School has begun, Fall of 2026
MILESTONES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR
FOOTHILL FROLIC FARM AND FOREST SCHOOL
Our Foothill Frolic Farm and Forest School Fall Semester filled all 8 of our available student openings!
With the first two weeks now behind us and the rest of the Fall Semester ahead of us, we are so very pleased with the wholeness of this beginning that it makes the rest of the semester hard to even wait for!
And when I say we, I truly mean all of us—the Founders, the Teacher/Learning Guide, the Thought Partner and Curriculum Designer, and most importantly, the Students.
OUR FALL LEARNING EXPEDITIONS
Our Semesters are broken down into what we are calling Learning Expeditions.
Our first Expedition was Orientation / Guardians of the Farm.
Our second, which begins this coming week, is Table to Farm—and no, I did not mean to say Farm to Table!
Our final Expedition of the Fall will be Outdoor Kitchen.
Because this is our Founding Community Building Year, we intentionally designed our programming to allow families to enroll for two days a week and experience what our full-time microschool programming will feel like as we move toward the 2027–2028 school year.
For this year, each Expedition stands independently, while the internal character, skills, relationships, and community-building concepts intentionally build upon one another.
Students can enroll in individual Expeditions or in a Semester as a whole.
We also offer programming for a 4-day full-time Microschool Cohort, which participates in the Learning Expeditions while also having two additional days within the program that are highly personalized and specialized.
TWO IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITIES TO ENROLL
First—Table to Farm has ONE available opening!
One of our Fall Semester students had a family vacation planned prior to enrollment and, because of the timing, will miss too much of our upcoming Table to Farm Exploration to be able to participate.
So, with that, Foothill Frolic Farm and Forest School now has one available opening for Table to Farm.
If you are interested, or know someone who might be, you can learn more about the Table to Farm Exploration and enroll here:
Secondly—our WAITLIST is OPEN!
Please make a point to sign up for our waitlist for the Winter and Spring Semesters.
And please keep in mind that we will also soon be moving toward enrollment for...
OUR FIRST OFFICIAL FOUNDING SCHOOL YEAR
Beginning in February 2027, we will begin accepting applications for our first official Founding School Year.
Our goal is to welcome a carefully selected group of approximately 12 students, ages 9–13, into a four-day-per-week Farm & Forest Microschool designed around:
Meaningful Relationships
Project-Based Learning
Individualized Academic Growth
Real Work in a Real Place
We are so grateful for all of you who have been following along as this Schoolhouse journey has unfolded, and I wanted to continue sharing updated photos of the actual Schoolhouse as we move toward completion.
THE SCHOOLHOUSE — ONE MONTH LATER
Our last Schoolhouse post was on September 4th, so here we are a month later!
And what a difference a month makes.
The mill-finished galvanized aluminum corrugated roofing is on.
The saw-milled local Poplar board-and-batten siding is up and finished.
The unique and beautiful Sunrise Gable breathers, crafted from old tobacco sticks from right here in our historic tobacco barns, have given the Schoolhouse an added bit of old-time character.
Currently, the custom white oak windows and the large sliding white oak glass barn doors are being built from old barn wood.
And the outdoor limestone, salvaged from old chimney walls, is going up to create the walk-out patio and outdoor learning space.
The end of Schoolhouse Phase II is in sight!
We are hoping for completion by the end of next week.
And the timing could not be more perfect for our upcoming Table to Farm Exploration, because the students will be right in the thick of learning, creating, and building within this very space.
They will be creating a large Schoolhouse work table, along with their own individual stools.
Of course, the days do not simply exist for the children to stand around building all day.
In fact, here at Foothill Frolic Farm and Forest School, there is a tremendous amount of thought, curriculum design, preparation, and behind-the-scenes planning that goes into creating each school day.
And for Table to Farm, there is even a thread that gets pulled directly from our first Expedition, Guardians of the Farm, and woven forward.
FROM GUARDIANSHIP TO CONTRIBUTION
Our Guardians of the Farm Expedition included:
Arriving and Belonging.
Connecting and Creating Community.
Walking the Land.
Reading the Land.
Mapping.
Preparing and Caring.
Making First Aid Kits and Salve.
Learning First Aid.
Putting what was learned into action.
Creating a Master Guiding Map.
Creating Master Guiding Farm & Forest School Agreements.
Through Guardians of the Farm, the students began learning what it means to know a place, move through it responsibly, notice what it needs, and participate in its care—while caring for themselves and one another at the same time.
