| The Leelanau School | |
| Motto: | Straight as the Pine, Sturdy as the Oak. |
| Opened: | 1929 |
| Type: | Boarding High School |
| Grades: | 9–12 |
| Principal: | Robert Hansen |
| Ceeb: | 231645 |
| Campus Type: | Rural |
| Mascot: | Thunderbirds |
| Location: | Glen Arbor, Michigan |
| Country: | USA |
| Coordinates: | 44.9121°N -85.9714°W |
The Leelanau School is a co-educational non-profit boarding high school located in Glen Arbor, Michigan. The school was founded in 1929 and has a historical association with Christian Science. The school is a small, college-preparatory school with 42acres of land with 13 year-round and 9 seasonal building structures. The school has a teacher-to-student ratio between 1:6 and 1:10 for most classes, ranking among the top 20 American boarding schools in that category. It has a diverse student body, boasting an international enrollment of over 10%.
The school is located on the shore of Lake Michigan just outside Glen Arbor, with the Crystal River running through the property. The Lanphier Observatory, with a 13inches Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector telescope, is also located on the grounds.
Leelanau for Boys was founded in 1929 by William M. "Skipper" Beals and his wife Cora, née Mautz, faculty members at the upper school of The Principia, in response to the popularity of their summer camp for boys on the same site at the mouth of the Crystal River on Sleeping Bear Bay. Originally, the school, like the camp, was intended for boys from Christian Science homes.[1] In the beginning, it offered instruction for grades 7-10 only; its first high school class graduated in 1932, with state accreditation following in 1933.[2] But while the camps—a nearby "sister" camp, Kohahna, for girls, was owned and run by Skipper Beals' sister, Maude Beals Turner—maintain close ties to Christian Science to the present day, the school dropped its official religious denominational focus early on. The camps were separated from the school completely in 1987 and continue under separate management at the Kohahna site.
The school weathered the Great Depression and its popularity created a clientele for the summer resort The Homestead in the mid-1930s (at the time the school was on the same grounds as the resort, now it is adjacent), as well as necessitating the opening of Pinebrook for Girls in 1940. The two schools grew rapidly after World War II and were eventually consolidated as The Leelanau Schools. Beginning in the early 1930s, Arthur S. “Major” Huey became an apprentice to Skipper Beals.[3] In partnership with his wife Helen, née Mautz (Cora Beals’ sister), Huey purchased the schools after Skipper Beals’ death in 1942.
In 1944 growing interest in alpine skiing convinced Major Huey to form the Sugar Loaf Winter Sports Club; as the first president of the club, he hired German émigré Hans "Peppi" Teichner to be its manager in 1946.[4] These steps were decisive for skiing in the Midwest, culminating in the opening of the local ski area Sugar Loaf in 1947. Peppi Teichner, father of television news correspondent Martha Teichner, taught at the school and coached its students in skiing.
Privately owned until 1963, the school became a non-profit corporation with a board of directors upon the Hueys’ creation of The Leelanau Schools and Library Foundation, Inc., to which they gave the camps and the school with its present grounds.[5] In 1967 Cora Beals donated the land that became "faculty row." The non-profit status eased fundraising efforts. The school grounds were exempted from eminent domain associated with the formation of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which surrounds the campus. Over time its name was shortened to the singular form: The Leelanau School.
At its peak in 1970, the school had 167 enrolled students. School enrollment stabilized at close to 100 students as the 1970s drew to a close.
In recent years, The Leelanau School has changed quite a bit. The once hundreds of kids who attended the school as reduced to a mere 30. Students have spoke out about some of the problems, some of which being the education. The line between mentally challenged individuals and individuals with learning differences had become increasingly blurred. As a result, The school has cut several corners to higher the graduating rate of the school. The school was also accused of false advertisement in 2023. [6]
Racism & Mistreatment John Birkmeier, a student who attended The Leelanau School spoke out on a situation where students poured water on him and constantly harassed him over a disagreement. Instead of Leelanau stepping in to discipline these students, John was blamed for rightfully standing up for himself. The Students then proceeded to leak a private picture of this individuals genitalia in which he was taken out of the school by his parents for his own protection.
Jayden Porter, an Afro Puerto Rican student with a passion for music, had a number of racist attacks on him. He was not only accused of trying to shoot up school, but also accused of making a bomb threat. non of which where true. He is also quoted with saying "Kids used to call me the N word all the time, If I stood up for myself I got in trouble and when I went to the teachers, they wouldn't do anything about it" these teachers also allowed Diss songs to be made about him aswell as threats of violence. He was asked to leave when students accused him of brutally beating a female student. It was later revealed that this was completely false.
Porter, along with fellow student of color Andres Mills, reportedly tried walking out of a meeting during Martin Luther King day after being told to Fold Paper and make cards for the investors of the school. [7]
Andres Mills was also suspended several times and expelled after a girl had claimed he was wielding a knife and was posing a threat to himself and the students at Leelanau. Without any hesitation or investigation Leelanau removed him from the school.[8]
Many other students have either been expelled or bullied out. 4 students including Mills where suspended in 2022 for tackling a student who was wielding a knife. The faculty had claimed that the students where bullying the student with a knife and that it was captured on the schools security camera. When parents requested to see this footage, the school refused on basis of "Protection reasons".
Jennifer Lindgren, Mother of Student Mike Lindgren. Claimed that the school pushed left wing ideologies onto her son and that they no longer have a strong bond they once had. Lindgren was apparently made fun of and bullied by the students for having these right wing ideologies, Leelanau had done nothing to save face. Funnily enough, these stories line up with stories John Berkmeier had told. [9]
Traditionally nicknamed Indians, Leelanau students chose to abandon the now-controversial moniker and adopted the name Thunderbirds in 2003 after consultation with members of Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.[10] [11] It competes as a Class D (smallest of four classes) school in the Michigan High School Athletic Association. In past years, the school fielded teams in cross country, football (until 1975), soccer, volleyball, basketball, alpine skiing, baseball, softball, tennis, golf and track and field, but in recent years has only fielded tennis, golf and volleyball squads. Leelanau was a charter member of the Northwest Conference and garnered most of the Northwest's track titles during its tenure, including every single one in the 1950s, but was forced to leave that organization for the Cherryland Conference when its enrollment dropped in the mid-1970s. Traditional Cherryland rivals include Lake Leelanau St. Mary and Northport. A newer rivalry has begun with Traverse City Christian School since that school's founding in 1995.
Leelanau pioneered alpine skiing as a Michigan high school varsity sport during the 1950s and was instrumental in its adoption as an official MHSAA championship sport, but was forced to abandon the sport when the nearby Sugar Loaf Resort closed in 2000. Leelanau was the MHSAA boys' skiing state runner-up (open classification) in 1992, beaten at the state finals only by Traverse City (now Traverse City Central), a school over 30 times larger. Leelanau is by far the smallest school in Michigan ever to place so high in an MHSAA open (unrestricted by enrollment) state championship. Other accomplishments include:
During the summer months, the campus' comfortable temperatures and north woods setting plays host to several NCAA varsity squads' preseason training camps, including cross-country and volleyball squads from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, as well as the University of Virginia women's soccer team, among others.
Notable alumni include: