Please scroll down for questions about General Distance Education, Elementary Distance Education and Academy

All registration fees are per student. These fees are $100 per Elementary and Academy student (Pre-K-12^th) and $50 per Distance Education student (3^rd-12^th).

Academy: Tuition is a specified amount that may be paid in 12 monthly payments for your convenience. Or you may pay it in one or two payments. One monthly payment is dropped per month that the student does not attend. For example, if a student enrolls November 1, having missed August, September, and October, 9 monthly payments will be charged instead of 12. Accredited students who join partway through a semester but need to complete the full semester for credit will be charged the full-semester’s tuition.

Distance Education: Tuition is a monthly payment, August 25–April 25. Tuition is prorated for students who join partway through a month. Accredited students who join partway through a semester but need to complete the full semester for credit, will be charged the full-semester’s tuition.

Academy Only: As a fully accredited program with the state of Utah, we accept a limited number of state-funded Carson Smith Scholarships for students with an IEP. For availability and more information, please contact Sister Merrill at katiemerrill@liahonaed.com. In addition, we offer a few scholarships for trade with janitorial work or other services. These fill up quickly and are often awarded a year in advance.

Books are required and are an additional cost to your regular tuition. The current booklist can be found under the FORMS tab. The cost of books depends on the type and number of classes you are registered for and can range from $25 to $300. Many of the textbooks we use are written specifically for Liahona Preparatory Academy; others are purchased from reputable curriculum publishers. Upon payment, books will be delivered a student’s first day of school or shipped.

Accredited classes build credit towards a State of Utah Diploma and are required by some states in order to homeschool. Non-accredited classes do not build credit. Other than a proctored test, there is no difference in the work given between a non-accredited or accredited class. Accredited students are required to turn in their assignments and tests to Liahona for grading, non-accredited are not. Should you decide to be accredited, we encourage you to meet in person or by phone with our accreditation counselor, Sister Dedrickson.

Liahona Preparatory Academy is fully accredited by AdvancED, one of the largest accrediting agencies in the nation. Liahona can accept transferred credit from other accredited institutions. With prior approval, you may also receive high school credit for classes that meet the standards as stated in our Off-Campus Extracurricular Credit Form located under FORMS.

Some states require homeschooled students to be enrolled in an accredited program. Also, some parents like the flexibility of the non-accredited program while others appreciate the structure and accountability for their children on the accredited program.

There are many factors to be considered when deciding if your student should be accredited. What goals does your student have? Certain professions require a high school diploma or GED equivalent, such as: police, military, and fire academies. What kind of test-taker is your student and where do they want to go to college? Some colleges and universities are more difficult to be accepted to without a diploma. For example, BYU-Provo requires a minimum 27 ACT score without a diploma before they will consider your application. Traditionally, about half of our students are accredited and half of our students are not. Please be aware that we cannot accredit in arrears more than the previous semester, so when unaccredited students contact us years later needing a diploma, we are unable to assist with those requests.

Of course! However, please note that the current month’s tuition as well as a withdrawal fee will be assessed. Accredited students who withdraw before the end of the semester will receive F’s for that semester.

Schoology is a student management system we have partnered with to ensure students and parents are aware of what is happening in their classes and assignments. Through Schoology, parents and students can read daily updates about what was discussed in class as well as view upcoming or past assignments and grades. Students are able to discuss on a public platform and setting what was talked about in class with the teachers and other students.

Telenect is a video streaming platform we have partnered with to bring you live and pre-recorded classes as well as replays of live classes, which are available any time.

Liahona Preparatory Academy offers many fun activities each year including a week-long youth conference each October, a Super, Service, or Mini Trip in the summer, as well as monthly activities for on-campus students. Liahona invites both DE and academy students to attend Prom and graduation in the spring. Liahona boasts a nationally award-winning theatre department that travels to compete 2-3 times a year as well as perform multiple high-quality productions. More information can be found on the Calendar link or the Student Activity link.

Held in May, every 12^th grade Distance Education and Academy student, whether accredited or non-accredited is welcome to attend graduation. Out-of-town participants are invited to join us for a rehearsal the day of graduation. Graduation information is e-mailed and mailed around February.

