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Sept. 23, 2019
Foothills Academy - The Early Days
Foothills Academy is here because of the passion and determination of two parents who wanted the best for their child. Bill and Beth Mackasey had a child, Patrick, who was bright but was 2 -3 years behind academically. In 1979, there were no school programs specifically for students with Learning Disabilities in Calgary. The only academic option for children with severe Learning Disabilities was to be sent to a school called Denver Academy in Colorado. Thirty-four percent of that school’s students were from Calgary. Not willing to send their son away, the Mackaseys convinced Tom Aylesworth and Gordon Bullivant, both working at the Children’s Hospital at the time, that there was a need for a school for LD students in Calgary.