The Leelanau School

I was salutatorian for Leelanau's graduating class of 2024. my graduation speech should tell you everything you need to know."Shout out to the people in the front row over there, our upcoming seniors! Every year until now, I've gotten ready to go home with my stuff already in summer storage, ready for a break because I knew I'd be back. It's different this year and I only started fully processing that maybe two weeks ago. I'm feeling like an empty nester even though I'm the one leaving. I've cried more times than I can remember over leaving all of you and what the people at this school have given me. "What do you mean I have to step away and trust in the people that I've been looking after to do that for each other?" Classes of 2025, '26, and '27, we really do put all of our trust in you to set the school's tone for healthy relationships and using every opportunity to do something good. The love and care I have for every student and staff here is the closest thing to what I've heard described as the love for your children. I can tell it's true because no matter how rough it can get, I find myself needing to look out for every single one of you. For a while now, I've found it hard to explain why I don't have one person as my best friend and I've figured out that it's because I just can't choose. I may not have been able to connect with every person, one-on-one, but you have to trust that not a single one of you has gone unrecognized by me. I have seen Leelanau be exactly what a found family should look like. We all have people in our corner, and even when we stray, there will always be someone waiting for you to find yourself again. I hope it will always feel like home here. My mom, dad, sister and I have all made the sacrifice of letting each other go enough for me to make this community my family too. It has been a valuable lesson for us to learn that adding to your family means more love and connection, not less. Boarding at Leelanau is a lot of everything all at once, a concentrated version of life as I call it. The people here have made sure that my life is never boring. Every moment since the day I found my soul here, I have come to learn new senses of pride as well as perspective life lessons. This place is experiential learning at its finest, which is a really fancy way to put that we are a mistake-friendly space. The mistakes I have witnessed took courage to be shared and I have taken great notice of the growth that comes from acknowledging them.A common theme noticed by anyone who has ever met me knows that I take an extra moment to do things right the first time. Building relationships is no exception to that, I do not have the time for small talk and would rather make time spent together more personal. I am extremely grateful that I am not wired to live half heartedly, it has made this whole year full of beautiful, special moments and achievements. Together we have learned that time is not wasted if every little moment is enjoyed. Last year around this time, it felt cool to not be a junior anymore but I started feeling like a true senior when we, the senior class, Mrs. Hood, Cal, Katlyn, and Mr. Dymond were all sitting around the campfire the second night on South Manitou. The rain had finally stopped and sitting around, talking together got the nine of us thinking about how we are about to assume roles in people's lives in profound ways. Instead of letting it be uncharted territory, it was crucial to us that we wouldn't let you down. I can speak for all of us when I say that we put a lot of effort into becoming ourselves so that we could be there, supporting you and each other. We vowed to each other that we would take our responsibilities of bridging the gap between peers and mentors seriously. That campfire conversation sunk in the significance of both being leaders and teaching you how to be leaders. I'm proud of us all. I'm proud of our growth mindsets and the vulnerability it takes to let a community aid us while we learn how to put the best parts of ourselves to good use. So I guess this is your job now, we'll always be a phone call away but the ring and pin ceremony has happened. It's your turn to love and respect yourselves as seniors in order to fulfill those responsibilities and traditions of bridging the gap, connecting with and respecting everyone, not causing too much trouble, going the extra mile, and just making the day happy. Leelanau is what you make it- it's just a bunch of buildings and a river without your magic."

Best experience ever.

The Leelanau School is an incredibly special place. I went to TLS for two years, and it was like nowhere I've ever been. Lake Michigan is a three minute walk from the dorms, the faculty is very well educated, and the house parents treat the students like their own children.

The Leelanau School has helped me in many not-so-obvious ways. Living with a bunch of people has helped me a lot for my next steps. A lot of people go directly from high school to college and are unprepared to live with a roommate and whole community. Also, learning to keep a schedule has also helped me and prepared me for attending college next year. Overall, the Leelanau School is a much closer community. I'm closer with teachers and getting to know who they are, not just as a teacher, but as a person. I love that we're able to just go to the coffee shop with teachers or to their house for meals. I'm just so happy I got to be involved in such a close-knit community.

