Headlands Preparatory School

What makes this school special

Every academic class is one teacher and one student, on a mastery model: 80% or better before moving on, reteach and reassess until it sticks
The Marin sibling of Tilden Prep (it began as Tilden Prep Marin), now its own school on Bridgeway in downtown Sausalito — a ferry ride from the Ferry Building
A deep catalog for a tiny school: UC-approved courses and six languages, from American Sign Language to Japanese
Serves the students other schools schedule around: gifted and twice-exceptional students, learning differences, athletes and performers, and students who need school to flex around health
Part-time enrollment lets a student stay at their own school and take one or two courses here

Academics

Curriculum

One-to-one tutorial courses on a mastery model — 80% or better before moving on, reteach and reassess until then; UC-approved catalog

Advanced Placement

31 AP courses

See the course list

World languages

American Sign Language, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Spanish

Signature programs

One-to-one classes with flexible scheduling and pacing, in person or online
Mastery learning — Acquire, Practice, Apply, to at least 80%
Part-time enrollment alongside another school (concurrent enrollment)
20 hours of community service a year

UC admissions

UC doesn’t publish admissions data for this school.

Life there

Learning support

Built for students the traditional classroom isn't serving — the school names gifted and accelerated students, learning differences including dyslexia and ADHD, twice-exceptional students, athletes and performers needing flexible schedules, and students working through anxiety or health challenges

Applying

Key dates

Enrollment: Rolling — start any time of year

The application

Enrollment is year-round: an informational call, a tour, and an interview with the Director or Head of School, then registration materials and a scheduling meeting that designs the student's actual program. Tuition follows the schedule that meeting builds — the school publishes no sticker price and prices each student's plan, so cost questions go straight to the school.

Application requirements

Informational call, campus tour, and an interview with the Director or Head of School
Registration materials — transcripts, immunizations, any IEP/504 or evaluations
Registration deposit, then a scheduling meeting to build the student's program

Testing

Test-free

Sources

Admissions Process — year-round rolling enrollment, the full-time and part-time steps, concurrent enrollment
Tuition — "yearly tuition varies as we customize the schedule and pacing for each student"; no figures published
Courses — UC approval, the AP list, seven languages
Mastery Learning — the 80% standard and reteach-reassess cycle
Why Headlands — who the school serves, in its own words
Mission and Accreditation — mission, WASC accreditation, the Tilden Prep affiliation; the origin story (founded 2017 as Tilden Prep Marin, renamed 2020) now survives only on Wikipedia — the school's own site no longer tells it
CDE Private School Affidavit, 2025-26 — enrollment (58 whole school; 42 in grades 9-12)
Headlands homepage — motto ("Every Student Has the Capacity to Excel", the hero line)

Details checked August 2026

Headlands Prep