As a family, we are loving the decision to take our kids to Seattle Christian School. The campus…read morehas K-12 in the building therefore, our 5th grader is still in school with our 10th grader. The professional teachers, faith based education and the community feel on the campus is reassuring to me as a mom. I feel the education is superior and the athletic program is competitive. I love the confidence our kids have gained and the friends they are making. I feel this college prep-faith based school is the right choice for our family.

If you have a kid that just doesn't quite fit the public school mold and would really benefit from…read morehaving a teacher that is willing to meet them where they're at - you should really take a look at Academy Schools. My son is 9, and was diagnosed with severe ADHD two years ago. Don't make an assumption here, he is not a brat. his adhd manifests in a serious struggle to process information, stay on task, hold still and complete darn near anything. If he wasn't such a smart kid, he'd be in serious trouble. He was in second grade at an excellent Highline public elementary school and he hated it. They did all they could and I'm so grateful for how hard they tried. Second grade is supposed to be fun. His teacher, a lovely human, had 24 kids and a student teacher. My son can barely hold still, has huge emotions, and every educator we talked to was recommending he be medicated, which is something I don't believe is a requirement for him if he is in the right environment. This topic hasn't come up one time at Academy Schools. He used to cry multiple days a week because he didn't want to go to school. He was constantly in trouble or not meeting expectations in behavior. I get it, he's my kid, I know how difficult he can be, but, he's also a very typical boy and his inner light was dimming. I was pretty settled on sending him to West Seattle Montessori but because of social distancing, they capped out his grade and I'm so grateful they did. His teacher, Ms Arntzen, is the most patient, kind, loving teacher, who creates boundaries, that I ever could have imagined for him. His teacher next year, is such a fun lady and already knows Cole enough to say hi to me when I come and go. I feel like these teachers were all versions of my son once upon a time and their mission is to make school a great place for these kiddos. I feel like it's just a bunch of wonderfully wacky kids that found a home. I love how small it is and how I know most of the teachers six months in. Mr McIntyre is a total kid whisperer. I have at least ten stories of almost crying because I could see how much they care and the ways they've worked with my kiddo. In my search, I toured a few private schools and honestly went to Academy just to check a box and after ten minutes with the Head of School/Director, I knew she was taking that school somewhere and clearly understood their direction. I was certain my son wouldn't get lost. Well, more than half way through the school year, thankfully, I was right. My son is like a different kid. He's so happy, he loves going to school. His teacher works hard to "get" her students and teach them in a way that yields the results she needs instead of trying to get them all the confirm to just one way. They do a great job setting boundaries and expectations - my son is thriving! Thank you Academy Schools for taking such good care of my little dude, he will be forever impacted by this school and I'm pretty sure he will graduate from there.

I was just telling some friends how great our school is. Then I saw a bummer of a review on here,…read morebased on a short transition period, so I'm writing this. The short story is - it's a very good school run by professionals. A wonderful environment for kids who are neurodivergent or similar and have struggled in a larger school setting. It is supportive and non-judgmental, and we've found it to be a great balance of a place to learn and grow and a place to be supported and accepted. We were worried that it wouldn't be academically rigorous but found that it exceeded our expectations when our child was ready to learn. They meet all children where they are at every step of the way. Also, they do so many fun educational field trips. Here's the long version if you're interested: Our family started at Academy in 2024. That year, the old school director retired. Yes, there were staff changes. Yes, there was an interim director. Yes, it was a time of change and changes is hard especially when you are emotionally invested. Some families were so attached to the old director they didn't come back. Two years later and we're still very happily there. We found gold. Is it fancy? No. Is it exactly like a larger school? No. In areas where a child needs more support, they have it. The policy of "walk to math/language arts/science" allows them to learn subjects at a level and in a group setting difficult to access in larger private or public schools in a supportive way, whether accelerated or at a slower pace. Curriculum is solid and classroom size is excellent. As to the information concern - no. Many kids are district placements. The oversight and regulation involved in that is significant. No public school would partner with them if they broke any laws about information handling and they have placements from many districts. In May of 2024 they had just interviewed candidates for a new permanent director. I hope people will consider that Spring 2024 was just one rare season in the school's administration and while the other review was from someone that felt upset by how that transition was going, the new school director who was hired at the end of that year is awesome. I think she will be there for years to come. I never post reviews, but I hate that that review might be pushing families away from a truly excellent option for kids. To whoever you were it sounds like you felt like your school family was being ripped apart and you were afraid the whole place would be ruined, which must have been awful. Maybe you lost your job, maybe you pulled your child from the school. Regardless, please know that it is still "the little school with a big heart" and from my perspective as a very aware parent, it's in responsible hands.

So not actually having a child enrolled in this school MAY mess with my ability to accurately judge…read morethe quality of this school....but my rating is as a spectator. Midway Elementary has two of the best playgrounds in DesMoines! A fantastic overall facility, and sits right next-door to Mt. Rainer HS's facility,track, pools, gym, tennis courts & more. I'd say that if my kids weren't in private school, they'd be in this school, for sure. (p.s. I've heard a lot of positive feedback from parents who's kids actually go here!)

