About
Legacy Commonwealth Academy
What is a commonwealth, and how does it work?
A commonwealth is a once a week school that is owned and operated by the families that run it. Our commonwealth 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 their own continuing 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.
Where do you meet and when?
2024-2025 School Year
Mondays from 9:20 am - 1:40 pm
We currently meet in Northwest Cedar Park, Texas. For the sake of privacy and safety, the exact location is only given to members of our community through private communications.
We begin classes on September 9. We do not meet most of December, and typically end the first or second week of May. A detailed calendar will be given to families joining our commonwealth.
What is required to join? How involved are parents?
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 (May 20) OR go over the information with at least one board member
Submit a complete application, including reading and agreeing to Legacy's Constitution & Bylaws
Attend the parent mentor training (TBD, likely the week of August 19)
Be a parent mentor/co-mentor
Interview with Board members
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
Optional - Parents: Phases of Learning by Oliver & Rachel DeMille
Optional - Tween/Teen Parents & Students: Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens by Oliver DeMille & Shanon Brooks
Optional - Scholar Students & Parents: Hero Education by Oliver DeMille
Optional - Parent Mentors: The Student Whisperer by Oliver DeMille & Tiffany Earl
Our commonwealth is NOT a drop off opportunity. Parents are expected and required to be involved in some form. Often parents rotate mentoring and co-mentoring the age 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 not required to be present but 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 announcements (about 10-15 minutes) in order to ensure there are no children being left on their own prior to instruction time starting.
How much does it cost?
2024-2025 Pricing
Per Semester:
$75 Family Fee; covers supplies, mentor training, insurance, and emergency funds
$100 Rental fee; covers cost to use facilities & insurance
Per Semester Total: $175
Family fees are due at the beginning of a semester. Rental fees can be paid at the beginning of a semester or monthly. Payment can be made via Venmo to our commonwealth account (details given to commonwealth members).
Additional fees may occur for class specific needs such as student binders, supplies students need to complete a class, or project specific supplies. Costs will be communicated as far in advance as possible. Please see "Classes" to view upcoming fees per student.
How do I apply?
*We are currently not accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year. We will reopen applications once we have spots available.
If you are ready to apply, please use the navigation links to reach our application form. All Applications must be received by June 30. Applicant families will be notified via email if they have been accepted or put on a waitlist.
If you are not yet ready to apply and would like more information, please reach out using the "Contact" page, or reach out to a commonwealth member that you know. We will happily set up a time for you to meet with 1-2 of our board members so you can ask any questions.
We understand that you may want to see if our commonwealth is a good fit for your family before committing. In order to avoid instructional time disruptions, we typically do not allow visitors. However, every 4th Monday during the school year, we meet at a local park for a "stay and play" meet-up so interested families can come and meet some of our members (including teens!). During the summer months we try to gather semi-regularly (often to swim) and you are welcome to join us during those times as well. Please reach out using the "Contact" page as well, and we'll get the relevant meet up information to you.
*Please note that we typically only allow new families to join us at the beginning of a semester when space allows. If you have applied in the middle of a semester please continue to reach out and join us for our meet-ups so we can continue to get to know you.
Legacy Executive Board
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.
2023-2024 Executive Board
Mentor Chair: Kimmy Williams (Current President)
Membership Chair(s): Crystal Freckleton
Event Chair: Ashton Johnson
Secretary: Sarah Arnesen
Treasurer: Jamie Hugh
How do you communicate as a group?
In order to communicate with everyone in an efficient manner, we utilize the GroupMe app. Once part of the commonwealth, you will be invited to join several groups that pertain to you and your family. We have a dedicated group for announcements pertaining to everyone, including details for calendar events. We also have dedicated groups for each specific class for class specific announcements. It is expected for parents (and students old enough to have technology) to regularly check for updates and announcements.
What Phase of Learning would my student belong to?
As part of our Bylaws, all parents are required to read "A Thomas Jefferson Educaiton" and "Giving Your Child a LOLIPOP Education." By studying Leadership Education principles and gaining your own understanding, you should be able to percieve 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.
Are you equipped to work with special needs students
As our mentors are mostly parents of our students, we likely do not have mentors specially trained to help with special needs students. We honor and recognize that every student is on their own learning journey. We also recognize that we do not have the tools nor number of supervising adults needed to delegate a mentor to help one on one with a student. Students need to be able to reasonably participate in class activities without the assistance of a dedicated helper unless that helper is provided for by the family (outside of parental mentor obligations).