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Author: The Leelanau School

Five Key Misconceptions About Boarding School – A Parent’s Perspective

ABOUT A 3 MINUTE READ –  This post was written by a guest blogger who is the parent of a recent Leelanau School graduate. Their hope is that writing about their own family’s experiences will help others find a best fit school for their children too. Boarding schools evoke strong images in the mind of many, in part based on the strong images about them from popular culture and hold-overs from the role they played in an earlier era.  Today, boarding schools can be a compelling option that can immensely improve a student’s prospects, and they shouldn’t be dismissed by those families who could benefit from them. Boarding Schools In Our Culture Despite the fact that only a sliver of a fraction of high school students attend boarding schools, they remain iconic in our culture.  Perhaps the most famous boarding school of our day is Hogwarts, where Harry Potter and gang attended. Hogwarts stands on the illustrious shoulders of other boarding schools from fiction including Percy Prep from Catcher in the Rye, and movies such as Dead Poet’s Society, School Ties, and Scent...

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3 Surprising Benefits Of Boarding High School For Our Son With ADHD and School Anxiety

This post was written by a guest blogger who is the parent of a current student at The Leelanau School. Their hope is that writing about their own family’s experiences will help others find a best fit school for their children too. “The right boarding school can be more than a path to ‘finish high school’ and ‘get into a good college’ or any college at all for that  matter. It can be a truly transformative experience that enhances a child’s well-being and future success far beyond dealing with the immediate issues that often drive parents to consider an alternative school.” Leelanau Parent, class of 2019 Finding The Best Path Raising three sons presents challenges in any circumstance. Besides the typical issues, my wife and I found ourselves coping with our middle son’s developmental issues. They began to emerge in preschool, but became more profound in Kindergarten. Our son is a charming, creative, funny, and highly-intelligent boy. However, he was also diagnosed with ADHD. Thus, we began our years long process of trying to help him...

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Join Us For A Special Presentation

We hope you will join us for an informational session Helping Your Student Navigate a Digital World of Tablets, Phones and Video Games Presented by Dr. Rachel Flynn, Associate Director for the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Science at Northwestern University. Saturday, November 17, 11 am Grand Traverse Regional Arts Campus (formerly Norris Elementary School) 10781 E Cherry Bend Rd, Traverse City, MI 49684 The information session will last approximately one hour. There is no cost to attend. RSVP is helpful but not necessary. Contact mbacon@leelanau.org or 231-334-5800. Please share this invite, and bring a friend! Dr. Flynn’s presentation will highlight the impact of media on children’s learning and cognition. She will focus on how to consider child factors, environmental factors and type of media content when selecting developmentally appropriate media. In addition, she will discuss several of her research studies that used active video games to promote executive functioning skills.    

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Alumni Return to Speak for Graduation

We are excited to announce that two alumni, one from the 80’s and one from the 90’s will be back on campus to share their perspective and wisdom with our seniors and community.  On Thursday, June 1, Meagan Darlington from the class of 1990 will be the featured speaker to the senior class at their traditional breakfast.  The senior breakfast is their first glance at the world as our newest Leelanau School alumni.  They will hear about our expectations for maintaining close ties to the alumni office and especially each other, and taking opportunities to give and be of service to The Leelanau School.  Meagan returns as our one of our two newest Board of Trustee’s members.  She attended her first board meeting in May and has already added much to discussions in marketing and branding as a manager in these areas for Adobe, Microsoft and Google.  We are excited to have her return to talk to our students in an intimate breakfast format.  Area alumni are welcome to the breakfast.  Please contact Julie at 231-334-5827 if you plan to attend so we can have enough...

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