As of 2024, Liahona Preparatory Academy had an average ACT score of 25, below the average score of 27 for Utah private high schools, tying for #11 out of 13 private high schools in Utah, based on ACT scores.[8]
Restoration Education at Liahona Preparatory Academy attempts to integrate Latter-day Saint (LDS) doctrines into academic curriculum.[7] The core curriculum includes focused teachings on contested subjects such as the belief that Native Americans were likely descended from Israelites and that ancient Israelite societies existed in the pre-Columbian Americas, as is described in the Book of Mormon. However, there is no substantial archaeological evidence supporting these claims.[9] Genetic studies further indicate that Native Americans have predominantly East Asian ancestry, with no detectable traces of Middle Eastern or Israelite DNA.[10]
As of 2024, Liahona Preparatory Academy is part of the Utah School Sports Alliance (USSA),[11] and the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA).[12] Their teams are called the "Liahona Warriors".[12]
Liahona's theatre department produces 3-6 shows each year in their on-campus black box theater. Liahona's High-school division won the Utah Shakespeare Festival 1st place sweepstakes in 2014,[13] 2016,[14] 2017,[15] and 2018.[16] Their Jr. High team won the Utah Shakespeare Festival 1st place sweepstakes in 2015,[17] and 2016.[14]
Each year, Liahona students have the opportunity to attend a week-long, chaperoned youth conference at BYU's family campground in Aspen Grove. Additionally, students can occasionally participate in service trips to various locations, previous trips included; the Mexico Yucatán area, a Navajo reservation, and the Philippines. The school also organizes paid sight-seeing "super trips" to destinations such as Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Mexico, and Gettysburg. Prom is held annually for students aged 14 and older.[18]
In 2013, Broch Clyde DeGraff, the son of Brent and Kolleen DeGraff, founders of Liahona Preparatory Academy, was arrested for sexually abusing two 16-year-old female students. The abuse occurred between October 2011 and June 2012 and involved grooming, text messages, and physical encounters at both the school and DeGraff's home. DeGraff, who was a teacher and the soccer coach at the school, was in a position of trust and authority, which he exploited to commit his offenses.[19] Broch DeGraff pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible sexual abuse and four counts of attempted sexual abuse, and was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.[20]