Elder Holland made an appeal for a “distinctly LDS approach to education.” President Kimball defined that concept as bathing every secular subject in the light and color of the restored gospel. Over the past 20 years, Liahona Preparatory Academy and Distance Education program have developed the principles of Restoration Education, demonstrating how academics and restored knowledge are combined to increase student learning and understanding as they become relevant to their purposes here on earth. More information on this can be found at www.restorationeducation.org.

There are five extended school breaks (please check the school calendar for exact dates). They include:

Fall Break/Youth Conference- October

Thanksgiving Break- November 

Christmas Break- December – January 

Disney Break- February 

Spring Break- April 

Parents can also choose to take different breaks. Your school schedule is completely up to you. 

Make sure you scroll below for more specific questions about Distance Education, the Elementary Program and the Academy.  If you still have questions, you can ask your questions during the question segment of live instruction or email your teachers at any time. We make every effort to respond to these emails within a 24 hour period during the week and by Monday morning if they are received Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Currently, Digital Journalism is the only online elective class. Digital Journalism is conducted and taught live over Google Hangouts on NoteBowl and registered Liahona students around the world are invited to participate in this class.

All other elective classes take place at the Liahona Preparatory Academy campus in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Local Distance Education students are invited to register for on-campus elective classes. The cost for electives is $45 per month un-accredited or $65 a month accredited.

Finally, each fall, interested Distance Education students are invited to audition for and participate in Liahona’s award-winning Shakespeare Competition team. DE students are expected to rehearse on their own time and then come to Utah for two weeks before the competition to rehearse and compete with the rest of the team.

We are bringing you live classes from our campus in Utah; therefore, start times may fluctuate up to ten minutes after the scheduled start. This may be due to a variety of reasons. Please wait ten minutes before calling the front office in this situation. If we are unable to broadcast a class or have a system-wide issue, we will e-mail everyone as soon as we are aware of it.

Absolutely! We would love to have you visit us! Before you do, please make sure you read the dress code located HERE. We also ask that you notify the front office of your visit at least one week prior to your visit. If you are a local Distance Education student, we love your visits as well; however, in order to keep the school from overcrowding, we ask that you please limit your visits to 2 times per month.

Once each semester, accredited students are required to take and pass a proctored exam. Proctors must meet certain requirements and be pre-approved. The exam will be sent to the proctor and must be returned to Liahona Preparatory Academy by the proctor. If a student does not pass the initial proctored exam, one retake of a new exam will be allowed. Proctored tests are taken from the regular tests given in class.

Families can begin the program at any time. For students enrolled at the beginning of the school year, the first live class is Monday August 30th. The final live classes will be May 12th. Students will have access to the recordings of the classes until June 15th.

We do not consider any student “behind” in the distance education program. You can work at your own pace and watch the recordings of the live classes whenever that meets your schedule as long as you complete the program by June 15th.

One of the best things about Liahona is the way that it connects LDS kids with strong friends who have similar standards around the country and the world. These are some of the many ways that we encourage and support social connections with students enrolled in Liahona Distance Education: 

