About Foothills Academy School

We recognize that parents do not make the decision to move schools lightly. They want what is best for their child and are typically motivated to look for school options based on the painful struggles they see their child experiencing.

While Alberta Education has expectations of how DSEPS operate, it is important to know that not all DSEPS provide the same level of expertise and services.  Here are just a few of the aspects of Foothills Academy which make us uniquely prepared to serve the LD population.

• Each classroom has only 12-14 students and is staffed by a highly knowledgeable teacher and educational assistant, which allows us to truly get to know and connect with your child in a safe and caring environment.
• In addition to their necessary professional credentials, classroom staff undergo unique training, including our 30-hour “Inside LD” e-course, and certification through SIVA (Supporting Individuals through Valued Attachments), as well as ongoing specialized professional development.
• We engage in educational ‘best practices’ for the LD, such direct instruction; orton-gillingham based literacy instruction; daily homework club; comprehensive assistive technology; and access to resources such as Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology.
• Our Community Services side of Foothills Academy Society provides significant programs and services across four different departments which serve the larger community, but are also highly integrated into our school programming.  For example:

  • Read/Write & Math Intervention literacy and numeracy specialists provide remediation to those students within the school that particularly require intensive intervention.

  • Psychological Services & Programs operates as a large Psychology Training Center (for Provisional Psychologists and Psychology graduate students) in both mental health counselling and psychoeducational assessment, which provides a significant level of services to our students, as well as support to classroom staff in understanding student profiles.

Self-Determination Theory underlies our motto:  Find Understanding; Build Confidence; Maximize Potential

Self-Determination Theory identifies three pillars of need which support the success of young people, and ultimately increase their intrinsic motivation:  relatedness; Competence, Autonomy.  Decades of research has demonstrated that when young people have these three needs met they experience increased quality of life and better outcomes in school and work.