TheHomeSchoolMom may earn affiliate commissions from purchases made using links on curriculum reviews pages. Read our full disclosure.
Laurel Springs School is an innovator and pioneer in online education that provides a flexible learning experience for students, from kindergarten through 12th grade and beyond, establishing foundational pathways for academic, career, and personal success. Engaging global learners in a private school education that values them as individuals, Laurel Springs offers a diverse curricula of courses taught by experienced instructors—intentionally designed to cultivate inquiry, growth, and purpose beyond the classroom.
Website: Laurel Springs School
Post Your Review »
(19 Reviews)
Before investing in any homeschooling resources, please read "How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum."
Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: Everything else about it was terrible in every possible way. Both my kids hated their experience.
Grades Used: 2, 7
Laurel Springs lured us in by boasting about their qualified teachers, accessibility, opportunities for social interactions, established online curriculum, etc. None of it is true. This review is primarily for the second grade curriculum because I was so busy helping my younger kid that I couldn't help my 7th grader. First, the online program itself is very difficult to navigate for young children, and more importantly, for an older adult (i.e. a grandparent) who wants to be their learning coach. Second, there is NO human instruction. It's all robot recordings, animations/illustrations, and text/slides that you have to click through. This is the least engaging, interactive, and effective way for young students to learn. My son required 100% supervision to stay focused (because it was so boring and such a slog) and he had more fun playing with the size of the mouse than learning anything. Third, the program requires a multi-step process to submit assignments (which even with help we got wrong because of labeling errors), or upload via a picture from my phone. How is it possible that, after so many years of doing this and taking lots of money for it, that they haven't prioritized perfecting the very reason we're all signing up for it: ease of schooling our children? Fourth, unless you have a kid who is completely self sufficient, tech savvy, can focus on a screen for hours a day, self motivated, and favors robot interaction over human interaction, this is not the school for you. Don't waste your money. Sign up for your state's virtual school for free. If you couldn't tell, I hated just about everything about this experience. The only positive thing I can say is that the teachers were nice.
Cons: none
Grades Used: none
My time at Laurel Springs School was truly unforgettable, marked by inspiring teachers who fostered a love for learning and a strong sense of community. I engaged in various clubs and activities, which helped me develop lifelong friendships and valuable skills. The school spirit during events like LSS Spirit Week created a vibrant atmosphere that I cherished. Academically, I was challenged and prepared for the future, thanks to a diverse curriculum and advanced placement options. Looking back, I am incredibly grateful for the memories and experiences that shaped my high school journey, making it an amazing chapter of my life.
Cons: Nothing I wouldn't expect from an online school
Grades Used: 10-12
Our daughter switched from a brick and mortar school to LSS in the tenth grade due to medical reasons. Due to the medical, even online was difficult at the time. LSS was very supportive and flexible with her.
We looked at many online schools and LSS is one of the more expensive. But we went them because many of the online schools were basically a login and no human support. LSS has good counselors, academic counselors, college guidance, human teachers with published office hours and more. It felt like there was much more support than all other online schools, similar to a brick and mortar school, and that has proven true.
Some of the other comments -
Of course parents need to be involved. I was involved when my children were at brick and mortar schools.
Yes - you need to reach out to teachers when you need assistance. This is asynchronous learning, kids can log on anytime of day, so teachers don't work 24 hours a day. However, they have always been very responsive and supportive. Sometimes even responding in the evening and on weekends. The teacher's, counselors and Student Support Services are all very friendly and supportive people.
$300 extensions - first you have 5 months for a semester, like any other school. If you are down to the wire you can get 3 days added on without cost. They've even done this a couple of times for us. Now if you need an entire month, it may cost you $300 - why wouldn't it, you're requiring another month of their support. Now if it's the first semester of a two-semester course, you can extend for free, but it does take the time away from the next semester. Point is, there are several options.
Curriculum - like any school it is hit and miss. Some courses were great and some so-so. I didn't do the work, so I am sure the student's perception or subject preferences play a role in this.
Teacher face-time - it's there if you schedule it. But ultimately, you're signing up for an online school.
Printing in grey, versus color. I never had the school print anything for us. We printed stuff ourselves, if it didn't print in color that's probably user error, check your printer settings. Everything was good for us.
LSS is accredited by the Western Association of Schools which is what UCs use - I did not see any other online school with this accreditation.
Overall, I felt LSS is an exceptional option for an online school. Do your homework and recognize, it's an online school, it will take some work on yours and your child's part. For us, the flexibility worked great and allowed my daughter to stay on track while dealing with some pretty serious medical issues.
Hope this helps.
