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 seating and food prepared.
On Graduation, Saturday at 11:00 a.m. we will hear from Leelanau School alumnus, Arya Khoshnegah, class of 1981. He will be sharing his experience as an incoming student directly from Iran during his country’s political unrest. He will share his views on how Leelanau School provided him and his sister a “home- away-from-home,” and prepared him for a successful life in the United States. The public is welcome to attend Graduation – no RSVP’s are needed.
This year, we will graduate 19 wonderful seniors. They represent the following states:
Michigan (7) Illinois (3) and one each from Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, New York, Connecticut, Florida, Colorado and California.
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.
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 replacing are decades old, and have been repaired numerous times.
The lighter chairs will be used in the Karman Activity Center which is used as a class room, meeting room and casual gathering space. They will be functional, comfortable and much more attractive than what we were using.
“We are so very grateful that The Homestead donated these great items to us! What a wonderful way to start the New Year!” Friley said.
We have always said that the best way to get to know more about our school is by visiting us in person, but that isn’t always practical, which is why we are coming to a town near you! JD Friley, our new Head of School, and members of our admissions team are taking our “show on the road” this fall with Leelanau School Information Sessions in Kalamazoo, MI on Sunday, October 23rd, Hinsdale, IL on Wednesday, November 9th, Glencoe on Thursday, November 10th and Grosse Pointe on Sunday, November 13th. Please click to open the attached flyer for more information on these opportunities to learn more about how The Leelanau School “inspires a passion for learning.”
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.
The Leelanau School ignites a passion for learning in a boarding school where students thrive by engaging academically and by celebrating everyone’s unique learning styles in a culture of acceptance, leading to successful and meaningful lives in college and beyond.
