The Northwest School in Seattle | Military Town Advisor

Posted: June 19, 2026

We have two kids who both started as 9th graders coming from outside middle schools. One has graduated and is in college; the other is still enrolled. The graduate got into every school she applied to and had more good options than was easy to sort through.

Both are science-focused with artistic sides, one is now a Biology major, the other is headed toward Biology or Biochemistry. Neither arrived knowing that. They figured it out at NWS, which is part of the point. The school's emphasis on breadth didn't frustrate their eventual focus; it helped them find it. And because the critical thinking and writing foundation is already solid, I'm not worried about them specializing heavily in college. That work is done.

Sports are no-cut, so students play and develop rather than watch from the bench. Some teams are consistently competitive; others vary by year. If a winning program is your priority, this probably isn't your school. If your kid actually getting to participate is the priority, it works.

Activities are largely student-driven. HOSA has grown in recent years and sends students to a leadership conference and a competition, which has been particularly good for science-minded kids. The urban location adds something too, students get comfortable navigating the city and the wider world in ways that matter later.

Not the right fit for everyone. For students who want to be genuinely challenged and arrive at college already prepared to think and write, it's been the right place for both of ours.

Posted: June 19, 2026

Posted: January 13, 2025

The Northwest School has been fabulous for my kids -- I have found the high school to be rigorous enough for my advanced science/math student while offering an interdisciplinary approach across all subjects. He has used math in art classes and critical thinking skills of humanities in his science classes. The arts program has pushed him to explore many new areas, some have become deep interests he wouldn't have explored. The experiential learning extends to an international boarding program, international trips, and outdoors challenges. These bring a broad global perspective to my kids and their peers. And one key criteria for success has been the excellent teachers -- these are experts in their fields with sincere learning/growth mindsets even as experts! Perhaps the most important thing for me as a parent is that the faculty have truly learned what makes my kid tick and helped him to learn to become a college student. Highly recommend this community and education.

Posted: January 9, 2025

Highly recommend the Northwest School- it is a premier independent school in the Seattle area. Excellent education, superb educators and leadership, and kind and caring community.
It is a wonderful school!!

Posted: January 9, 2025

Posted: December 20, 2024

The Northwest School has provided an outstanding high school experience for my student, who really values the challenging academics with ample support and encouragement to be successful. It has been easy to obtain academic accommodations, easy to find supportive teachers willing to provide extra guidance, and easy to find challenge when more challenge is desired. The arts focus is a bonus for an academically rigorous program. The very best part of the academic program is the humanities department, which both prepares students to be outstanding readers and writers, but also explores important topics of history and social studies in ways that allow students to deeply appreciate the world we live in today and the way we got here.

Posted: December 20, 2024

Posted: December 19, 2024

Northwest is an amazing school. My two children and three nephews all attended and - while they are all very different people - they all had a wonderful experience. The teachers are excellent and the academics are engaging and challenging (in a good way). The arts are top notch. The community has wonderful values that help kids grow to be curious, ethical, engaged people who know themselves, know how to contribute to their community, and want to do good things in the world. The boarding program adds a wonderful dimension to the student and family experience. And, my neurodiverse kid has gotten strong, effective support that's helped her understand herself as a learner and know how to advocate for herself in the future. All my kids and nephews have gone to/are going to wonderful colleges and have been very well prepared. A+

Posted: December 19, 2024

Our two daughters attended NWS from 6-12. They both went on to graduate from excellent higher educational institutions and are now both working in a service industry supporting our society. I learned a lot while they attended NWS, and they clearly benefitted from a great education!

Posted: December 19, 2024

I am a parent of a high school student at NWS who has been there since 6th grade. Our son is thriving at this school in every way. The high academic expectations, combined with the personalized support and substantive feedback from teachers, challenge him to excel and grow. He feels a strong sense of belonging thanks to the school's diversity among students, teachers, and administration, which creates an inclusive and welcoming environment. He's also formed a close group of friends who both support and challenge him in meaningful ways. Additionally, he has found a valuable outlet in sports, which has become essential to his physical and mental well-being. We couldnt be happier with the positive impact this school has had on him.

