Follow the Schoolhouse Journey + Curriculum Section Reveal
- Allie@FoothillFrolicFarm
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
As many of you have heard by now, Foothill Frolic Farm is in the exciting process of founding and opening a Farm & Forest School.
When we say school, we truly mean a school—not simply a camp or an enrichment program. Our vision is to create a fully functioning educational environment where learning is deeply rooted in nature, agriculture, and meaningful, project-based experiences.
Because our school will be nature-, farm-, and project-based, the farm itself will serve as an extension of the classroom. The pastures, forests, gardens, livestock, and changing seasons will all become part of the students' daily educational experience. Alongside these outdoor classrooms, we'll also have an indoor learning space that will serve as our Farm Schoolhouse.
As we've thoughtfully considered where to locate the school's headquarters, we knew it needed to be both central to the farm and easily accessible for families. After much discussion and planning, we've decided that the old historic store and tenant house will become the home of our Farm Schoolhouse.
The building will be taken down to its original hardwood bones, and from there, we'll thoughtfully design and restore it into a space that reflects the heart and mission of our school.
Without a doubt, this is a significant undertaking, but we're incredibly excited to begin the journey. We can already picture the classrooms filled with curiosity, the teachers guiding meaningful learning, and the children exploring, discovering, and growing together during our founding 2026–2027 school year.
As this project continues to take shape, I'm going to keep a journal of the entire process—from restoration of the schoolhouse to the many milestones along the way. We hope you'll enjoy following along as Foothill Frolic Farm's Farm & Forest School becomes a reality.
Here below are photos showing the schoolhouse project thus far...
The initial restoration work is scheduled to begin sometime between July 8th and July 14th, and we can't wait to discover what parts of the original structure are still sound and can be preserved.
Our goal is to have the building weather-tight and functioning as our schoolhouse by our first day of school on September 14th. While there will certainly be projects that continue beyond opening day, that's actually one of the unique and exciting aspects of a true project-based school.
Rather than simply learning inside a completed building, our students will have opportunities to help imagine, design, and create parts of their own learning environment. As our school grows, so will the campus—through meaningful, hands-on projects that become part of the educational experience itself.
One of our first planned fall projects will be designing and building an Outdoor Kitchen, giving students the opportunity to collaborate, problem-solve, and create a space that will serve future classes for years to come.
Along with the Schoolhouse Project, we are also so pleased to be able to share the projected founding year curriculum.
After lots of careful thought, discussion, reading, and thinking... we're ready to share a much deeper look into the vision for learning at Foothill Frolic Farm & Forest School.
We've just added an entirely new section to our Interest Collector website that explores our curriculum, our Four Roots of Learning, and how we plan to implement authentic Project & Problem-Based Learning here at the farm.
If you've been wondering...
"What will my child actually be doing each day?"
"How do academics fit into a farm & forest school?"
"What does Project-Based Learning really look like?"
...we hope this new section helps answer those questions and gives you a feel for the kind of learning community we're working so hard to create.
Take a look here:
To get to the Curriculum Section once at the informative site, just click on the header topic at the top labeled Curriculum.
Even if your child isn't quite old enough yet, we'd still love for you to fill out the Interest Form! It helps us stay connected, keep you in the loop, and better understand the families who are excited about this journey with us.
The encouragement we've received from folks has been well received! Thank you for every conversation, every share, every question, and every expression of support.
We're continuing to gather interest and are getting more and more excited about opening enrollment for our founding year in the very near future! Stay tuned .......
Allie Mills Neal of Foothill Frolic Farm & Forest School
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