On Monday, May 21, the honor roll scholars at Dixon School of the Arts enjoyed a pool party at the Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach to celebrate their hard work during the school year.


On Tuesday, Julian MacQueen, Kim MacQueen and Rich Chism addressed the scholars, faculty and board members for Dixon School of the Arts, reflecting on past achievements and announcing some exciting news for the future.


Innisfree Hotels will be increasing its support for Dixon School of the Arts starting next year. This news was coupled with the announcement that the school will become Dixon School of the Arts and Sciences, a name that should better reflect the STEAM curriculum.


The goal of Dixon is to move from the local stage onto the national stage. Innisfree Hotels hopes to make it a model for excellence in education and to become recognized as one of the nation’s premier educational institutions, enriching the whole person and benefitting students, their families and the community.


The increased support from Innisfree Hotels will help fund curriculum essentials, such as books and other instructional materials. Other businesses and big names in the community have pitched in to make Dixon School of the Arts a better place to learn for the scholars. The following donations are just a few examples of charitable contributions.




  • $5,000 award from Melba B Myers Charitable Trust (Wells Fargo) for curriculum updates and computers




  • $5,000 from Lowe’s Toolbox for education for technology upgrades




  • $20,000 grant from McMillan Foundation for a new school bus




  • 15 new Chromebooks funded by the Switzer Foundation




And the good news certainly didn’t stop there. The Hilton Pensacola Beach will be sponsoring the Third Annual Dixon Dub Lip Sync Battle, an event that has already received $23,000 in sponsorships.


Dr. Donna Curry, the current principal at Dixon School of the Arts, has been promoted to executive director, where she will be providing leadership and administrative assistance for the school. Dr. Curry will be hiring a new principal to fill her shoes, so stay tuned!


We are so excited to see what the future of Dixon holds.


Dixon School of the Arts is a project of Innisfree Hotels’ corporate social responsibility program, The Hive.