Our school helps students create lasting friendships within a global community of learners.
Social life at Laurel Springs can be very rewarding for high school students who want to expand their horizons. Students at Laurel Springs are passionate about their education, talents, interests, and goals. Here, you can meet other students located throughout the world, who are involved and passionate about their pursuits.
Prom and Graduation
Each year, Laurel Springs hosts a prom and graduation ceremony in Southern California to which all high school students are invited. Prom and graduation are held in one location and on the same weekend to make it easy for students to attend both events. Our graduates have the opportunity to meet their classmates and our wonderful staff. Students from around the world often attend our graduation ceremony. We offer a full graduation experience, complete with caps, gowns and diplomas.
Exclusive “Meetings with Remarkable Men & Women” Symposia
Laurel Springs students are encouraged to attend our series of online symposia, called “Meetings with Remarkable Men and Women.” These exclusive live events feature inspiring stories from celebrated leaders in their fields. Past symposia guests have included an astronaut, an award-winning documentary film director, a South Pole explorer, an environmental activist, and a primatologist. During the symposia, students can ask questions, offer comments, and engage in discussions with peers and experts. Post-event discussion boards allow students to participate in virtual conversations that connect the speakers’ presentations to curricular topics.
Private Online Social Network
Beginning in 7th grade, Laurel Springs offers its students and families the opportunity to collaborate and make friends within our secure social network environment. Within this private social network, students may:
- participate in online clubs
- find new friends
- pair up with study buddies
- share their creative expressions
- post blog updates regarding their portfolio coursework
- engage in conversation through course-based discussion threads
Our private social network is a wonderful way for students to form lasting friendships based on mutual inspiration and respect that span state and national boundaries. Students share their thoughts, feelings, and creativity through blogs, forums, and discussion threads. Our social network is a valuable tool that creates empathy, compassion and understanding, as well as promoting academic collaboration.
Parents are also encouraged to join groups tailored specifically for them. These special sections of the social network help parents cultivate connections with other Laurel Springs parents, and promote discussions about distance learning.
Clubs
Our online clubs are a key part of our virtual school community for grades 6-12, deepening relationships and providing students with the opportunity to work collaboratively. Clubs offer our students the opportunity to socialize with other students who share the same interests, talents and goals. Students gather in a stimulating, inviting and secure online environment, where they can talk to each other in real time and dive more deeply into subjects that interest them. Students continue to work together throughout each month on club projects and activities, with the guidance of experienced, dynamic teachers. Examples of clubs which may be active at any given time are described below:
Book Discussion
Book Club is open to students who love reading and discussing books, authors, and the big ideas behind the writing. Students choose books for the club to read at the beginning of the school year each fall. Students are encouraged to explore new genres and a variety of authors. Club members lead book discussions, respond to posts in the book club forum, have read-a-thons, and debate topics and authors.
Debate
This exciting club meets in a virtual classroom environment once a month for a live debate. Students are given topics and participate in the Lincoln-Douglas Debate format, which allows each team about fifteen minutes to prepare its affirmative or negative case for the topic. Each team receives post-debate feedback about their case.
Art
This club is open to students who are passionate about art. Art Club offers a combination of application and appreciation for art. Whether you love to simply admire artwork or prefer to create your own masterpieces, this club is for you. We consider various art forms and how they have contributed to mankind through the ages, review works of the masters, learn to critique without criticism, and experiment with a variety of media. This club offers students the opportunity to explore our inner selves through personal artistic expression, enjoy lively discussions, share ideas and suggestions, display our finished works, and together, take great pleasure in this common bond: the love of art.
Chess
Chess Club is for students who are intrigued by, or even just curious about, the game of chess. We meet to play friendly games of chess. For those interested, we hold a chess tournament in June. Along the way, we learn some of the special moves and strategies for developing a winning game. We also have some fun looking at the fascinating history of the game of chess and great chess masters of the past.
Creative Writing/Poetry
Creative Writing Club members write and publish the Laurel Springs Vision student newsletter and Voices Magazine, published each quarter. The club is for students who enjoy writing and reading poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Through peer editing and a monthly meeting, students improve their creativity and craft.
Environmental Club
The Environmental Club is for students who care about keeping our air and water clean, our wildlife protected, and our planet safe for ourselves and future generations. We examine the controversial issues that make the news as well as those that don’t. Students discover how these issues affect their own communities, as they share ideas and strategies for what they can do to make a difference.
Film
This club is open to students who have an interest in the art of filmmaking. Students discuss all aspects of do-it-yourself movie-making, from contemporary technologies to development of screenplays. Students learn where they can share their work and what to consider if they are thinking about a career in the film industry. Expertise or previous experiences are not pre-requisites for this club.
French
This club is open to students of the French language who would like to have a real experience of French and France, in a highly interactive environment. Our goal is to use the skills already acquired in the language and go on a discovery journey of France, its landscapes, and all aspects of its culture.
Model United Nations
The Model United Nations Club engages is an authentic UN simulation in which students learn the skills of debate, compromise, conflict resolution and negotiation. Model UN team members have fun learning about the workings of world diplomacy through the lens of current events.
Music
The music club is open to students who love, create or live for music. Our goal is to celebrate, educate, support, inspire, create, listen to and express our love of the spirit of music. Students create songs online and explore ideas of how sound, song, and community are affected by the expression of music.
Science
Members of the science club explore the mystery and discovery of science in its many forms. Students participate in inquiries about the natural world and its phenomena, in a quest to gain a deeper and often useful understanding of the world.
Technology
The technology club is a forum for networking, discussing, educating and encouraging interests that incorporate technology. The overall goal is for students to enhance their education and life experience, through discussions of how technology can have a positive impact on our lives. The students discuss and share the positive impact of technology in our lives.
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