Cons: Best for motivated, gifted self-starters
Grades Used: 3-7
Rigorous, classical content. Self-paced with continual checkpoints to ensure content mastery before student is allowed to proceed with next lesson. Based on my 2+ years of research pre-& during Covid, LS is the best option available for the investment. Classwork approximately 1-2 years ahead of our local public schools (Fairfield County, CT.) Teachers very accessible. Wide range of electives at middle school level. Augmented courses & regional field trips abundant. Suggested links in parent observer app to help facilitate your own field trips if you want more. Student must be motivated, independent, and a self-starter- this school is for students with strong goals & desire to succeed. There’s also an elite “honors” program within the school (Academy) if your student needs even more rigorous classes, & wants to take college courses in high school. Relationships with 2 well-known universities, fully accredited. We couldn’t be happier.
Cons: Most everything
Grades Used: 12
Laurel Springs was unreliable and lacked interest in correcting technical issues that prevented my daughters from accessing assignment for weeks.
Cons: Does not properly count student credits if transferring from other programs such as IB or IGCSE,
Grades Used: 10,11
They did not count my credits from sophomore year as I was not in an American School System, it was a school in Thailand. The thing is that the counted my freshman year credits fully but not my sophomore year when I moved schools. Only one of my english credit was included from my first sophomore semester. The kept on insisting that I take more classes then necessary and resorted to not counting my first semester credits. They kept on insisting that I take chemistry for my senior year even though I have already fulfilled my science credits.
List of classes I took in first semester of sophomore year and how much they credited it:
World history 0.3
Math 0.4
PE 0.2
Arts and Music: 0.3
Technology 0.3
Environmental Sciences 0.3
General Biology 0.4
Thai language 0.2
Health Sciences 0.1
The tech support took 4 days to resolve my issue saying it was fixed even though it wasn't and I have to repeatedly email them that it was still failing and providing screenshots.
Cons: There is a need for more social get togethers for the 5 grade and under. A big failing here.
Grades Used: 4th & 5th
I just read a review about "fluffy" social studies' work and insufficient math education. This is NOT my experience. I live in Oregon and went online during Covid and was highly impressed with the curriculum as was my mother, a former school principal and School Board executive. It was truly beyond my expectations. My son also was in private school beforehand and he was doing Kumon Math on the side. I can agree with the spiral bound book issue, that should be taken care of by the well funded school. My son is now in 5th grade. We started with a summer class in Math 2 years ago. He does 6th grade Math now and is loving the work...although there can be a lot. He tells me that he is happy and that, in comparison, he learned hardly anything at the former school. I do agree that there were many educational areas in my son's brick & mortar education that are now being filled by Laurel Springs. They really cover EVERYTHING.
Cons: Math/social studies curriculum, cost, workbooks
Grades Used: K,1, 2
My daughter has been using LSS for 2 yrs. My son is in his first year. Initially, we loved the school. During covid we switched to online school and it worked for us. However, this year we’ve had a lot of issues. The most major issue is the workbooks. They printed them in black and white and they’re not spiral bound (like they were the first year). This doesn’t sound like a big deal. However, my son is in kindergarten and how is he supposed to figure out blue from red on his work if it’s all gray? The pages also don’t lay flat. This is very frustrating for both children. It’s hard to work on your handwriting without a flat surface. When I emailed the school about it, I just got an email saying they were aware and will fix it next year. This is an expensive school. Some sort of rectification should’ve been done.
We’ve also had some challenges with my daughter’s second grade math. The lesson and work is very minimal. I don’t feel like she’s actually getting a good grasp on math. She’s starting to struggle so I purchased an extra curriculum to help her. This is an expensive private school though, that shouldn’t be happening.
The social studies curriculum is very similar. They use very “fluffy” stories to get the idea of bartering and trading across. My kids love fluffy stories but these ones don’t always make sense.
They also claim they offer a ton of extra classes for the kids but I don’t think this is true until they hit 3rd grade. There are no regular classes even then. I wanted my daughter to get extra math practice but all the math classes are K-2 or 1-2. That means they’re reviewing basic addition. There’s nothing specific to her curriculum.
My son is an advanced kindergartener. Meaning, he already reads basic chapter books and completed a first grade math program last year. They wouldn’t allow me to skip the kindergarten curriculum. They don’t offer an assessments or tools to meet your child at their current academic year unless they went through a structured program. They mentioned the dreaded fear of “gaps.” However, I am allowed to BUY extra curriculum when he finishes early.
I want to give some positives because our first year was amazing. This school does have a wonderful language arts program. My daughter is a great writer and reads at a high level. I think they lay that all out very nicely. The teachers are very responsive by email. I know they hold office hours. I haven’t used them but I do feel there’s an effort by a lot of teachers to be available.
The turn around time for grading is great. The school is also responsive via email.
I think the school really helped me when I was new to the homeschool/virtual school world. I didn’t know what to expect and they gave us a good foundations. They also provide transcripts. That was big for us when we didn’t know how long we’d be homeschooling.
I think we would consider going back when the kids are older (high school level) and wanting accredited classes for college. I see they offer many options for that age group.
