Summary
American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork, Utah, is a large K–12 alternative school serving 1,597 students in a growing community south of Provo. The school has an 18.0-to-1 student-teacher ratio, and 36.57% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Its 2024–25 graduation rate was 92.2%, above Utah’s 89.8% average and just below Freedom Preparatory Academy at 94.0%. The dropout rate was 6.8%, better than the state’s 8.5%, while chronic absenteeism was 21.3%, also below Utah’s 23.8%.
These completion and attendance results are important strengths, although the school’s results have varied by year. Graduation fell to 84.9% in 2022–23 before recovering, and the dropout rate reached 15.1% that same year. Academically, performance is uneven rather than consistently strong or weak. ALA exceeded the state in several areas, including sixth-grade English language arts, eighth-grade mathematics, and sixth- and eighth-grade science. However, mathematics in fifth grade was 27.7% proficient, and seventh grade was a concern across every tested subject: 30.4% in English language arts, 31.5% in mathematics, and 34.5% in science. Those results were about 13 to 15 percentage points below state rates, making seventh grade the clearest area for improvement.
Compared with nearby alternatives, ALA is much larger than most schools, offering a broader K–12 setting but not the very small class environments found at specialized programs. American Preparatory Academy - Salem was generally stronger in elementary and middle-school testing, particularly mathematics and science, while ALA generally outperformed Freedom Preparatory Academy in recent English, high-school math, and high-school science results. Overall, ALA appears strongest in graduation, dropout, and improving attendance outcomes, with the main academic priorities being consistent mathematics instruction, seventh-grade support, and maintaining recent gains.
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