A core part of our educational philosophy is to provide our students experiences outside of the traditional classroom. These opportunities are critical to developing background knowledge, one of the strongest indicators of how well a student will learn and succeed.

To ensure that our students continue to learn without limits, The Étude Group started the Expanding Horizons program. Expanding Horizons brings in resource people to share their skills and knowledge. Expanding Horizons takes students into the world to create and explore.

Experiences provided through Expanding Horizons give our students a sense of control to create their own future while connecting learning experiences to practical experiences. We are proud to share that IDEAS Academy has a 96% college acceptance rate for 2015-2016. This doesn’t “just happen.” It happens because of field experiences, college preparatory programs, internships, and an educational culture that promotes its students.

What does Expanding Horizons look like for the students at the Etude Group schools?

• Providing equitable access to our service learning trip to Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
• Supporting our goal of 100% College Acceptance by providing trips to colleges for all IDEAS Academy students.
• Support deeper learning of Native Wisconsin culture and geography through an artist-in-residence.
• Support all students working with college students and professors to develop professional skills and projects.
• Support field experiences for ESAA students that deepen learning about their environment and community.
• Support equitable access to after school programs that focus on creativity and innovation.

When you support The Étude Group and Expanding Horizons, you support field experiences to Chicago and the Kettle Moraines; scholarships to summer camp and exchange programs; Étude Studios and Makers Space; Camp Étude and after-school programming; outdoor classrooms; college preparatory programs; artists and creatives in residence programs; and more. These are more than a single-time opportunity. Expanding Horizons experiences are integrated into the project-based learning at The Étude Group schools.

Educate. Empower. Expand.