• SMS Platform- Our student management system called Schoology includes opportunities for student responses and interaction in a safe, password-protected, and teacher-monitored environment.  
• Social Media Outreach- Our Instagram and Facebook feeds include regular spotlights on distance education students to help Liahona students get to know each other. We have a student body officer in student government at the Academy specifically over Distance Education outreach who is constantly working to build connections among students. Distance education students are encouraged to participate in group challenges such as service days, temple days, and other themed days throughout the year. (Crazy Hair Day etc.) Then they send in their pictures which are shared with the school community. 
• Devotionals- Liahona holds regular devotionals called Warrior Training for all students. This is another great time where student’s feel connected and part of the larger Liahona community. 
• Local Conferences for Liahona Families- Liahona holds several local conferences each year in places with a large number of Liahona students. Imagine a gathering of Liahona students for 2 to 3 days in your town with the classes live-streamed from that location. We may be planning our next local conference near you. Stay tuned!
• On-Campus Attendance When Visiting Utah-Distance students are welcome to attend Liahona in person for a few days when they are visiting Utah. Parents just need to notify the office a week in advance of your visit to make the necessary arrangements. 
• Shakespeare Competition- In September each year, Liahona students spend hours preparing for the famous Shakespeare Competition located in Cedar City, Utah, home of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Students compete in both junior high and high school divisions and students from 5th to 12th grade are invited to audition to be part of our award-winning Shakespeare team. If distance education students are selected, they will come to Utah for a few weeks before the competition to stay with host Liahona families, rehearse and attend school on campus. Then they will travel with the team to Cedar City to compete. They can also choose to stay an additional week to attend Youth Conference which is held either right before or after the Shakespeare competition. 
• Youth Conference- Every October, immediately following General Conference, Liahona students gather at Aspen Grove, a BYU Camp located in the mountains above Provo, Utah. For five days, they enjoy amazing speakers such as Hank Smith and John Bytheway as well as performances from LDS musical groups and comedians. They play games, go to dances, have movie nights, and enjoy interacting with each other. Students 12 and older may attend without a parent chaperone. Students younger than 12 may also attend with a parent. 
• Disney Break- Every February, Liahona holds a Disney break where Liahona families meet at Disney parks in California or Florida. Future dream trips are planned to Disney parks in Paris, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. During these trips, families meet up and share meals and group activities in the parks together. 
• Super Trips- Every summer, Liahona holds a Super Trip to different places around the world. All of our SuperTrips are educational and many are service-oriented. Past trips have been to the Philippines, South America, and American History sites along the East Coast of the United States, to name a few. Our upcoming Super Trip for Summer 2022 is to London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland where Liahona students will perform in the World-Renowned Edinburgh Theater Fringe Festival.

Liahona Distance Elementary includes 5 live classes: Reading, Writing, History, Science and Math.  Most of these classes are taught daily, for one half hour a day, four days a week. The focus of the program is mastery of key skills needed for success in junior high, high school and college. These include clear and organized writing, effective note-taking on lectures and textbooks, reading comprehension, memorization, deeper thinking and problem solving skills. Reading, History, and Science  are designed to be taught family style daily with every student in grades 1-6 participating in the half hour classes together. Writing and Math classes are level-based to provide students with the instruction they need to improve in their math and writing skills at each stage. All of our classes are engaging and fun. You will be amazed to see your student’s love of learning blossom this year. 

Deborah Rowley is the super energizer bunny that teaches Liahona’s core classes for DE elementary school students. She is famous for her costumes, her funny science mishaps, and her love of students and the gospel. She is so grateful she can bear testimony and invite the Spirit in each class. She graduated from Brigham Young University with her teaching certificate in 1991. Since then, she has taught every grade including preschool, elementary school, junior high, and high school. Her own five children have been homeschooled and have attended public, charter, and private schools. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience for students and families to draw upon. This is her thirteenth year teaching for Liahona. 

She is also an author of ten published books including White Shirts, White Dresses, The Miracle of the Wooden Shoes, Easter Walk, The Traveler and the Heavy Burden and Before They Turn 12: Helping Our Children to Live the Lord’s Standards. She has written educational curriculum materials for Liahona for 8 years and is the author of the new LDS- based textbook series My Roots of Knowledge: A Restoration Education. See #5 below. 

Sister Loukota, Sister Hall, and Sister Merrill are our delightful Math teachers. Collectively they have over 50 years of teaching experience between them. They are gifted at making Math concepts understandable for every learner and love seeing students light up as they get it!  

The live core classes (Reading, History, Science, and Writing) will include 25 minutes of instruction without the need to type questions or give feedback. This will allow the students to focus on the content presented without distractions. The last five minutes will be opened up so students can ask questions and give feedback to the teacher. Students who have no questions and/or do not want to participate are free to go. Chat will not be featured as part of this program. 

