We Believe in Dawson Campaign

Dawson seeks a learning environment that is reflective of the evolving Las Vegas community, its surrounding areas, and our global society. When students see themselves reflected in their school, they are better able to achieve their individual potential. 

• Tuition assistance 

• Support of scholarship grants and programs 

We strive to teach our student-athletes to develop an inclusive and healthy mindset toward competitive activities. They are important representatives of the School’s Mission and Core Values, both on campus and throughout the larger Las Vegas community, and they represent our school with pride. 

• Championship t-shirts in celebration of sports teams
• Golf bags for the golf team
• Golf cart
• New uniforms for the football and volleyball teams
• Recruitment of knowledgeable coaches and mentors 

Our campus is 33 acres of desert beauty, offering extraordinary indoor and outdoor areas that are safe and spark our students’ curiosity, need to explore, and personalized learning experiences. We seek to preserve our unique buildings and grounds for both the current and future generations of Dawson students.  

• Early Childhood Building 

  • Fresh paint and building upgrades in offices and the Multi-Purpose Room

• Middle School Building

  • Addition of digital monitors throughout the hallways to allow for dynamic displays of student learning

  • Areas that allow for student work to live on public display

  • New flooring throughout the entire building 

  • Removal of concrete benches and addition of flexible seating and other collaborative workspaces throughout the lobby

• Fine Arts Building

  • Middle School Design Lab, an indoor/outdoor hybrid innovation lab where students design and fabricate with easy access to the Ruffin Organic Garden and the Middle School building

• Ruffin Organic Garden

  • Creation of a garden and sustainability coordinator position that engages students and teachers in a curriculum that supports connections in nature, environmental stewardship, and Garden care  

  • Implementation of a program that provides food and nourishment to students via the Dawson Dining Hall 

With our focus on modern learning for real-world connections and Project-Based Learning initiatives, Dawson provides a transformative education for its students through the opportunities our teachers are given to continue to engage in creative and collaborative thinking and learning.  

• Continuing education through conferences and programs 

  • Deeper Learning Conference 

  • Educational Leadership program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas

  • Enrollment Management Association

  • FORGE, a year-long fellowship program through the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University’s Teacher College

  • Independent School Management

  • National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference 

  • National Association for the Education of Young Children

  • PBL World

  • Society for Human Resource Management

• Adaptive Schools training

• Curriculum writing for grade-level and departmental projects 

  • Curriculum overviews 

  • Scope & sequence

  • Course competencies

  • Common assessments

• Global partnership visit to three schools in Santiago and Concepción, Chile 

• Instructional technology tools training

Unrestricted gifts help support everything your family loves and appreciates about Dawson. This spans all school-related needs, from the everyday items our students use to big-ticket items like nationally recognized speakers who consult with our community.

• Additional support given to fundraising designations: Access & Affordability, Athletics, Creative & Innovative Campus Spaces, and Professional Development

• Author & Adviser Charles Vogl for Parent University: Community & Belonging in September 2023

• Classroom supplies for students, including pencils, pens, paper, markers, crayons, etc. 

• Curriculum Task Force funding

  • Learner profile redesign in alignment with Dawson’s reimagined Core Values

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

  • Middle School advisory and student engagement

  • Educational technology

  • Project-Based Learning 

  • Social-emotional learning, social thinking & diverse learners training

• Digital education resources such as Canvas, IXL, Zearn, Duolingo, Flipgrid, NearPod, NewsELA, and SeeSaw

• Knowing Technologies educational technology audit to ensure an enhanced student learning experience 

• Student field trips and off-campus learning experiences 

Additionally, as an independent, not-for-profit school, Dawson does not receive state or federal funding. The School, therefore, relies entirely on the tuition dollars paid by our families, the Alexander Dawson Foundation’s bond payment, and charitable donations from our community members. The cost of an education for every single Dawson student is subsidized; meaning, many families paying the full tuition price are still paying less than the School is spending to educate each student, leaving Dawson to rely on alternative sources of funding – including and especially the Annual Fund. This includes:
Debt service

• Depreciation expenses

• Facilities and dining expenses

• General, administrative, and fundraising expenses

• Personnel expenses

• Technology and other instructional/auxiliary expenses

• Tuition assistance

This is why recurring giving matters – we must work each year to close the gap in tuition between the cost of a Dawson education and our tuition price. This allows us to provide the equitable academic experience we promise our students today and for those who will enter our doors well into the future.