What Laurel School does

Laurel School is a nonprofit, independent, college-preparatory day school founded in 1896 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. It educates approximately 590 students from age 18 months through Grade 12, with a coeducational Early Childhood program (18 months-PreK) and an all-girls K-12 curriculum. The institution operates across two campuses: an 11-acre Lyman Campus in suburban Shaker Heights (housing Early Childhood, K-Grade 2, Middle, and Upper School) and a 150-acre Butler Campus in Russell Township (housing Grades 3-5, opened in 2002, featuring a 15-element Project Adventure Course and a 16,000-square-foot fitness and wellness center). The school maintains a 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio and offers 26 athletic teams, performing arts programming, and an entrepreneurship curriculum.

The school's differentiated platform is anchored by Laurel's Center for Research on Girls (LCRG), founded in 2007 as a wholly-owned subsidiary, which conducts original research on how girls learn and produces research briefs for educators and parents. Supporting technology includes the MyLaurel portal (serving parents, students, faculty, and staff), an online application system, and capabilities for virtual events and webinars; no proprietary AI/ML systems are disclosed. Curriculum partnerships include Facing History and Ourselves (since 2008), the National Coalition of Girls' Schools, and the founding partnership of Online School for Girls (now One Schoolhouse).

Laurel's revenue model is composed of recurring tuition from enrolled families supplemented by an annual giving program (Laurel Fund, Prentiff Society, Legacy for Laurel, restricted giving) supported by the Laurel School Parents Association (LSPA). Need-based financial aid totaling $5.2M was awarded to families, including through the Sarah Lyman Scholarship. The go-to-market motion is a traditional private school admissions process comprising inquiry forms, campus visits, open houses, and formal applications, supported by a multi-channel marketing presence (website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, a School of Thought blog, monthly Highlights Magazine, and Niche rankings). The institution is governed by a Board of Trustees under Head of School Christina Breen and Associate Head Dr. Rachel Herlein, with the school holding a $51.9M endowment.

Name

Laurel School

Legal name

Laurel School

Website

https://laurelschool.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1896

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Laurel School is a nonprofit, independent K-12 college-preparatory day school founded in 1896 in Shaker Heights, Ohio, serving approximately 590 students across two campuses, anchored by an all-girls curriculum and a proprietary research center on girls' learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Broadview Heights

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Tuition: Private school tuition revenue from families for Early Childhood through Grade 12 education
2. Fundraising and Donations: Annual giving programs including the Laurel Fund, Prentiss Society, Legacy for Laurel, and restricted giving; supported by the Laurel School Parents Association (LSPA)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Laurel School is an independent, all-girls college preparatory day school providing education from Early Childhood (18 months-PreK, coeducational) through Grade 12. It operates two campuses — the Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights and the 150-acre Butler Campus in Russell Township — serving approximately 590 students with a 6:1 student-teacher ratio. Core offerings include Early Childhood, Primary, Middle, and Upper School programs, a 26-team athletics program, the Summer at Laurel camp, and the research-driven Laurel's Center for Research on Girls (LCRG).

Product overview

Laurel School is an independent all-girls college preparatory day school offering a unified educational program from early childhood (18 months) through Grade 12, with a coeducational Early Childhood component. The school operates across two campuses (Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights and Butler Campus in Russell Township) and provides a comprehensive portfolio of programs including Early Childhood School, Primary School (K-5), Middle School (6-8), and Upper School (9-12), alongside supplementary programs such as Summer at Laurel, a 26-team athletics program, and Laurel's Center for Research on Girls (LCRG), which translates research on girls' learning into curriculum and practice. The Capstone Scholars Program represents the upper school's signature academic initiative. The school serves approximately 590 students with a 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LCRG: Laurel's Center for Research on Girls - integrates research on how girls learn and grow into every Laurel student's education
• Summer at Laurel

