Q: What is Maeser Prep?

Maeser Preparatory Academy is a publicly-funded charter high school enrolling grades 9 – 12.

Q: Where is the school located?

The school is located at 531 North State Street in Lindon, Utah. This will be our home for two or three years until we build our permanent facility.

Q: Will the school be accredited?

During their first three years, all new high schools, public or charter, are considered "provisionally acredited." During the provisional period, Maeser Prep will provide credit and diplomas that are accepted by USOE and NAAS based upon the expectation that full accreditation will be granted through those organizations. Practically speaking, Maeser Prep will provide credit equal to any other local high school beginning its first year.

Q: What is the school schedule?

School will start at 7:30 am and end at 3:10 pm.

Q: How do I enroll my child?

Enrollment application forms for Fall O8 are being accepted Now. Click here to get forms.

Q: How many students will be enrolled at Maeser Prep?

The per-grade enrollment is undetermined. We have an overall cap of 325 students for grades 9-12, but reserve the right to determine enrollment numbers in each grade once the enrollment process is completed. We envision approximately 25 students in individual classes.

Q: What curriculum will Maeser Prep use?

The core liberal arts curriculum will be based on the renowned Great Books/ Junior Great Books curriculum. For more information on this curriculum see: www.greatbooks.com. The curriculum will be implemented through use of the Socratic method in a Socratic Seminar format. For information on Socratic Seminars/Paidea Model, see:

http://www.socraticseminars.com/education/whatare.html

http://www.paideia.org/content.php/philo/paiphilo.htm

Math and physics will use the widely acclaimed Saxon Math program, and the school will offer AP Calculus.

Our AP course offerings will be somewhat limited the first year, but eventually we will offer AP Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics for 11th and 12th graders.

As part of its curriculum, Maeser Prep will implement a unique Winterim seminar. This is a three to four week course of study (held each January) devoted to a single subject matter of each student's choosing.

Discipline Policy
Homework Policy
Uniform Policy
Eligibility Policy
Restricted Items Policy

Q: What is Winterim?

Winterim will be a unique three to four week seminar scheduled between the first and second semesters immediately following Christmas Vacation. During Winterim, regular classes are suspended and each student chooses his unique pursuit of interest from offerings including intensive on-campus courses, educational travel, independent study, apprenticeship, or service opportunities. Each student will be required to submit his project idea, which will be reviewed by his Winterim advisor to determine if it is a meaningful project.

During Winterim, each student will be required to keep a journal to document his time spent on the project, and will be required to meet objective standards to complete it. He will be in touch with his advisor throughout the process for accountability purposes. Each student will receive a grade, a transcript comment, and 1/2 credit for each year of satisfactory participation. The on-campus options will be during regular school hours. After the Winterim period, there will be a festival where all the students will showcase the work they have done during that period.

Typical Winterim courses might include:

Medical Forensics
Create, Cook, Consume: A Total Culinary Experience
Stocks, Bonds & Venture Capital: Investing
Plagues and Viruses
The Play’s the Thing (Study & Production of Shakespeare)
Whatever you can imagine!

For information about Winterim (as implemented at Maumee Valley Country Day School), see: http://www.mvcds.org/handson/winterim.asp

Q: What sports will be offered?s

For our first year, we will be offering club lacrosse and golf and play in a charter school league for soccer, volleyball, and basketball.

If you know of additional opportunities for clubs in other sports, or if you are willing to put your volunteer hours in as a coach, please contact board member Corey Bingham at bingfam@byu.edu.

Q: How does Maeser Prep hire teachers?

Many schools “recruit” by simply posting a job opening. But because we want the best of the best at Maeser Prep, and we know that takes significant effort, we have gone far above that. We’ve posted our openings in a number of places, but we’ve also recruited at teacher fairs, recruited talented teachers at other schools, contacted BYU and UVSC faculty members for referrals, and generally beat the bushes for teachers who are known for excellence.

We’ve interviewed extensively, sometimes multiple times, grilled candidates’ references, checked them out on ratemyprofessors.com, evaluated their writing samples, and maybe most importantly, we’ve travelled all over the Wasatch Front to observe and evaluate teachers in their element—the classroom. When that wasn’t possible, we’ve had them teach mock lessons to us in an interview.

Although the headmaster and board of Maeser Prep are folks with strong opinions and personalities, each of these hires was the result of a unanimous vote.

Each of our six full-time faculty members, as well as our headmaster, has at least one advanced degree and experience in the classroom beyond student teaching. That’s impressive all by itself, but it also means that we have a built-in concurrent enrollment program. We are currently investigating options to design an excellent concurrent enrollment program in collaboration with a university.

Q: How many volunteer hours am I asked to donate?

Parents of students at Maeser Prep commit to support the academic vision of the school and are asked to donate at least 40 hours per year of volunteer time (20 hours per year for single parent families).

Areas you may be asked to volunteer in include: curriculum, athletics programs, music programs, facilities, fundraising or grant writing, technology/graphics design, finance operations, legal counsel, PTO, or any other area in which you may have special skills.

Q: Do students have to wear uniforms?

Yes. Students enrolled in Maeser Prep will be required to wear a school uniform as outlined in the school handbook.

Q: How will students get to school each day?

Maeser Prep will not provide transportation for students to or from school. Parents or other responsible drivers are to drop off and pick up students each school day.

Q: Will there be a cafeteria on campus?

Maeser Prep will not provide hot lunch for students. Students will be required to bring their own food. There will be a lunch room.

Q: What about LDS Seminary?

Seminary will be offered in a Release Time format. It will be available six periods per day in a location convenient to the school.

Q: How do I contact someone if I have questions?

Call the school at 785-4688 or email questions to: info@maeserprep.org

Additional contact information is available on the Contact Us page.