Valley Southwoods Freshman High School opened in the fall of 1997 to serve students in their first year of high school in an interdisciplinary team setting. Students begin the year with a "fresh start" and learn habits to help them succeed in their first year of high school and beyond. Students get to know each other and their teachers well, they have varied opportunities to practice leadership, and they are encouraged to participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Teachers provide high quality instruction with the unique needs of ninth graders in mind. They create lessons that are relevant and challenging. They provide support to help all students learn.

Freshman students enroll in four core area full-credit courses, physical education, and at least one elective course each semester. They are assigned to an interdisciplinary team area in which three or four of their core courses will be located:
• General Science
• Geographic Cultural Studies
• Language and Literature
• Mathematics (Basic Math 9, Algebra A, Algebra B, or Geometry)

Eligible students may take advanced courses in one or more core areas to meet the course requirements in our "Accelerated Pathways" program.