Every fall when Leelanau School students arrive on campus for a new school year things start a little differently. Rather than jumping right into academics, our students set off on outdoor adventures we call Exploratory Trips  – a kick off to the upcoming year of Experiential Learning. These trips set the tone for what life at Leelanau will be like and allow students new and old to “experience” something together; something that will be built upon in the coming months and years.    Two of the themes that begin with Exploratory Trips and continue throughout the school year are “Council” and school values. We believe in the development of the whole person, not just a student’s academic skills, and as such, students participate in a tradition known as Council, which is a way to communicate, connect, and learn about one’s self, each other, and their place in the world. Additionally, during Exploratory Trips, students are introduced to Leelanau School values and become familiar with the norms and expectations of our community. Community Core Values Resilience    Awareness...

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...

Houseparent Spencer Seaman snapped this gorgeous picture at sunset last evening on April 13, 2017 at The Lanphier Observatory at The Leelanau School.This hidden treasure is something you want to put on your “must do” summer list.  Click on the link and then scroll down the page to read a wonderful article in the Glen Arbor Sun last year about the Observatory. July 5, 2016 “Lanphier Observatory celebrates 40 summers of public stargazing”  

The holidays were extended for The Leelanau School thanks to our neighbors to the northeast at The Homestead.  Yesterday, we received word that The Homestead was upgrading and renovating their conference areas, and as a result had a wonderful array of gently used items that they were kind enough to donate to The Leelanau School. “They sent photos and detailed descriptions of all the items and it quickly became obvious that the chairs and whiteboards in particular would be put to very good use at our school,” said JD Friley, Head of The Leelanau School. The items were ready to go by the next morning and Leelanau students and staff loaded them into trucks and unloaded them in our Learning Commons and in our Karman Activity Center. It didn’t take long for the students to find them and give them the big thumbs up. The dark brown chairs are perfect in our Learning Commons, because they allow us to rearrange the space quickly and gather in circles, around desks and in quiet study areas.  Plus, the color and texture will hide dirt!  The chairs they are...

When you’re a parent, one of the most painful things you can experience is watching your child struggle. It can be agonizing, because even though every ounce of your being wants to make things better, sometimes it seems like nothing works. My younger son, Josh, started having difficulties in school in seventh grade. An extremely bright kid, he had been a model student up until then. Learning was easy for him and keeping up with his schoolwork was never a problem. So when things took a turn for the worse, my wife and I were perplexed.