Sister Rowley will also be soliciting feedback from students weekly that she will share in her live sessions. Parents will be able to help students type their answers to discussion questions, vote on poll topics and share experiences completing projects with Sister Rowley once each week. Requests for feedback are posted on Mondays and families will have until Wednesday evening to respond. This is purely optional but will allow Sister Rowley to keep the live classes interactive without adding the pressure of the chat feature that is less effective for young learners.

Math classes will allow questions throughout the session so that they can be addressed in real-time. Parents are encouraged to help their students ask these questions if and when needed.  

We are excited to announce that Liahona has created the only Restoration Education textbooks available for elementary school students. My Roots of Knowledge: A Restoration Education Textbook Volume 1 is part of a 6-volume series designed for elementary school students ages 6 to 12. This first volume covers the Ancient World. Volumes 2-6 will be released, one per year, with Volume 2 coming out in August 2022.  They are based on Roots of Knowledge, a stunning set of stained glass windows created by Tom Holdman and Holdman Studios located at Utah Valley University. Tom Holdman is a member of the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints and creates stained glass windows for temples around the world. He recently completed a beautiful stained glass mural entitled Come Follow Me for the Rome, Italy temple. The Roots of Knowledge windows are 10 feet high and 200 feet long with 80 unique window panes made up of  60,000+ individual pieces of stained glass. They contain all the significant historical events, scientific developments, and heroic people that have shaped our world since the beginning of time. Diving deep into the windows through this textbook feels like a treasure hunt. The windows also provide a comprehensive record of everything students learn in their elementary years. 

The elementary program relies on just three books: the core textbook, an activity book and a math book. There is also an optional Writing Portfolio and other resources parents can choose to purchase. Families will need to buy one of My Roots of Knowledge: A Restoration Education Textbook for shared use or they could purchase an individual copy for each of their students in the program. This would allow for highlighting and individual note taking on the content in the books. 

The second required resource is My Roots of Knowledge: A Restoration Education Activity Book. 

There are three activity books that were created as companions to My Roots of Knowledge: Beginning: 1st and 2nd grades, Intermediate: 3rd and 4th grades, Advanced: 5th and 6th grades. The Activity Books provide age-appropriate science experiments, art projects, and writing activities that build on the material in each textbook chapter. These are consumable meaning students will complete their work in these books. For this reason, siblings who are on the same level will need to purchase their own activity books. For example: one child is in 3rd grade and the other child is in 4th grade but they won’t be able to share one Intermediate Activity Book. 

Finally, families will need to provide the Saxon Math materials for each child. Saxon Math placement tests are available from the school. 

Parents can also choose to purchase a Writing Portfolio book for each level where students will write the final drafts of their essays. These books utilize the same lines students use as they write their rough drafts and provide a place for an illustration for each essay. The Writing Portfolios make a wonderful place to keep the students’ completed papers each year. Families can choose to use a regular notebook for this writing or have their older elementary students type their final drafts. 

The other grammar, spelling, and reading resource books listed on the booklist are optional. Families are encouraged to enroll in Liahona’s membership site for one month and test out the resources it provides before purchasing additional materials. See #19 below. 

The booklist is available at liahonaeducation.com. My Roots of Knowledge: A Restoration Education Textbooks and Activity Books can be purchased from the school. Other books can be purchased online at any online retailer. 

Information about art supplies needed for history projects and science supplies needed for science experiments each week are included in the Activity Books.

Access to the daily live streams is available at Telenect.com. Liahona will give families their log-in information before the first day of school.  Please allow 48 hours (or 2 business days) to process your registration and receive this log-in information. This is also where families can access the recordings of the classes if they are unable or prefer to not watch live. Recordings of the daily classes will always be available immediately following the live sessions and can be accessed anytime by families. This gives parents flexibility in setting their own schedule and taking time off as needed for family vacations or other needs. Liahona also uses a Student Management System where you can communicate with the teacher and see assignments etc.