Now, we move from Guardianship to Contribution.
Guardians don't only protect a place.
They contribute to it.
So our main driving question throughout the Table to Farm Exploration is:
How can thoughtful craftsmanship help us contribute to a place where people learn, work, and belong together?
And alongside that:
How do we make something genuine enough to become a part of the place where it will live?
This is where the Schoolhouse, the farm, the land, the students, and the work all begin to come together.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FOOTHILL FROLIC STUDENT
Perhaps the most alive piece of all of this is seeing how the daily rhythm actually flows.
So here is a glimpse into a day in the life of a student here for the Table to Farm Seasonal Exploration, from 8:00 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon:
Drop-Off at the alive and flowing Gammon Creek
Morning Meeting + Maker's Journal Time
Main Project Block --Community Build --The Project Table
Forest Exploration
Lunch + Read Aloud
Team Building Time in the Game Field
Group Hike / Farm ProjectCircling Back to the Living Wood and Building Wood Theme
Workshop Skills Practice Lab -- Individual Contribution --Schoolhouse Furntiture (Stools)
Clean-Up, Gather-Up + Pick-Up
One of the most dynamic parts of this daily rhythm is that the students are continually moving around the farm, from one place to another, as each block changes.
They aren't simply changing from subject to subject inside a classroom with four walls, artificial routines, and no natural light.
They are living and breathing the beauty of the natural landscape and the changing seasons of the farm, while physically moving from block to block throughout the school day.
And all the while, the Core Academic Standards are purposefully woven throughout their day.
The teacher does not have to announce:
"Now we are moving from Language Arts to Math, to Social Studies, to Speech and Communications, and now to Extracurriculars."
Instead, the students experience their learning through something that feels much more natural:
They have a real purpose and a real agenda for why they are here each day.
Real Projects.Real Work.Real Land.Real Community.
They feel this.
And we believe that is part of what makes them eager to be a part of the day—not simply because they have to be here, but because they want to be here.
And that, to us, is a pretty wonderful place to begin.
HERE WE GO...
Here are some wonderful photos of the Schoolhouse and of our very first Learning Expedition—Guardians of the Farm.
We are so excited to share this journey with you as it continues to unfold!
All in All I hope this farm journal post really helps visually demonstrate the overall feel and active learning environment that is being created here at Foothill Frolic Farm and Forest School. Just like our Regenerative Cattle Farm, and our active stance on organic farming whether it be cattle or vegetables. We feel like regenerative-organic farming is the only agriculture that tries to uphold all ecosystem parties, now it obviously still puts us humans sometimes at the top but at least the other components of the local natural ecosystem are being acknowledged and cared for and not actively being polluted so then and therefore the lands, waters, air, and soils that support all of life can continue doing their historical job.
This then all goes back to the ecosystems components that build a thriving and working natural system and farm. Great farms are built on healthy soils, bright sunshine, clean water, NO manmade farming herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides on land, animal, or crop, and purposeful management to create closed loop farm systems. I can't imagine wanting a farm that produces food to be anything other than that. To me that is just matter of fact.
So see I realize I see Foothill Frolic Farm and Forest School in the same light.
And this is Why We wanted Foothill Frolic School to Exist.
It is Learning That Grows From the Ground Up
Project-based learning isn't a method we apply to a curriculum — it's the way we believe human beings naturally learn. When children are given real problems to solve, real materials to work with, and real people to work alongside, something remarkable happens: they become curious, capable, and deeply engaged.
At Foothill Frolic, the farm itself is the curriculum. The land, the animals, the seasons, and the community of learners and guides shape every project, every question, and every discovery.
Our Framework is guided by
The Four Roots of Learning
Like a healthy tree, meaningful learning develops from strong roots and strong roots create capable humans. Everything we do — from projects and academics to stewardship, community meals, reflection, and outdoor experiences — is designed to help children grow in four interconnected ways. And these four interconnected ways are...
Curiosity & Understanding
Capability & Contribution
Community & Connection
Character & Purpose
When curiosity is paired with capability, when contribution is grounded in connection, and when growth is guided by character — children develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and wisdom needed to thrive.
To Visit and Learn all About Foothill Frolic Farm and Forest School Just Click Here below to visit the School's Website
Until Next Time, Eat Well and Be Well and Learn Well and Please Pass Along through your favorite media!,
(even though we have held off on having a social media presence, we are perfectly fine for our readers to share.)
Allison Mills Neal of Foothill Frolic Farm
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