Best Private Schools in Olympia
Olympia's private-school field is small, geographically tight, and shaped by two strong pulls — the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle's long-standing parish-school network in Thurston County, and the progressive-pedagogy tradition that grew up around The Evergreen State College after the campus opened in the early 1970s. The market is overwhelmingly elementary; secondary independent options are limited to two small recently founded schools. Lacey, not Olympia proper, hosts most of the top-enrolled schools, reflecting the post-1990 residential growth around Hawks Prairie and the parish-geography choices the Archdiocese made when it added schools in eastern Thurston County.
St. Michael School, founded 1881 by the Sisters of Charity of Providence as part of Mother Joseph's broader Pacific Northwest mission, is the oldest private school in Thurston County and the area's largest Catholic elementary. Holy Family School in Lacey is the secondary parish K-8 anchor, attached to the Holy Family parish. The two together account for the bulk of regional Catholic K-8 enrollment. The Catholic secondary option is Pope John Paul II High School in Lacey, founded 2010 and still small at roughly 100 students. Before JPII opened, families seeking Catholic secondary education commuted to Bellarmine in Tacoma or O'Dea in Seattle, and many still do.
The progressive-pedagogy cohort reflects the cultural footprint Evergreen brought to the region. Olympia Waldorf School operates one of the longer-established Waldorf programs in WA, and Nova School runs a small student-centered progressive elementary. Both draw from the same demographic that supports Evergreen, the Olympia Film Society, and the city's working-artist community.
The non-Catholic Christian field is led by Northwest Christian Schools in Lacey, which operates both Northwest Christian Academy (K-8) and Northwest Christian High School as the area's largest non-Catholic Christian K-12 pipeline. Faith Lutheran in Lacey adds a smaller LCMS Lutheran option. The Lacey concentration of leading schools — eight of the top ten by enrollment sit in Lacey rather than Olympia proper — reflects both the parish-geography decisions of the Archdiocese and the residential pull of Joint Base Lewis-McChord families who settle east of the capital.
Ranked schools
- 001ST MICHAEL SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 002NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN ACADEMY(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 003EVERGREEN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 004HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 005FAITH LUTHERAN SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 006FAITH LUTHERAN SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 007POPE JOHN PAUL II HIGH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 008OLYMPIA WALDORF SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 009NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 010NOVA SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 011THE PARAMOUNT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 012PARAMOUNT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 013SUNRISE BEACH SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 014OLYMPIA COMMUNITY SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 015OLYMPIA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 016TEMPLE BAPTIST ACADEMY(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
- 017CAPITAL MONTESSORI SCHOOL(PRIVATE SCHOOL — INDEPENDENT) · THURSTON—
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