Products and services

• Early Childhood School (18 months-PreK) Coeducational early childhood program serving children from 18 months through prekindergarten, with outdoor prekindergarten options and after-school programs including a music academy.
• Primary School (Kindergarten-Grade 5) K-5 program split between Lyman Campus (K-Grade 2) and Butler Campus (Grades 3-5), featuring STEM/STEAM curriculum, libraries, and after-school music academy.
• Middle School (Grades 6-8) Middle school program at Lyman Campus offering electives, leadership programs, entrepreneurship, and the Passport global studies initiative.
• Upper School (Grades 9-12) College-preparatory program for grades 9-12 featuring STEM/STEAM, the Capstone Scholars Program, Laurel Leads, entrepreneurship, speech program, and libraries.
• Summer at Laurel Summer camp program offering adventure, sports, science, theater, art, academic, and specialty camps for girls and boys from preschool through Grade 12, with before- and after-camp care.
• Laurel's Center for Research on Girls (LCRG) Founded in 2007, LCRG integrates research on how girls learn and grow into every Laurel student's education, conducting original research and producing topical briefs for educators and parents.
• Athletics Program Athletics program with 26 athletic teams and club sports, including strength training, sports medicine, the Butler Fitness Center, and youth sports clinics.
• Capstone Scholars Program Upper school program featuring student research projects culminating in a capstone showcase, emphasizing independent inquiry and scholarly achievement.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Laurel School's collaboration with Facing History and Ourselves impacts academic courses at many grade levels. Students explore concepts of place, identity and community beginning in Fourth Grade. The school is part of the FHAO Partner Schools Network with over 100 schools reaching 40,000+ students. FHAO content and teaching strategies are woven throughout classes, advisory groups, faculty meetings, and school community activities.
• Online School for Girls / One SchoolhousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaurel School was a founding partner of Online School for Girls (now One Schoolhouse). Ann V. Klotz served as a charter board member. The partnership provides collaborative educational opportunities and online learning resources for girls' schools.
• National Coalition of Girls' Schools (NCGS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaurel School participates in NCGS initiatives and networks focused on girls' education advocacy and best practices sharing.
• Scholars and Research InstitutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLCRG partners with scholars from around the country to conduct original research on challenges that haven't been studied. Recent research addresses stress and well-being, creativity, and self-esteem in girls' lives.
• Case Western Reserve UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Tori Cordiano graduated with honors from Case Western Reserve University where she received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology. LCRG has academic partnerships for research and educational collaboration.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Hathaway Brown School: Hathaway Brown is an all-girls K-12 independent school also located in Shaker Heights, Ohio, serving a similar Cleveland-area family demographic. It is Laurel's closest direct competitor, offering the same single-sex college-preparatory model and competing directly for the same prospective families.
• University School: University School is an all-boys pre-K through grade 12 independent day school in Hunting Valley, Ohio, serving the same Cleveland-area market. It is the male counterpart to Laurel in the regional independent school ecosystem and competes for the same pool of feeder families.
• Western Reserve Academy: Western Reserve Academy is a private co-educational day and boarding school in Hudson, Ohio, serving grades 9-12. It is a comparable independent school in Northeast Ohio competing for college-prep students from the same regional market.
• Hawken School: Hawken School is an independent, co-educational day school serving preschool through grade 12 across multiple campuses in the Cleveland area. It competes directly with Laurel for college-preparatory families in the same regional market.
• Gilmour Academy: Gilmour Academy is an independent, Catholic-founded co-educational day and boarding school in Gates Mills, Ohio serving preschool through grade 12. It is a comparable Northeast Ohio independent school competing in the same regional family market.
• Magnificat High School: Magnificat is a Catholic all-girls college preparatory high school in Rocky River, Ohio, serving the same Cleveland-area market. It is a direct same-gender high school competitor with comparable college-preparatory mission.
• Beaumont School: Beaumont School is a Catholic all-girls college preparatory high school in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It is a single-sex peer competing for the same Cleveland-area girls' education market and overlapping family demographics.

Broad incumbents

• Miss Porter's School: Miss Porter's is an elite all-girls boarding school in Farmington, Connecticut with a comparable single-sex college-preparatory mission and similar endowment scale. It represents the elite national single-sex peer set that defines the category Laurel competes within, though boarding vs. day delivery differs.
• Madeira School: Madeira is an all-girls boarding and day college-preparatory school in McLean, Virginia, with similar academic prestige and single-sex positioning. It is a category-defining national peer for elite girls' education, though Laurel is day-only and regional.
• Holton-Arms School: Holton-Arms is an all-girls college-preparatory school in Bethesda, Maryland, with comparable mission and size profile to Laurel. Notably, Laurel's Associate Head of School previously served as academic dean at Holton-Arms, indicating direct personnel crossover in the elite girls' school space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/laurelschool
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/laurelschoolforgirls
• Facebookfacebook.com/laurelschool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/laurel-school
• Instagraminstagram.com/laurelschool

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Laurel School