Best Private High Schools in Seattle + Eastside
The senior private high schools across Seattle and the Eastside form a small set, named in a single breath in any parent conversation. Lakeside School (Haller Lake, 5-12, founded 1919) and Holy Names Academy (Capitol Hill, 9-12, founded 1880) lead the Seattle secondary cohort. The Bush School (Madison Valley, K-12), University Prep (Wedgwood, 6-12), and Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (Capitol Hill, 6-12) anchor the secular co-ed indies that span middle and upper school. Across the lake, The Overlake School (Redmond, 5-12, the senior Eastside secular K-12 indie founded 1967) and Eastside Preparatory School (Kirkland, 5-12, NWAIS-accredited 2010) match the Seattle secular indies — Eastside Prep is most often discussed as the analog to University Prep and Seattle Academy.
On the one quantitative college-outcome signal available across private secondaries — PolarisList's tracking of Harvard, Princeton, and MIT acceptances — Lakeside is the clear top of the field. Lakeside seniors received 31 HPM acceptances across the 2022-2025 admissions cycles, an average of roughly eight per year. Holy Names is second statewide at six over the same window. On the Eastside, Eastside Catholic reports four placements, Eastside Prep three, and Bear Creek one; the rest of the Eastside private secondary field shows zero acceptances across the four-year window.
The Catholic field splits across single-sex and co-ed lines. Holy Names operates as Capitol Hill's all-girls Catholic college-prep; O'Dea High School (Capitol Hill, 9-12, founded 1923) is the all-boys Christian Brothers counterpart. Bishop Blanchet (Greenwood, 9-12, founded 1954) and Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, 6-12, founded 1980) are the archdiocesan co-ed Catholic 9-12s — Bishop Blanchet the senior Seattle option, Eastside Catholic the Eastside anchor. Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (Bellevue, 5-12, all-girls) is the only Sacred Heart Network school in the Pacific Northwest.
The Christian K-12 systems with significant Seattle / Eastside HS programs are King's School (Shoreline, the largest single-campus Christian K-12 in the state) and Bellevue Christian School (with its secondary Mack Campus in Clyde Hill, and elementary feeders at Three Points in Medina and Mack Elementary in Woodinville). The Bear Creek School (Redmond, classical-Christian, National Blue Ribbon K-12) rounds out the major college-prep Christian options. The Northwest School (First Hill, 6-12, NWAIS day-and-boarding) is the only Seattle private with a meaningful boarding program.
The decision metro families weigh is institutional style — single-sex Catholic, co-ed secular indie, Christian K-12, or archdiocesan Catholic co-ed — and which side of the lake fits their commute. All these schools admit by SSAT-style application for ninth-grade entry; most have a small but real number of tenth- and eleventh-grade transfer slots each year.
S Tier · 7 schools
- 001LAKESIDE SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING875 students
- 002HOLY NAMES ACADEMY(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING614 students
- 003EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING516 students
- 004THE OVERLAKE SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING557 students
- 005SEATTLE ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING1,081 students
- 006THE BUSH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING703 students
- 007UNIVERSITY PREP(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING613 students
A Tier · 11 schools
- 008EASTSIDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING880 students
- 009THE BEAR CREEK SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING676 students
- 010THE NORTHWEST SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING453 students
- 011SEATTLE PREPARATORY SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING750 students
- 012KING'S SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING1,097 students
- 013BELLEVUE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING918 students
- 014BISHOP BLANCHET HIGH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING750 students
- 015O'DEA HIGH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING500 students
- 016FOREST RIDGE SCHOOL OF THE SACRED HEART(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING316 students
- 017SEATTLE WALDORF SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING278 students
- 018BASIS INDEPENDENT BELLEVUE(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING231 students
B Tier · 5 schools
- 019WOODINVILLE MONTESSORI SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING317 students
- 020WOODINVILLE MONTESSORI SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING312 students
- 021PROVIDENCE CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING288 students
- 022UNITED SEATTLE&BELLEVUE KOREAN SCH BELLEVUE CAMPUS(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING345 students
- 023NORTHWEST YESHIVA HIGH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · KING52 students
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