Beautiful new building. Wonderful staff. What a great opportunity for our young people.read more

Pay attention to the dates on the bad reviews!…read more 2026: This school is and has been better than we could have ever asked for. Our daughter (now a Senior) could not have found a more welcoming and caring school community. The education and instruction from her teachers and the administration is and has consistently been top notch. KCHS took my daughter as a freshman and helped form her into a strong, respectful and caring leader. Side note: She started 2 new sports (swim & water polo) her freshman year and is now team captain of both for her senior year. This is not because she is the best or most popular on the teams but because hard work, respect and support of your teammates is also appreciated.

This school suffered bad publicity due to public judgement without the complete details of the…read moresituation. There are many current staff members here who are openly gay and they are not fired nor condemned because they maintain respectful of their environment. This is a really good school and my kid thrives here. This is a welcoming environment and teaches love, service to the community and respect. In any other workplace, if you "sh-- where you eat," you will probably get fired no matter your sexual orientation. Keep it in your pants until you get out of school grounds and no one will care!

Great place for children with learning differences to explore and thrive in their individual…read morelearning styles. Helpful teachers, low teacher to student ratio, and numerous student lead ASB activities gives the feel of a larger welcoming education community. Their mission states this is a place where students come first and it's definitely apparent in the effort and caring attitude of their office personnel and staff.

My son goes here. He has excelled here since the 8th grade. He is now a senior. If you're child has…read morea learning disorder or disability this school is geared towards that.

Beautiful auditorium. Our family is in Washington for my…read moresister's girlfriend's graduation, and I honestly expected to be under the sun (or rain, for that matter--because DUH, Seattle lol), but the graduation is being held at a beautiful fully air-conditioned auditorium with pretty comfortable seats. A lot more convenient and comfortable than I though, to be honest. Always awesome to be perfectly comfy

When my wife and I moved out of our last neighborhood, we were just starting the process of…read morebecoming foster to adopt parents of older kids. School quality was not our first thought when we chose our home, we just wanted a safer neighborhood. We loved Bible Park, I had lived in the area previously, we knew it was a perfect fit for us. It was the perfect place for us until we were placed with a 3rd and 6th grader in September of 2013. And it wasn't the place that was the problem, it was the schools. tWe immediately toured our local elementary school and middle school. When we toured the elementary school, there was a real fear that our son would be quickly grouped with other kids in the area who have lacked regular schooling, maybe had no parental involvement at home, and who were among the 25% of kids that changed schools every year. And if our youngest was assumed to be part of this group of kids, would the teachers invest the time and energy into him that we knew he would need? We then found an opening at a different magnet school in the area. We were excited about the possibility of our 3rd grader and 6th grader going to the same school while they endured such dramatic changes in their lives. And this school was amazing for our third grader. They specialized in English as a second language students who had large gaps in their education. And our third grader was taken under the wing of some good hearted teacher and he made some huge advances. But our 6th grader floundered. See our oldest is highly intelligent. But he had 11 years of using his intelligence just having to do just enough to exceed the average of his peers. And his peers were mostly struggling with poverty. His peers had not had expectations to succeed in school. And when he started at this school it became quickly evident that his peers had not changed much from his previous 6 years of education. What you may not understand about the dynamic of being a foster to adopt parent is that our kids absolutely do not trust that our expectations and rules for them are ever associated with our love, care, or best wishes for them. They are just another thing that is different and wrong about the life they are now forced to live. So if their friends don't have rules, if their friends don't have to get high grades, if their friends don't have to do their homework, it reinforces their already held belief that their new parents are unfair, and don't get what they are going through. And our version of love is a language that they have no interest in learning. When we tried to be proactive regarding the education of our 6th grader, requesting regular status updates, we were assured that it would happen. But routinely we were surprised with disappointing grades, and the progress in our oldest's education seemed stalled throughout 7th grade as well. We could not trust him to be supervised if he hung out with friends. When requesting effort from our oldest, we were legitimately confronted with the fact that most of his peers were not expected to put effort into their education at school or at home. Our youngest had made good progress in this school in 3rd and 4th grade but we were scared he would face the same middle school future at this school. We knew it would be hard for a seventh grader to switch schools but we were determined to salvage his last year before high school. We did not expect that we would get into Highline. It was a long shot, and we were thrilled when we got in. The differences in this school were much more than we even expected. It starts with the front desk. Every other school we had encountered, the front dest was like the DMV. But the front desk at Highline was eager to facilitate any needs. The 5th grade team with Ms. Chandlier has taken our 5th grader under their wing as I see them doing with a number of kids. His academic progress is astounding. He was doing sight words and muddling his way through the occasional Dr. Seus book midway through 3rd grade, not registering on any reading ability scales. This year Ms. Chandlier and him set the high goal of reading Harry Potter books by the end of the year. This is a goal that has already been reached. And for all of our youngest's success I am just as grateful for what Highline has given our 8th grader. After 8 years of just getting by, after 8 years of just staying off the radar, our oldest has made tremendous progress in doing more than just using his high intelligence to be lazy. He has become an active partner in his education. He has made choices to try to be a successful student thanks to the partnership we have with his teachers. And his chances of high school success are much more than I could have hoped for when he entered Highline Academy. I am so jealous of all of these kids who have had this amazing experience for 9 years. All of this success does not just happen. It is a result of a team and community that that are all working towards the same goal.