Posted: December 19, 2024

Posted: December 18, 2024

Our child attended NWS 6th-12th grade, though part of MS was during COVID. There are many manners in which to rave about Northwest School and I will focus on two: teachers and college prep.
I am not typically focussed on college prep, but at NWS it's a natural part of the student's learning journey. Every senior takes a class to help prepare them for the process and an incredibly gifted set of college counselors support students in the manners in which they ask for (or need) the adult reinforcements from junior year thru college acceptances.
My favorite part of my student's experience is each faculty member with whom she's had the good fortune to learn. Read the teacher bios on the school website - they speak for themselves. Each teacher has met my child where they are and have supported them in delving more deeply into the subjects. Whether a child needs extra support from the (amazing!! - with no additional fees assessed!) Academic Resource Center or whether they are working ahead of many of their peers, faculty support a student's curiosity and desire to be seen.
The Northwest School special sauce is that each student - as different as they are - feels seen and valued by their faculty and community.
Oh, and the food. Students RAVE about the amazing lunches served daily!
Students and parents who chooses NWS will come to see that it's one of the best decisions they will have made for the growth of their student.

Posted: December 18, 2024

Posted: December 1, 2024

The Northwest School has both a Middle school (6-8) and an Upper School. Our student joined The Northwest School in 9th grade, so this review is really focused on the Upper School experience.

The Northwest School was recommended by a friend who also had two students there (now graduated). When we toured, we were very impressed with the breadth of studies as well as the level of care for students, especially coming out of the pandemic. The faculty was PREPARED to help students regain confidence in the classroom and re-engage with peers.

Our student's experience with The Northwest School has been excellent. The interdisciplinary approach - intertwining history, literature, writing, with a strong undercurrent of social justice - has pushed our student to explore topics in depth, prepare analyses, and speak/write knowledgeably on a wide range of topics. In addition, the arts curriculum is unparalleled. Students can explore different modes of artistic expression and go deep on ones that resonate.

Our student, now a junior, has been well supported in the classroom, in the art studios, and on the athletic field, with both encouragement and constructive feedback, enabling them to achieve their potential and prepare for a college experience.

I would highly recommend The Northwest School for any family interested in a multi-disciplinary approach to learning.

Also - per our student - the food is GREAT.

Posted: December 1, 2024

Posted: November 25, 2024

I'm the parent of a college freshman who attended The Northwest School from 7th to 12th grade. Unlike my two other kids (who attended different schools), my daughter absolutely loved her middle school and high school experiences. She was challenged academically, supported emotionally, and developed into an incredible leader who knows who she is. I can't recommend the school highly enough!

Posted: November 25, 2024

I am the parent of two recent graduates. Both went on to highly selective colleges on the east coast and have been extremely well-prepared for that experience by the academic rigor of Northwest. One child is studying engineering and entered a hyper-competitive program a couple of years ahead of most of his peers in math. He says that Northwest gave him the conceptual ability to thrive in advanced mathematics and physics. The math program in particular was great. The other child goes to an Ivy league liberal arts program and continues the love of learning that Northwest instills. Socially, Northwest was an extremely healthy environment for my teens. The peer group was great and there was a lot of fantastic adult mentoring. I was grateful that I found this amazing community. Both kids report their favorite things were the orchestra and the FOOD, which is amazing.

Posted: November 25, 2024

Posted: October 17, 2023

We've been extremely happy with NWS. Our son is in G9 now. There is a lot that can be said, but I would boil it down to these points:
1) The core academic subjects are very strong. The faculty is great (especially the math department), the work is challenging, but the environment is supportive. In math, kids can advance as far as their ability will take them. G11 and G12 students can take advanced calculus, statistics and mathematical modeling.
2) The teachers really care and have given a lot of individual attention to our son. He is a strong-willed kid, so occasionally needs it.
3) Our son is a little off-beat too. He's not athletic and is a late bloomer, but bright with a caustic wit, and plays the piano. He has experienced zero bullying or other negative behavior on the part of other students.
4) We've been impressed with the arts faculty (visual, dance, drama, music). Virtually all of them are active professionals in their fields, in addition to being faculty members. They walk the talk.
5) There are no grading surprises. The assignments, rubrics, grades and cumulative grades are constantly available on line for all courses for parents to review. They use an app called Canvas. It's great.
I know that everyone has a different experience at schools, but I would totally recommend NWS to prospective parents. I saw the negative review below and I'd love to know the background on that. It does not at all represent what we've experienced at the school. That one was three years ago and during Covid, so perhaps that was part of the issue. The current state of the school (and we are very involved parents) could not be more positive.

Posted: October 17, 2023

Posted: February 22, 2020

Northwest had a stellar reputation academically, which is why we chose it.

It's really sad to see all the amazing reviews on this page.

Unfortunately NW has changed dramatically over the last few years (this has been confirmed by other parents) - and it's the academics that have suffered.

If you care about your child learning the core skills they will need in high school (being able to memorize material, take notes, write a coherent paragraph, and know that Japan was not one of the Allies in the first world war) this is no longer the school for you.

