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Leelanau Talk Blog

## New Headmaster of Leelanau: Matt Ralston

January 8th, 2009 | Tags: leelanau, odell, ralston, school
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It’s very convenient that Odell is leaving right before ISACS comes to verify that The Leelanau School is worthy of accreditation. During Odell’s time as headmaster/presidency, he has continually told ISACS to ‘come back later’. After years of doing this, it looks like his time has run up. What will the school now say? Probably something along the lines of ‘our old headmaster wasn’t managing the school properly, come back later’. So Mr. Ralston, I’ll be watching you and holding you to the same standards I held Odell. Clean this school up and kick out the corruption!

Update Feb 11, 2009 Leelanau welcomes Matt Ralston as well.

from http://www.thehill.org/home/news_item.asp?id=1233&newsArea=home

copyright remains with original holder
I write to share with you the news that Matthew B. Ralston, Dean of Faculty and teacher of mathematics, has accepted appointment as headmaster of The Leelanau School in Glen Arbor, Michigan, effective, July 1, 2009. Since 1992, Mr. Ralston has served The Hill School loyally and well, with great affection for young people, high regard for his colleagues, a keen sense of educational mission, and unswerving professionalism. He is in every sense a master teacher and school man.

Leelanau, on the banks of Lake Michigan near Traverse City, is an experienced-based co-educational college preparatory boarding school for students in grades 9-12, founded in 1929.

This news makes me happy and sad. I am proud of Mr. Ralston both for his appointment and for his commitment to the mission of Leelanau, but I am sorry that he will leave The Hill after seventeen years of outstanding service and friendship to us all. We will have time over the next six months to wish him, Mary Beth, Zach (a student at Georgetown), and Kyle (at Harvard) good luck, but I want to begin now. We know that he will be an outstanding leader of his new school. Mr. Ralston’s goal always has been to “do school” right, and I am grateful that he has done just that at The Hill.

### Possibly Related Posts

- February 14, 2009 -- Quick News Update
- November 16, 2008 -- The Leelanau School Caught Censoring Wikipedia!
- April 22, 2009 -- Leelanau Golf Team, Phone Updates

Some Leelanau History Cochran Camera Information

1. Anonymous
   January 28th, 2009 at 23:07
   Reply | Quote | #1

   When will the ISACS representative be coming to leelanau?

2. BIll Dougherty
   February 6th, 2009 at 01:52
   Reply | Quote | #2

   I would like to say that I am a student of Mr. Ralston, and he is, without a doubt, one of the most approachable and friendly teachers i have ever met. However, he does not stand for misbehavior. This is from his latest email to our Hill community.

   ********

   All,

   I am writing to inform you that the Map Room will be closed to student use until further notice. I have reminded a good number of you that the Map Room is not part of the Student Center and is designed to be a quiet study area. I remind people several times each day of the two signs (which are not subtle or hidden) which tell you not to eat or drink in the area.

   When I passed through the Map Room after lunch I found two broken chairs with legs and backs no where to be found. If the student or students responsible for this misuse and destruction of this great space will come see me or one of the deans then the closure will be shorter in duration.

   Mr. Ralston

   ******

   I wish him all the best and I am sure he will live up to your standards.

3. Anonymous
   February 10th, 2009 at 15:57
   Reply | Quote | #3

   Okay so, when is the ISACS representative coming to leelanau?

4. adb
   February 10th, 2009 at 20:28
   Reply | Quote | #4

   > Anonymous :

   > Okay so, when is the ISACS representative coming to leelanau?

   > Anonymous :

   > When will the ISACS representative be coming to leelanau?

   This is a good question and it’s one I unfortunately do not have an answer for. I heard this ISACs story from multiple sources who I trust very much and it could be that the situation has changed since then or that my sources were incorrect. I am also now hearing a completely different side of the story. I am only as good as my sources.

   If anybody has information on this such as the report Leelanau has submitted to ISACS (school, employeees, students, etc), I encourage you to send it to me at leelanautalk{at}gmail.com. Sources write the rules. If you don’t want me to release the documents/evidence then I won’t. As long as I can see evidence contrary to what I’ve been told about ISACS, I’ll update this site to reflect that and issue an apology for distributing information that is inaccurate.

   On a related note, I think that especially given these allegations, it would be a good move for school administrators to release these ISACS reports. Other schools have opted to publish their ISACS reports online. From what I have seen of them, there is no compelling reason for the school to keep them secret.

   adb

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