CORE CLASS SCHEDULE

Monday thru Thursday

*9:10 to 9:40 am (MT) Reading Class for all students

Break

*9:50 to 10:20 am (MT) History Class for all students

Break

*10:30 to 11:00am (MT)  Science Class for all students

Break

Writing Classes Monday – Thursday

8:40 to 9:00 am (MT) Writing Class for Advanced Students- 5th and 6th-grade students

9:40 to 10:00 (MT) Writing Class for Intermediates- 3rd and 4th-grade students

11:50 to 12:10 pm (MT)  Writing Class for Beginners- 1st and 2nd-grade students

MATH SCHEDULE

1st grade Saxon Math- 9:40-10:00 am (MT)

2nd grade Saxon Math- 10:05-10:25 am (MT)

3rd grade Saxon Math- 8:40 to 9:00 am (MT)

4th grade Saxon Math- 8:40 to 9:00 am (MT)

The total time for the live classes is about 2 hours daily. We estimate that completing the homework assignments and activity book pages may take an additional 1-2 hours based on the given assignments, individual student ability, and parent support.

Families can choose between two options: 

1. Parent Grading:  Each Activity Book includes an evaluation rubric of skills students should master during the school year. A copy of this rubric is included every four weeks so students can see their growth and progress as the year progresses. Parents are encouraged to sit down with their student once a month to evaluate how they are doing and set goals to achieve mastery of these skills. Daily assignments can be evaluated by parents according to their family expectations for neatness, completeness, and quality. Liahona is fully accredited and can release a grade report with grades determined by the parents using the rubric provided by the school twice a year. 
2. Teacher-supervised Grading: For an additional amount each month, parents can submit copies of the student work for teacher feedback and grading. For the core classes this will require just one  submission each month of an essay and a note-taking sample along with one assignment of the student’s choice. These will be turned in at the beginning of each month. Grade-supervised students will also require testing once each semester/ twice per year.

Math classes will have different requirements for submission and grading. The Math teachers will communicate these expectations to parents. 

Weekly short quizzes will be provided for all students in the Core Classes. Students will complete the quiz on their own and then will self-grade the quiz along with Sister Rowley as part of the live class. This testing is used as a tool to help students see how they are doing with note-taking and paying attention in class. Parents will submit these quiz scores at the end of each semester as part of the parent-grading rubric if they desire a grade report from Liahona. 

Two more official tests will be given to grade-supervised students twice each year in November and April. More information will be provided on administering these longer tests by the school prior to these dates. 

Liahona does not administer standardized government-based tests. 

Math teachers will test according to their own schedule and will communicate this with parents.

Parents are not expected to watch the daily instruction or guide every activity that the student completes. The goal of the program is to help students manage their own learning and work as independently as possible. Each week follows the same pattern so that it is easy for parents to know what is required each day. The program works best when parents take an active role in providing supplies ahead of time and helping younger students. Parents are also encouraged to check their student’s work daily or weekly and evaluate student progress in mastering skills each month. As with everything at Liahona, parents can determine their level of involvement in this program.

Each week follows the same pattern and includes these same assignments every week. 

Monday

Reading Assignment: Take notes on Language Arts Essay in Textbook

History Assignment: Take the weekly quiz

Science Assignment: Study vocabulary words 

Math Assignment: based on level

Writing Assignment: based on level

Beginning and Intermediate Students Work on Day 1 Writing

Brainstorm/Outline, Partner Conferencing/Final Draft

Advanced Students Work on Creative Writing for the Week

Tuesday

Reading Assignment: Share read aloud with family  

History Assignment: Take notes on History Essay in Textbook

Science Assignment: Science Experiment 

Math Assignment: based on level

Writing Assignment: based on level 

Beginning and Intermediate Students Work on Creative Writing for the Week

Advanced Students work on Day 1 Writing: Brainstorm/Outline, Partner Conferencing/Final Draft

Wednesday

Reading Assignment: Read more information on a topic that interests you

History Assignment: Discuss chapter questions with your family

Science Assignment: Take notes on Science Essay in Textbook

Math Assignment: based on level

Writing Assignment: based on level

Beginning and Intermediate Students Work on Day 2 Writing: Rough Draft, Revision, Illustration