Posted: February 22, 2020

Basically there is little or no incentive for children to do homework well. My perfectly capable (but somewhat lazy) child quickly learned that there was absolutely no cost to handing in deeply shoddy work and developed dreadful work habits.

Posted: February 22, 2020

Even when we agreed on actions that we would take, the school never followed through.

For example, they said that they weren't prepared to help Zach improve his handwriting, 'we don't worry about handwriting'.

So I worked on his handwriting over the summer, and asked them simply to remind him to use his good handwriting. They agreed to do it - but only one teacher ever did. This is just an example of a pattern that repeated again, and again, and again.

Posted: February 22, 2020

The school is deeply involved with social justice in the US, and that is a real strength of the school. There is some emphasis on climate change. Almost no interest in international equity, which really concerned me.

Another concern is that issues are discussed from a deeply simplistic manner
which verged on propaganda. For example, almost a whole semester was spent on the US internment of the Japanese (about 110k interned, 2K people died). No mention was made of Japanese concentration camps for POW (140K interned, ~40K died). (Or the 3-10M Koreans or Chinese who were killed by the Japanese in the Asian holocaust.) When my child mentioned this, he was immediately shut down in a way that made it clear that his comments were very unwelcome.

Let me be clear, I DON'T think the internment of Japanese citizens in the US was justified, but I think studying the moral lessons of history is only worthwhile if we make an effort to understand why, at the time, the internment was relatively uncontroversial. The point of history is to make our children think more deeply about moral choices - and to do that we need to explain the full complexity.

Posted: February 22, 2020

Headmaster hasn't read the 'Common Core' and had not even heard of the Cambridge Lower Secondary Curriculum (the international equivalent of the Common Core. Basically, he demonstrated a complete lack of interest in the standards generated by evidence-based education.

Interestingly they claim during the admissions process that the school works at the "Advanced Learning Opportunities" level. It's hard to understand how they make this claim when the Headmaster doesn't even know what that level is.

Posted: February 22, 2020

My child has no learning difficulties (98th percentile in IQ, no academic weaknesses). The school had NO issues with his academics until I pointed out that he wasn't learning anything.

Then they tried to claim he had executive functioning difficulties besides being a bit lazy. He's actually (I'm a psych professor) been running in psych experiments since he was 3, many of them measuring executive function. I asked one of the developmental professors who has regularly used him as a subject about their theory - she laughed, and then she said she was shocked that they had even suggested it - apparently my child's executive function is also v. high.

At the time I didn't think much about this, since I knew it was ridiculous, but the more I think about it the more disquieted I am that they tried to claim my child had a learning difficulty to avoid dealing with their own failures.

Posted: February 22, 2020

At one point my child was being called racist repeatedly in class by another student (because he had argued that one of the Spanish teachers shouldn't be fired because he wasn't Hispanic). I asked that the teachers point out that people disagree without being racist. The response was "we're trying to deal with white fragility". My child was called racist in front of teachers 4 times ( and 4 times I asked them to deal with this) and they never felt the need to intervene.

I do think they would have been very effective if the roles had been reversed.

Posted: November 22, 2017

The Northwest School is a stellar academic institution. It has the perfect balance of brains and heart. Kids come out with passion and purpose and a strong sense of social (global and local) responsibility. A+

Posted: November 22, 2017

Posted: November 7, 2017

The Northwest School helped my husband and I raise our two children and prepare them for not only college but for life. Both individuality and community are valued. The teachers are extraordinary. The sense of belonging and acceptance of all students and families is strong. The school truly lives up to its mission and lives by its values. If what you read about the school on its website resonates with you and your family, you've found a good fit. The school walks its talk!

Posted: October 30, 2017

The staff continually monitor student homework times to ensure students don't spend an inordinate amount of time on homework. We have found that practice to work. Some students spend little time on homework, others a great deal. A lot of it depends upon student organization.

Posted: October 30, 2017

We have found each and every teacher to be thoroughly engrossed in the process of educating our daughters.

Posted: October 30, 2017

I learn from my two students who attend this school on a weekly basis!

Posted: October 30, 2017

The initial contact of most new families is through the administration. We found them to be charming, likable leaders. Through our continued involvement with the school, mostly with the administration, I continue to find these same people to be strong leaders, with a consistent voice and presence.

Posted: October 30, 2017

In my involvement with the school, and from what I don't hear from out students, I have never heard of a case of bullying at this school. I'm sure the kids are not perfect and that it in fact it does occur, but I have nevere heard of it.

