AERIAL VIEW OF OUR 102-ACRE CAMPUS IN CASCADE, IDAHO. ADVENTURE CAN BE FOUND IN ALL DIRECTIONS: LAKE CASCADE TO THE NORTH, THE FRANK CHURCH WILDERNESS TO THE EAST, AND THE NORTH FORK PAYETTE RIVER RUNNING ALONG THE LENGTH OF CAMPUS (TO NAME JUST A FEW). FIND YOURSELF HERE.

Student Life

days filled with purpose.

Day in the Life

The schedule at Alzar School varies by location, activity, and expedition. While no day is typical of the semester experience, here is a glimpse at a more common academic day at our campus in Idaho.

7:30-8:20am
Breakfast and Community Tasks
After a quick shower, you head over to the Confluence Building for a breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and fresh fruit. This week you are on the Confluence Building crew, so you help build a fire in the fireplace.
8:25-9:15am
AP English Language and Composition
You’ve started the magical realism unit in class in preparation for the upcoming departure for Chile. Today you are having a Harkness discussion about the Gabriel García Márquez short story you read for homework. You and your peers sit in a circle and drive the discussion by asking clarifying questions and analyzing the reading as a group.
9:20-10:10am
Honors Precalculus
Today you are shifting trigonometric functions and starting a project creating an image of your choice using the Desmos program on your iPad. You design a kayaker running a rapid, using only functions to draw the lines.

10:15-11:05am
Outdoor Adventure Activity (PE)
You grab a snack from the bowl of fruit in the dining hall and then head out to meet the group for a 30-minute run. You are training for the upcoming 10K, and find that your legs feel plenty strong after the 6-day backpacking trip you recently completed.
11:10am-12:00pm
Captsone Leadership Course
Class starts with a quick popcorn around the room as peers share who they selected for their public sphere leader. The teacher reviews the rubric and grading expectations with students, then breaks students into pairs for a peer edit of their Analysis of Leaders Project. You have decided to use this project for your Academic Presentation during Family Weekend, and look forward to your family members seeing your presentation.
12:05-12:55pm
Lunch
You hit the salad bar and enjoy a piece of lasagna today. At the end of lunch, you spend a few minutes chatting with your English teacher about the differences between magical realism and fantasy literature, sharing titles of books you’ve both read.
1:00-1:50pm
Free Period
You spend some time playing spikeball and then finish up a reading assignment for Environmental Science. You put your kayaking equipment in the trailer and load your boat so that you are ready to go to the whitewater park at the end of the day.
1:55-2:45pm
Spanish IV Honors
As you near the end of the current unit, today is a “Desafío” or ‘challenge’, which is an assessment of your ability to synthesize and apply the skills you’ve been learning. Today’s Desafío requires you all to adopt individual college-aged profiles, and discuss which country you plan to study abroad in, why you chose that country, and what you are excited and nervous about. In the class of six students, there is plenty of opportunity for you all to ask questions of one another, and engage in authentic dialogue.
2:50-3:40
US History Honors
The teacher spends a few minutes reviewing learning targets for the lesson and overarching unit. Today students will break into two groups to debate the Stamp Act. You are on the team of ‘pro-colonists’ and assume the persona of a former indentured servant who has become a lawyer in Boston.

3:45-4:15pm
Mentor Meeting
Your faculty mentor meetings you in the dining hall to grab a snack. The two of you walk to the amphitheater while discussing how to make the most of your time at study hall. You discuss ideas for your Culminating Leadership Project and make plans to celebrate a peer’s birthday at lunch tomorrow.
4:15-4:40pm
Free Time
You soak up the afternoon sun while walking the perimter trail with yurtmates and friends. Everyone grabs a snack before the afternoon activity begins.
4:40-6:45pm
Afternoon Activity
Half the group heads to Kelly’s Whitewater Park just two miles up the road. You surf the second wave while another group practices rolling. The other half of the group is on campus learning to bake biscuits on their camp stove for the upcoming backpacking expedition.
6:45-7:30pm
Dinner
Burritos! You build your own with the many toppings at your table, eating family-style. Tonight everyone is speaking Spanish, and you laugh as you work to figure out that your peer wants you to pass the sour cream.
7:30-9:30pm
Evening Study Hall
You elect to work in the quiet study space so you can make good progress on your homework for the evening. The on-duty faculty member, who happens to be your English teacher, is available to help with the project. Later, you move over to the collaborative space to work on your group math assignment with your classmates.
9:30-9:45pm
Close of Day
You head back to your yurt, have a quick dance toothbrushing party with your yurt mates, and build a fire to keep the yurt warm for the night.
10:00pm
Lights Out
The on-duty faculty member checks you in for the night.