Foothills' Middle school, students acquire the tools to further support their curiosity and facilitate expanded learning. They learn to organize and manage short and long projects, take effective notes, write short and long papers and present learning in a variety of well-honed ways which include speaking, technology, artistic representation and writing. Through the Middle School years, the mastery of skills is accomplished with increasing individual responsibility to ensure students have the necessary tools to support the growing demands of their education and the world.
Communication is emphasized
Because strong communication is vital to success not only in school, but beyond, an emphasis on demonstrating and sharing learning is key in Foothills Academy's Middle School. Good communication relies on key elements cultivated in the 5/6 and 7/8. These include solid presentation skills, whether written, oral, technological or artistic, and are acquired through implicit instruction and continual practice. Within the context of a supportive community, students gain the confidence and skills that allow them to share learning and ideas. Presentations, large and small, are integral to every thematic unit and students express learning in diverse, effective and creative ways.
Students entering Foothills Academy's Middle School step into a world of higher order thinking. Our integrated and rich curriculum uses themes that stretch across academic disciplines and present the proving ground for increasingly abstract thinking. Students connect learning from one arena to another while adding their unique perspectives. The academic curriculum is underpinned by rich social experiences that foster responsibility and community. This pairing of cognitive expansion with social care encourages students to grow academically and personally as they move from childhood to young adulthood. I invite you to explore the hallmarks of Foothills' Middle School program. Thank you for your interest.
Eric Robertson, Middle School Lead Teacher
Relationships foster growth and learning
In combined grade classes, students of the 5/6 and 7/8 learn in small-by-design groups. Here, not only do students know one another, teachers know students well; with a sense of community and belonging, students constructively explore academic and social boundaries. Focus on personal responsibility affirms students as individuals and contributing group members. It empowers them to learn, to take appropriate risks and, in a cooperative spirit, work with classmates to do the same.
Learning is connected
In Foothills' Middle School, students are challenged to see the world in new and ever-expanding ways. The interconnectedness of ideas emerges as students learn in thematic units. A study of the Renaissance, for instance, may include learning about the physics and history of inventions while challenging students to create personal inventions using not only principles of science, but art, design, and knowledge of history in hands-on exploration. By consolidating and processing information, students generate ideas and apply knowledge to their world and to further inquiry and move beyond restating information to deep understanding, knowledge that is demonstrated in critical thinking and problem-solving.
Outings are an essential element of learning beyond the classroom. Middle School students participate in three of these per year. Curriculum-integrated and progressing in rigor and duration, outings extend classroom learning while building outdoor and cooperative social skills, camaraderie and personal resilience.
The array of learning tools expands
In Foothills' Middle school, students acquire the tools to further support their curiosity and facilitate expanded learning. They learn to organize and manage short and long projects, take effective notes, write short and long papers and present learning in a variety of well-honed ways which include speaking, technology, artistic representation and writing. Through the Middle School years, the mastery of skills is accomplished with increasing individual responsibility to ensure students have the necessary tools to support the growing demands of their education and the world.
Communication is emphasized
Because strong communication is vital to success not only in school, but beyond, an emphasis on demonstrating and sharing learning is key in Foothills Academy's Middle School. Good communication relies on key elements cultivated in the 5/6 and 7/8. These include solid presentation skills, whether written, oral, technological or artistic, and are acquired through implicit instruction and continual practice. Within the context of a supportive community, students gain the confidence and skills that allow them to share learning and ideas. Presentations, large and small, are integral to every thematic unit and students express learning in diverse, effective and creative ways.