Posted: October 30, 2017

Our family has two children attending the Northwest School. Both girls started at 6th graders, the oldest will graduate this spring, the younger will enter the upper school this next Fall. Our family are firm supporters of the school for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, is the excellent caliber of both the administration, and more importantly the staff. Each and everyone of the teachers we have experienced at the NWS have been stellar. The focus on academics is strong, but infused in the cross curricular studies are social justice, inclusion, and self-expression. We couldn't be happier!

Posted: October 26, 2017

The Northwest School is a rare find. Idealism about the role and purpose of education is a distinguishing quality of the school. It is an intentional community that values individual contribution and intellectual courage. Kids are celebrated for who they are and encouraged to try new things. They are scholars, athletes, artists, explorers, and activists one and all. This approach develops critical thinkers who know themselves from the inside out. The faculty are brilliant! Not only great teachers, they are mentors and guides who care deeply about each and every child. We are grateful that both of our girls have had the opportunity to learn and grow in this magical learning environment with caring, compassionate faculty.

Posted: October 25, 2017

The Northwest School has been a great academic home for my two children. They are developing a great skill set for life long learning, and a strong moral compass with a foundation in environmental stewardship, social justice and global awareness. The community at the Northwest School is one that nurtures individualism while celebrating the power of working together.

Posted: October 25, 2017

The Northwest School wasn't even on our radar but we threw in an application because we were urged to apply to 6 schools (yikes). When we did more research and visited, we were blown away by how intentional they were, how they walked their talk, how they think about EVERYTHING, how our daughter would be appreciated for both her strengths and weaknesses AND bolstered by experts who knew what was appropriate/inappropriate for her age group. This is a place that knows child development and the way the faculty cares for each student is admirable. Our oldest daughter (who started in 6th grade) is now a senior in college and her sister is also at NWS. Truly a find. Do your own research - I'm confident you'll be amazed.

Posted: October 25, 2017

Posted: April 14, 2015

This school has been the best thing that could have happened to my son. It is supportive and has allowed him to enjoy things like poetry, theater and social dance that he would have NEVER done in another environment. My son has been an elite athlete all of his life and when we transferred to NW in 8th grade he just got to be a kid. No one knew his background or that he was competing on the weekends. He is now a Junior and still loves it. The teachers have been supportive and we could not have asked for a better school. It is a true blessing to have found this school. The supportive environment is the best thing about this school. It is a college prep school with an empahsis on the arts. They do not have AP courses but my son is in Calculus and the humanities teachers are known in colleges for turning out great writers. This school has kids accepted to the top schools in the country every year. It is a very special place and I am so pleased we have been a part of it.

#	Name	Type	City	State	Distance
1	Manette	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Bremerton	WA	13.6 mi
2	Blueberry Meadows	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Bremerton	WA	14.4 mi
3	The Carriages at Fairwood Downs	Apartment Complex	Renton	WA	14.6 mi
4	Meredith Heights	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Poulsbo	WA	16 mi
5	The Reserve at Bucklin Hill	Apartment Complex	Silverdale	WA	16.2 mi
6	Caldart Cottages	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Poulsbo	WA	16.5 mi
7	Kitsap Lake	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Bremerton	WA	17.5 mi
8	Fairway Lane	Apartment Complex	Bremerton	WA	17.7 mi
9	The Ridge at McCormick Woods	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Port Orchard	WA	18.1 mi
10	McCormick Woods	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Port Orchard	WA	18.6 mi
11	Whisper Ridge	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Bremerton	WA	19 mi
12	Woods and Meadows	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Poulsbo	WA	19.2 mi
13	Mukilteo	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Mukilteo	WA	22.4 mi
14	Stadium District	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Tacoma	WA	24.7 mi
15	North End	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Tacoma	WA	25.1 mi

#	Name	City	State	Distance
1	Downtown Seattle	Seattle	WA	0.7 mi
2	Bainbridge Island	Bainbridge Island	WA	9.1 mi
3	East Bremerton	Bremerton	WA	14 mi
4	Port Orchard	Port Orchard	WA	15.3 mi
5	Ridgetop	Silverdale	WA	16.7 mi
6	Poulsbo	Poulsbo	WA	17.1 mi
7	Silverdale	Silverdale	WA	17.3 mi
8	Naval Base Kitsap	Poulsbo	WA	18.2 mi
9	Lakeness Meadows/ Vinland Area	Poulsbo	WA	20.3 mi
10	Maple Valley	Maple Valley	WA	21.9 mi

Base	Distance
Coast Guard Seattle	1.7 mi.
Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton	15.3 mi.
Naval Base Kitsap Bangor	19.3 mi.
Everett Naval Station	26.4 mi.
McChord AFB	34.8 mi.
Fort Lewis	38.2 mi.

The Northwest School

Seattle, WA 98122

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The Northwest School

Seattle, WA 98122

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