Upland Hills School, founded in 1971, is an independent school community in

Oxford, Michigan Oxford is a village in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,436 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Oxford Township. Located about north of Detroit, it is a northern suburb of the Metro Detroit r ...

, USA, whose purpose is to educate pre-high school children. The school's aim is to discover and respect the uniqueness of every child.

Location

The school is located in northern

Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

on of woods and rolling meadows in Oxford. The school is surrounded by the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, Upland Hills Farm and Bald Mountain Recreation Area. It is an independent school founded in 1971 by parents who were determined to create a school that protected, fostered, defended and nurtured the creativity and wonder of childhood. Inspired by the collective works of R. Buckminster Fuller and J. Krishnamurti, the school is devoted to thinking in whole systems and developing tools for self-awareness. The curriculum of the school embraces the theory of

multiple intelligences The theory of multiple intelligences proposes the differentiation of human intelligence into specific modalities of intelligence, rather than defining intelligence as a single, general ability. The theory has been criticized by mainstream psycho ...

and uses a developmental approach pioneered by

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemolo ...

Lawrence Kohlberg Lawrence Kohlberg (; October 25, 1927 – January 19, 1987) was an American psychologist best known for his theory of stages of moral development. He served as a professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Chicago and at the Gra ...

and Susanne Cook-Greuter. The school started experimenting with alternative energy in 1973 and has continued to develop an ecologically sustainable curriculum using tools and artifacts to demonstrate the effectiveness of working with nature's design. In 2010, the school installed 40 PV solar panels that generate over 10 KW of electrical energy moving it a step closer to becoming a net energy school. The Community-Supported Agriculture, or CSA, serves as an outdoor classroom, allowing students to plant seeds, harvest, and learn about the food cycle. Additionally, the Karen Joy Theatre has been an integral part of curriculum since the school's founding, integrating performance, teamwork, and the magic of wonder.

Affiliations

UHS is a member of the Association of Independent Michigan Schools and the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools and has affiliations with the Buckminster Fuller Institute, The Starkey Hearing Foundation and the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.

References

External links

Upland Hills School official web site
{{Coord, 42, 48, 17.5, N, 83, 11, 33.7, W, region:US-MI_type:edu, display=title Education reform Alternative schools in the United States Private middle schools in Michigan Private elementary schools in Michigan