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A Commonwealth School is all about Families! It is a once a week school that is owned and operated by the families that run it.  It is a model of a homeschool co-op that is designed to last 20 or more years.  The school is run by an elected board that governs based on written documents that protect the founder’s original vision of educational philosophy and the vision and mission of the school. A Commonwealth School is run on a volunteer system.  Each family that participates gets to put their “Parent Power” into the school and see it run effectively and efficiently thanks to systems, roles, and stewardships.” Definition provided by www.newcommonwealthschools.com.

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Dixie Leadership Academy embraces the leadership education model.  Leadership education is an education philosophy, also known as A Thomas Jefferson Education, based on the belief that each person is born with a God given mission that is unique to the individual. The best way to discover and prepare for that mission is by successfully going through phases of education - Core phase, Love of Learning Phase, and Scholar Phase. It looks very different from what happens in public schools today! We encourage you to learn more by reading, A Thomas Jefferson Education, by Oliver Demille and researching at tjed.org.

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Our Vision Statement can be found under the "Documents" tab. It will help you understand the purpose of our families meeting together!

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We refer to our 12-19 year old students as Scholars. We use projects to teach principles of truth and develop skills such as critical thinking, presentation (oral, written, or project), expression of thought, research, persuasive argument, and more. Each class focuses on a subject or time period for an entire semester or year and is taught by trained mentors - typically the parents of our scholars at DLA! A few examples of our scholar projects include: Youth Experiencing Shakespeare- an in depth study of one of Shakespeare’s tragedies the first semester and a full production of a comedy in the the second; Key of Liberty- an immersion in the history of the Founding and Revolutionary War of America followed by a deep dive into the US Constitution; Debt of Honor- a thorough study of WWII, lessons we learn from it, and how to apply those lessons to the complex world we live in today. This is just a small sampling of projects we offer.

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We are a non-profit private school that is run entirely by volunteers. Our families work together to create an amazing community that continues from year to year. In joining DLA parents are expected to:

• Read and Discuss  A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille before school begins

• Attend Parent orientation before school begins

• Help teach in a class (there are always at least 2 teachers so the responsibility is shared and we provide training.)

• Serve on a committee or on the board

• Attend Parent trainings (at least 2 per semester, usually held once a month on a Friday evening)

• Attend one semester of a mom’s enrichment class (usually provided during commonwealth hours on Wednesdays along with childcare)

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We serve families! We offer a Junior School for children that are nursery age through 12 as well as the scholar program for ages 12-19. We place a high priority on our scholar program, but we do have a few families each year with junior children only.

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We believe parents are the experts on their children. We also embrace the individual uniqueness of each child. We are happy to work with you to find the right place for your student! Plus, you get the benefit of rubbing shoulders with families that have a combined 100+ years of homeschooling to help you along.

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We do offer a limited drop off option for our scholars with additional registration costs and with approval from the board. 

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Dixie Leadership Academy meets on Wednesdays, with three class periods during the times of 8:30am  - 3:30pm. Please reference the Class Descriptions for further information on individual classes.

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For the Fall 2023 semester, we will be meeting at the University of Utah Graduate Center*.

*Dixie Leadership Academy has no affiliation with or endorsement, sponsorship, or support from neither the University of Utah nor the University of Utah Graduate Center of St. George.

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Registration and tuition fluctuate year to year. There is a family registration each semester to pay for rent, insurance, and other general/miscellaneous supplies. In addition, each class has a semester tuition. Our Junior classes are arranged by age. Scholar class tuition vary widely depending on the project. Each tuition is per class per student per semester. Families provide the assigned books and manuals for the classes as well.

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Our application process includes 4 steps:

1) An informal interview with our Parent Representative

2) Sign documents

3) Fill in online registration forms

4) Approval by the Board of Directors

5) Pay a $50 non-refundable fee to secure your place in our program. Our Parent Representative takes a few minutes to get to know you, your family, what your needs are, and answer any questions you have. You then continue applying by reviewing 3 documents- our Parent agreement, Conduct of a Statesman, and the Hold Harmless agreement. These are then signed electronically on a form you receive from the Parent Representative. Finally, you create an account on our website and pay the $50 fee. This fee is applied toward your first semester family registration in the fall.

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Once you have completed your family registration under the FAQ "How do I apply?", our Parent Representative will provide you with personal login information for the website. You will then be able to register individual children for their class(es). Tuition payments are accepted via venmo or by cash/check through our Treasurer.

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Yes! We do have a waiting list. Simply click the link in the menu bar and fill out the form. There is no cost or obligation to be on our waiting list. As space becomes available the Parent Representative refers to the waiting list to begin the selection process. 

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Our Parent Representative would love to speak with you! Contact her through email:

Danalee Dial, danaleedial@gmail.com