Hamlin Robinson is the only Washington school exclusively serving students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences — a niche that puts it in a category of one within the state. Founded in 1983 by the Slingerland Institute for Literacy and the Robinson family, it is named for the institute's first board chair. The school enrolls about 400 students in grades 1-8, with class sizes averaging 13 to 15 on the North Beacon Hill campus.
Every teacher is trained in the Slingerland approach, a multisensory method developed by Renton educator Beth Slingerland that emphasizes systematic instruction in sound-letter relationships. The school is one of the few in the United States dedicated to this learning community, which makes peer comparisons unusual: locally, families often weigh Hamlin Robinson against The Hyla School (Bainbridge Island, learning-differences) or Seneca Academy (Bellevue, gifted plus learning differences), but the dyslexia-specific focus differentiates it from both. HRS is accredited by the Northwest Association of Independent Schools and NAIS, and ranks within the top 20 percent of WA private schools per Niche.
The school moved to its permanent North Beacon Hill home in 2015, with a dedicated middle-school building added in 2022. The HRS Learning Center on the same campus opened a community library in 2024 and runs the Early Screening Program, which offers free literacy screenings in English and Spanish to King County students in grades 2-5 — a public-facing extension of the school's mission.
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