Cascade Canyon was founded as an elementary school in 1981 by international educator Ann Barar (Evans). The original teachers and parent body of Cascade Canyon School wanted to establish a committed and connected community for their children. They felt that their children’s success lay in the relationship between teachers and students. Three basic tenets were established in order to secure this philosophy: 1. Small student to teacher ratio; 2. A familial atmosphere which included community meetings and cross age learning; 3. A sense of student responsibility and ability to affect positive change in the world. The original foundation of the school was based on Dewey's model of education and Barar's experience in the British Embassy School in West Germany.
Ann’s first staff member was Peggy Tunder, who was hired to teach the Kindergarten-1st-2nd grade program. Several years later, Ann asked Linda Franco, a Cascade parent and elementary teacher at the school, to develop the middle school program. Cascade soon grew from a K-5 school into an elementary and middle school, with a continuous K-8 program.
When Ann moved on, the Board placed the directorship of Cascade Canyon in the hands of Peggy and Linda, and hired Zoe Ghazi to fill Ann’s role teaching third and fourth grade. In two years, these three teachers – Peggy, Linda and Zoe – became co-directors of Cascade Canyon, a role they shared for many years. After a successful tenure of each wearing multiple hats with the school, the co-directors decided to re-immerse themselves in their teaching and pass on the administrative functions of the school. In the spring of 2006, Peggy, Zoe and Linda solicited the help of the Board in searching for a Director.
Sharon Reynolds-Kyle, seven year Board member and parent of Cascade Canyon stepped into the Director role in its first year, 2006-2007, and was succeeded by Rebecca Hausammann, in the fall of 2007-2008.
In 2004, Cascade Canyon welcomed Sarah Burhop as the fifth-sixth grade teacher. In 2008, Cascade Canyon bid Zoe Ghazi "bon voyage" to re-join her family in Iran and welcomed its newest staff members, Jayme Pohl and Page Hersey to the first-second and third-fourth grade classrooms, respectively.
Today, the three founding tenets of Cascade Canyon still remain as
integral components of the school. The curriculum has grown to include
visual art, music, theater, French then Spanish, Sign Language, and Physical Education, in
addition to core studies in English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies
and Science. The size of the school has grown since its inception, as
has the number of staff. Cascade Canyon is currently composing a strategic plan for the next 5-10 years, to conserve the essential elements from the school's past and outline the direction for the school's future.
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