Dear Laurel Springs families,

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2026 – a landmark year for our community as we celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Laurel Springs School.

As we get this new year under way, we have some important information to share about LSS programs, policies, tuition, and opportunities for the 2026-27 school year. Please read this letter carefully and let us know if you have questions.

• Our Class of 2025 seniors were admitted to 460 top colleges and universities around the world. 67% of our seniors were admitted to their first-choice college or university and 32% of our seniors were admitted to highly selective schools.
• Three of our seniors were National Merit Finalists, and five seniors received either AP Capstone diplomas or AP Seminar and Research Certificates.
• LSS once again received an A+ rating on Niche and was ranked as one of the top online private schools in the country.
• Our Lower School program added exciting new clubs/activities, new grade-specific Art and Music electives, and new live learning experiences in Math and English for each grade level.
• Our Upper School expanded Electives and World Language programs with more courses and more opportunities for live interaction.
• Our Academy program launched a new Symposium course on Problem Solving, increased the number of Workshop courses, and sent two high school teams to the national Future City competition where they both placed in the top 20 in the nation.
• We launched English and Math Learning Labs as part of our new Foundations Pathway program designed for students who need additional learning support.
• Our Community Engagement program blossomed into more than 90 K-12 clubs and activities, 15 honors societies, more field trips and in-person meet-ups, and new international travel experiences, including London/Paris in February and Japan in March!

Our 2026 LSS words of the year are momentum and growth – and we are so excited about the many ideas and plans we are working on to support our students and families! Here are just a few highlights of what you can look forward to this year:

• We have partnered with Parent Square as a new communication and connections tool, which will launch with grades K-5 this spring and expand to all grade levels later this fall.
• Lower School will launch new Digital Literacy and Keyboarding electives and a chapter of the National Elementary Honor Society in the fall.
• We will continue our ongoing updates to our Upper School curriculum, including adding German 3 this spring, German 4 by next year, and an Introduction to AI elective this fall.
• Our Academy program will once again expand the options for Workshop courses and will launch our next Symposium course topic (Science of Learning) for grades 8-12. Incoming Grade 6 students will participate in our Growth Mindset Symposium course and Grade 7 students will participate in our Problem Solving Symposium course.
• Our new Foundations Pathway program will expand to include Science and Social Studies Learning Labs, and we are working on additional programming to support ESL and executive functioning skills.
• Our Community Engagement team is working on another awesome selection of field trip locations, including Portland, OR/Mount St. Helens (Aug); Birmingham, AL (Sept); Milwaukee, WI (Oct); Oklahoma City, OK (Nov); and Knoxville, TN (Dec). Stay tuned for more information about field trips and international travel opportunities for 2026-27!

Please keep watching our Weekly Roar newsletter throughout the spring for more updates!

The rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in recent years has sparked widespread conversations in the education field. As you may have noticed, this is also a fast-moving target; new tools, research, and developments emerge every day.

At Laurel Springs, we believe in:

• using available technologies both wisely and innovatively to benefit our student learners,
• guiding our students to use technology ethically and effectively,
• protecting our students’ privacy and safety, and
• encouraging our students to be independent learners, critical thinkers, and creative problem-solvers.

With these essential principles in mind, Laurel Springs has chosen to approach the topic of generative AI with deliberation and care; we want to balance innovative education with a focus on staying true to our mission and beliefs.

I am pleased to share with you that we have completed the first stage of our process by developing the LSS AI Position Statement and Guide. This constitutes a supplement to the 2025-26 LSS Student and Parent Handbook and will be included in future handbooks. Families, we invite you to read the AI Guide thoroughly and have open, honest conversations with your students about how and when AI is appropriate to use, both at LSS and beyond.

In 2025, we launched Parent Pulse, a survey tool designed specifically for gathering feedback from school communities. Thank you to all of you who took the time to complete these surveys — they have been enormously helpful!

We will continue to send out surveys two to three times per year to ensure that we get consistent and quality feedback. Please help us by completing the Parent Pulse surveys whenever you receive them! The more responses we get, the better we can align with what you and your children need.

To support program and curriculum expansion, compensation for our world-class faculty and staff, and continued system upgrades that will help us provide even better education and customer service, we are instituting a modest tuition increase.

The following increases will apply to all new and returning full-year enrollments that are processed on or after February 17, 2026.

• Academy Grades 9-12

  $17,250

• Academy Grades 6-8

  $12,650

• Upper School (Grades 9-12)

  $11,700

• Middle School (Grades 6-8)

  $8,300

• Lower School (Grades K-5)

  $7,200

As a reminder, LSS full-time tuition includes:

• A full-time load of LSS courses (typically 4-8 courses per term)
• Expert teachers for each course
• Unlimited access to Tutor.com for 24/7 live tutoring
• Experienced counseling support for all grade levels with school counselors individually assigned in grades 9-12
• Dedicated athletic counseling support for college-bound athletes
• High-touch Student Support services for students who need accommodations or extra learning support
• One dual enrollment course per enrollment for Grades 11-12
• Unlimited access to 90+ virtual clubs and activities, including honors societies and competition programs (e.g. MUN and math competitions)
• Access to 1:1 music lessons through our partnership with Forte Music.

Academy tuition includes all of the above plus access to 60+ courses with Workshop, the Academy Symposium course, two dual credit courses per enrollment for grades 9-12, individually assigned counselors starting in grade 6, the Peer Mentorship program, and additional competition and academic programs like Future City and Polygence.

Don’t wait to re-enroll! As a returning family, you can take advantage of our Priority Re-enrollment Season (now through February 16) to set up your child’s next enrollment before our new tuition pricing goes into effect. The $300 registration fee per student is also waived no matter when you re-enroll. Additional discounts are available for active military and veteran families, siblings of current students, and payment-in-full of tuition at enrollment. Your Academic Advisor is standing by to guide you through the re-enrollment process.

We are happy to share the launch of our new Parent Portal! You can access this secure space through the top menu on the Laurel Springs website. The Parent Portal is a one-stop shop where parents can complete enrollment applications for new students, request extensions, link to payment portals and the LMS Parent Observer account, and find other important resources.

When you access the Parent Portal for the first time, click Register Here under the login box to create your account. Make sure that you use the same email address and phone number that you have provided to LSS in the past. Your Academic Advisor and Student Services can help with any questions as you get acclimated to this new tool.

In 2025, we launched our Referral Credit program, and many of you took advantage of it to earn tuition credit while welcoming friends into the LSS community. If you were one of those families, this is your reminder to keep the momentum going. For those who meant to participate but didn’t get around to it, now is the time! If Laurel Springs has made a difference for your family, this is a great way to pay that forward – and be rewarded for it.

Current families who refer new families can receive referral credits as follows:

• Earn a $250 tuition credit for each new family you refer who enrolls at LSS, with the ability to earn multiple tuition credits as follows:
• • Grades K-8: Up to 4 referrals (total $1,000)
  • Grades 9-12: Up to 6 referrals (total $1,500)
  • Academy: Up to 8 referrals (total $2,000)
• New referred families who enroll at LSS will also receive a $300 tuition credit.

Gratitude!

On behalf of our entire LSS team of faculty and staff, thank you for your continued trust and partnership with Laurel Springs. We cannot wait to continue partnering with you to empower your children to lead their own stories!

Warm regards,

Alyssa Tormala, Head of School