Advanced Students work on Personal Writing Project

*Submit responses for live participation

Thursday

Reading Assignment: Do your own personal reading and/or practice fluency

History Assignment: Art Project

Science Assignment: Map Work/ Enrichment Pages

Math Assignment: based on level

Writing Assignment: based on level

Beginning and Intermediate Students Work on Personal Writing Project

Advanced Students work on Day 2 Writing: Rough Draft, Revision, Illustration

Liahona’s program involves lots of writing instruction. The students will complete one longer essay every three weeks. They complete a different part of the writing process weekly. Week 1: Brainstorming/Outlining and Writing the Rough Draft. Week 2: Partner Conferencing and Revision. Week 3: Final Draft and Illustration. Writing instruction will be done in separate classes based on the student’s level. Beginning: 1st/2nd Grade, Intermediate: 3rd/4th Grade, Advanced: 5th/6th Grade.

Parents are encouraged to help their students improve their essay writing skills by partner conferencing with them once every three weeks. Students can evaluate their own writing first using a special green pen. (**Any color is fine but we talk about the green pen in class.) Students will learn how to use the editing marks shown on the conferencing page. This trains them to identify mistakes in their writing and helps them improve. Then parents can use a different color pen to add their editing marks, making the corrections the student misses. (*Teachers use purple in the classroom. Try to avoid red because of the negative association this can have for students). After editing, the partners will get together to discuss the content of the essay. Does it follow the five-paragraph format taught in class? What concrete details could be added? How could this paragraph be improved? etc. They will use the questions prompts on the partner conferencing page and add sentences and changes in the space between lines on the rough draft.  Additional videos are provided in the membership site to support the writing process. See #19 below. 

We encourage parents to invest the time in this writing process. Here is a testimonial from a parent whose children have participated in Sister Rowley’s program for the past 10 years: 

“One of the things I feel you have done so well is teaching basic principles of outlining and essay construction. It has not only prepared my children for junior high, but set a platform for higher learning writing excellence. My oldest daughter will be graduating with her degree in English this year and I know that stems from learning the ease and love of writing papers from your elementary instruction. My other children have not struggled to write papers in middle school up to community college courses because they understand the foundation of brainstorming, outlining, and then added to their skillset as they progressed.  Being a good writer, reader, and note taker leads to better grades in every subject! You have a wonderful program and given them a great beginning toolset.”

This inexpensive membership site is a companion program to support My Roots of Knowledge: A Restoration Education. The membership site includes video instruction from Sister Rowley on essay writing and note-taking. The site also includes videos related to Roots of Knowledge filmed at the stained-glass windows and on field trips searching for the artifacts we study. Videos are available on grammar, spelling, and reading fluency. This video instruction will provide targeted instruction to help students grow individually. Enrollment happens every September, January, & May. Membership can be canceled at any time. More information can be found by going to: myrootsofknowledge.com.

For families with multiple children having everyone in the same classes is a blessing with unique challenges. Siblings can choose to watch the classes together on the same device or they can log in and watch the classes from separate devices in their own study area. Each level of the Activity Books gives students their own unique activities to complete related to each week’s topics. Parents can choose to provide materials for all three science experiments if they have students in each level. Or they can pick one of the three science experiments to complete as a family. This would also be true for the History Art Projects. 

Depending on the relationship between siblings and the family dynamic, families can do more together or they can set up the program so children work more independently. Textbooks can be shared collectively or purchased for each child. Older children can help read the essays to younger siblings or parents can do so. Families are encouraged to adapt the program so it best meets the needs of their children.

The bell schedule can be found at the following links: Academy Daily Schedule or Elementary Daily Schedule.

Any teacher or administrator is happy to meet with parents, in person or by e-mail, to answer questions and concerns, but since Liahona offers so much information to parents about what your student is studying and how they are doing through Telenect and NoteBowl, parent/teacher conferences are often redundant.

We observe two Monday holidays: Labor Day and Presidents’ Day. Since we follow a four-day school week and film our classes, we do not observe the other Monday holidays.

We hope you will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Students never need to get behind when they are sick or go on vacation because the classes they missed are always available. It’s a great resource to study for upcoming tests or review concepts with parents.