About
Legacy Commonwealth Academy

A commonwealth is a once a week school that is owned and operated by the families that run it. Our commonwealth's purpose is to inspire all members to live their individual missions, provide educational and social opportunities for our children, and to create friendship and community amongst students and parent mentors. 

Parents play a key part in our commonwealth as parent mentors. It is important that parents have the heart and energy to help build and support the commonwealth through continuing their own education, serving within the commonwealth, mentoring their children, and finding and living their own life mission. Parents are given training opportunities to feel successful in the various mentoring opportunities they are asked to participate in. 

Our co-op is currently designed to support families who have homeschooled for at least 1 year, with children in the Love of Learning and Scholar phases. A guiding principle of Leadership Education is that "the lessons of the Core Phase (ages 4-8) are best learned through daily experiences in home life, uncomplicated by the secondary goals of pressured academic achievement. The best efforts of the parents will be in nurturing healthy relationships and modeling an active spiritual and scholarly life."

In alignment with the principles of Leadership Education, we ask that families wait to apply until (1) they have homeschooled for at least one year & (2) their oldest child has transitioned into the Love of Learning phase, which typically begins between the ages of 8-10. 

For our commonwealth to work best, and to ensure that new/incoming families have a smooth transition, we require the following:

• Attend our Spring Information Meeting OR go over the information with at least one board member

• Read the following titles where applicable (Links can be found here)

  • • Required - All Parents: A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century by Oliver DeMille

• Required - 12 and Under Parents: For The Love of Learning, Giving Your Children a LOLIPOP Education by Amy Edwards

• Required - Tween/Teen Parents & Students: Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens by Oliver DeMille & Shanon Brooks

• Optional - Parents: Phases of Learning by Oliver & Rachel DeMille

• Optional - Scholar Students & Parents: Hero Education by Oliver DeMille

• • • Optional - Parent Mentors: The Student Whisperer by Oliver DeMille & Tiffany Earl

• Submit a complete application, including reading and agreeing to Legacy's Constitution & Bylaws

  • • Scholar students submit a Scholar Application (found in the family application)

• Interview with at least 1-2 Board members

• Agree to pay all fees.

• Attend the parent mentor training  (TBD, likely within the last two weeks of August)

• Be a parent mentor/co-mentor and serve as a committee member/board member

Our commonwealth is NOT a drop off opportunity. Parents are expected and required to be involved in some form. Often parents rotate mentoring the various age groups/phase groups in which their child is a participant. Sometimes you may be asked to mentor a class that your child is not in. If you are not mentoring during a specific month or time of day, you are encouraged to stay so you can get to know other members of our community. At least one parent is required to stay through the morning meeting (about 10-15 minutes) in order to ensure there are no children being left on their own prior to instruction time starting. 

Our co-op is currently designed to support families who have homeschooled for at least 1 year, with children in the Love of Learning and Scholar phases. A guiding principle of Leadership Education is that "the lessons of the Core Phase (ages 4-8) are best learned through daily experiences in home life, uncomplicated by the secondary goals of pressured academic achievement. The best efforts of the parents will be in nurturing healthy relationships and modeling an active spiritual and scholarly life."

In alignment with the principles of Leadership Education, we ask that families wait to apply until (1) they have homeschooled for at least one year & (2) their oldest child has transitioned into the Love of Learning phase, which typically begins between the ages of 8-10. 

The Legacy Executive Board is responsible for the overall policy and direction of the commonwealth and delegates responsibility of day-to-day operations to the mentors and committees. 

2025-2026 Executive Board

President: Kimmy Williams

Mentor Chair: Andi Thompson

Membership Chair: Deanna Helferstay 

Event Chair: Aleisha Morgan

Secretary: Sarah Arnesen

Treasurer: Lucy Middleton

As part of our Bylaws, all parents are required to read "A Thomas Jefferson Education" and "Giving Your Child a LOLIPOP Education." By studying Leadership Education principles and gaining your own understanding, you should be able to perceive what Phase of Learning your student should be part of. We also encourage all parents to read "Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning" for an even deeper dive into each phase.

Chapter 1 in "Giving Your Student a LOLIPOP Education" has particularly some great information for quickly assessing your child's Phase of Learning. Remember that students naturally flow from one phase of learning to the next. Each child is different and should not move "up" simply because they reach a certain age.

A solid Core Phase consists of a clear sense of right and wrong, good and bad, true and false. They know how to have age-appropriate healthy relationships and understand their place in their home and the value of a job well done and play! They understand the family's core values and develops a healthy work-ethic. Students who seem to have mastered these skills are often ready to move into a Love of Learning Phase.

A solid Love of Learning Phase is not one drenched in academic pursuits but rather focuses on inspired learning in a variety of ways and follows the interest of the student. A student learns confidence in their ability to learn anything and become resourceful and work hard. They explore learning in a multitude of ways and give space for wonder and trusting that they are capable of learning. They have JOY in learning and often can think quickly on their feet, engage actively and productively in debates, read analytically, and express their opinions in writing. Students who master these skills are often ready to move into a Scholar Phase.