Leelanau has given me a place to discover who I am and what I am interested in by reigniting my love of learning. It helps me discover who I am while also encouraging me to be the best version of myself and be a positive community member. Before Leelanau, I had no idea who I was or what I was interested in. I had no opportunity to explore in my old school since classes revolved around completing busy work to pass the class. Only when I came to Leelanau, I discover that I loved photography, sciences and history through being allowed to engage with subjects to learn, not just to complete the class. Leelanau showed me who I am and what I am passionate about while encouraging me to be a better person. I admired older students and adults who were full of integrity, kindness and motivation and always looked for the best in others. Leelanau is where I have made some of my happiest and most defining memories. It has shown me who I am and helped me grow. While I am here as a student, Leelanau is my home and a tight community. Even when I graduate, I know that my relationship with the school will change, but that a positive community who embraces others will always welcome me back.

If you are looking for a special place that will be like a second home to your child, with loving staff, incredible teachers, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, this is the place. This is not rhetoric; I genuinely get emotional when I talk about how much we love this place and what an incredible difference this school has made in our child's self-esteem, education, and life in general. We live 9 hours from this school and are average middle-class folks, this school was a HARD decision for us as a really close-knit family to decide on for many reasons: price, distance, and being away from your child.... But, someone recommended it and after visiting and touring the campus our son fell in love with it. He has loved all 4 years there, and I will tell anyone who listens that without this school my son would not be and have the things he has today (confidence, music skills, comfort with adults, and an education like none other). My advice to anyone on the fence is just GO VISIT. It's very simple, go and visit and spend a day on campus.

Leelanau has been transformational for our son, and I am confident it will greatly improve his life beyond high school.Our son is a smart and engaging boy. Despite a good level of support from the school. , he struggled badly in the public school system. We searched for a school that would be focused on college preparation - but also effective at teaching methods that address his executive function and ADHD issues. We found it at Leelanau.Leelanau is unique in addressing our sons needs academically, socially and emotionally. The teachers are very skilled and the administrators are engaged and talented. Despite its small size, it offers a good range of extracurricular activities, including arts, music, theater and outings.The school has very small class size and personal attention, and multifaceted approach to learning to help each student achieve their potential. They offer a very solid education in the core high school skills: math, literacy, science, etc. It takes advantage of its truly beautiful and unique setting in the middle of a National Lake Shore (similar to a national park) for teaching opportunities (such as for biology) and socially (for camping and outings).

As a student with ADHD, this school changed my life. Some of the kindest, most caring people I''ve ever met work at this school. Some of them attend it. It's in a beautiful place and they do an amazing job of teaching. Excellent. 10/10 would recommend.

The Leelanau School is unique. Academically, it has an ideal student-teacher ratio, and the experiential approach to education keeps kids focussed and enthusiastic. Given the student-teacher ratio, my son is learning a valuable skill speaking with teachers and adults (other than parents) about school and life. It is a subtle, but significant, difference to traditional schools. The teachers and staff at Leelanau care, and it shows. My son went from 1. something to a 3.2 overnight after switching from a traditional, catholic, college-prep school to Leelanau. Here's why: in biology, why reach into a formaldehyde filled jar, pull out a dead frog, and dissect it when you can go down to the Crystal River, catch a fish and dissect that instead? In English, why sit in a class and discuss a great book (think The Sword in the Stone), when you can read the book and then go see a falconer and learn about falconry? Or, why read a book about swimming in a classroom when you can go outside and swim in a river between chapters? Which approach will reinforce the concepts better? Same material, different approach, better outcome. The Leelanau campus is beautiful, too. It is situated on Lake Michigan, the Crystal River runs through it, the campus is exceptionally large and forested, and the accommodations are just right. I highly recommend this school.

The school is amazing! They are committed to keeping class sizes small, so all students receive individuailzed attention. Students are encuraged to think for themselves and ask questions, while particiapating in a rigorous college prep. curriculum. All classes are hands on and minds on, thus honoring all learners and helping all students succeeded . An incredible school, we wish all students could attend Leelanau!

Leelanau School has been the best decision for my child! Our child is independent and has found an environment where he is thriving! Leelenau is a structured and loving environment where students are surrounded by a staff invested in seeing each child reach their individual potential. Highly Recommend!

Fantastic program! Teachers, advisers, and administrators work with each student individually to help students grow academically, socially and emotionally. It's one of the best programs I've seen as an educator and as a parent. So much of it is hands-on and outside that the location is beyond ideal. You can't do this kind of work in New York City or Boston.

This school is an amazing and beautiful place. The staff and students become like family. The kids are given the support and tools to really grow emotionally and intellectually. The environment they have created gives their students an abundance of opportunities to experience success. The Leelanau environment fosters leadership, creativity, self discovery and confidence. Best decision I ever made for my son and he agrees.