Cons: needs a lot of support from parents
Grades Used: 1st
We chose LSS for my son for 1st grade because of the pandemic. I can say he has learned so much, far more than what he would have learned in a regular school. The academic level is outstanding. But, all the reviews about lack of teacher support are true. This is a great option if you are planning to homeschool your kids, because you will be the teacher. Maybe when kids are older they can do it by themselves, but for elementary for sure the parent support is needed. We won't return for second grade because my son is an only child and is dying to see his friends everyday. But the academic level is amazing, that is a fact.
Cons: Poor support, no instructor, no social emotional learning environment, forcing my daughter to stay in the program for monetary reasons
Grades Used: K
On the schools website it says they have an "A+" rating. This is a lie more like a D. I am a school therapist and have worked in the school system for many years. My 5 year old is enrolled and there are many issues. There is no student teacher time where she's actually being taught. There is no student to student interaction. Basically your child is looking at a computer and handing in ALOT of work. The work load is overwhelming and not relevant to the child's learning age. Also, I attempted to withdraw my daughter and, against court order, they are keeping her in the program. PLEASE do not waste your money or your time.
Cons: Full time teaching for parents
Grades Used: 3rd and 5th
My children have been attending Laurel Springs since September of last year. (3rd and 5th Grades). The curriculum far surpasses what they were receiving for their “at home learning” from public schools. It’s challenging, interesting, and sometimes frustrating. I’m ok with that. We aren’t looking for an easy A. We are looking to learn. I would recommend this school to parents who are looking for a better option than what is currently being offered during the pandemic, but I would caution that this program requires almost full time attention from a parent during the elementary school years. They give you the curriculum, the teacher as support, and the on-line grading and monitoring, but you will be the main teacher. Prepare to dedicate a lot of time and energy. I think it’s worth it. My kids are receiving a great education from a fully accredited school that is highly regarded by colleges. I think we will continue the program for the foreseeable future.
I am currently a student at Laurel Springs School, and I won't say this school is the greatest ever. It has been a great alternative to the confusing distance learning options. It has been a lot less difficult to manage my schedule of tennis and other exercise with school. I enjoy the teachers, but you have to be ready to reach out to them if you need help. I think that it is a great practice for college as this school requires you to be on top of things and make a plan for each day. Semester exams can be stressful but meeting with your teachers can help in the long run. I think that the level of motivation you need to have is quite high in order to succeed, but overall I would say that this is a great option.
In our search for a suitable 9th grade curriculum we tried out Laurel Springs Honors Biology I. Although the curriculum itself was fine and the teacher was very nice and helpful when inquired we decided to try out Florida Virtual which is offered free to us. To our surprise the Honors Biology offered with Florida Virtual is the exact same curriculum (Word for Word) that you pay over a thousand dollars for with Laurel Springs (not to mention the cost of the placement tests and annual grade conference). When I inquired with Laurel Springs they ignored my inquiry and refused to refund the second segment that we never enrolled or started They should be ashamed of themselves.
Cons: Expensive, no "Teaching"
Grades Used: 7th
They just want your money. crappy school.
My daughter attended Laurel Springs for 3 days to find out how bad this school actually is
No communication whatsoever
No actual teaching
Very confusing
After I canceled they kept 850$ just for the enrollment and returned 500$
It’s a scam
We have been with this school several years because my daughter lived their curriculum. I have to admit I am very unhappy with [redacted] and them to be extremely pushy and manipulative and at come moments even dishonest trying to get more money out of parents. We have been spending over $7000 every year buying chosen subjects but they continue insisting to buy extra classes indicating they will not be helping your child unless you spend extra money buying extra classes that are NOT necessary and not important Just a waist of time and money. When your child need an extension they demand $300 per subject for 1 extension. Which is a ripe off. . . [Redacted for personal information about an employee] They also do not care about kids who is homeschool and spend $7000 a year and more
They will never help you with anything . Unless you spend as much as they want you and even then I don’t think they will be helping your kids / Very cruel the way they treat people .
Cons: repetitve
Grades Used: high school
My son did high school Spanish online. Each unit followed the same style of practice and quizzes so he knew what to expect. For some that can get quite boring but he didn't seem to mind. Having it only online ended up somewhat difficult for us as we traveled a bit and were unable to have internet then. I wish you could do part online and part text book. We had to have an extension and ended up with a different teacher at the end who did a much better job of giving feedback so that may vary by who you get. His first teacher graded assignments and simply wrote, "Nice job" so not very helpful.
Cons: Expensive, punitive pricing on extensions
Grades Used: 6th
We tried Laurel Springs this year for our twin daughters' math and science classes. Although the course content is good, it is all online, which we consider a disadvantage. In addition, any extensions at the end of the course cost $200 per child; the pricing is punitive. The school prevents students from moving on until the teacher grades assignments, which also creates timing problems. We will not renew with the school.
Of course, what a fantastic blog and educative posts, I will bookmark your blog.Best Regards!