14004 17th Avenue NE
Seattle, WA 98125

We were happy to send our daughter to a racially and economically diverse school (the next nearest high school is anything but), and the teachers are really great. They create a culture of acceptance and inclusion. The only unfortunate issue that the school does actually have control over is that the front desk and administrative staff that help students and parents are...not nice. At all. They don't seem to be happy with their jobs and are unable to just reach the bare-minimum of friendly.

Olympic Hills is a real hidden gem, with fantastic teachers and leadership, and a diverse, caring community. Since the newly renovated building reopened in 2017, the now larger school has been able to offer music, art, and technology classes. It has a huge and beautiful library and extras like a science classroom, garden, and even a pottery kiln that we are still growing into using. The PTA is small but strong and works very well in a supportive relationship to the school leadership. There is now a Spanish-speaking parents' council as well, and bilingual instructional assistants in a number of languages. All three years we have attended so far, we've just felt that the whole school is just...nice. And that is such a breath of fresh air these days.With the focus being on literacy across the curriculum and promoting the wellbeing and learning of at-risk or disadvantaged students, students who qualify for advanced learning are a little bit on their own when it comes to enrichment, but there is an advanced math group that meets once a week, and the teachers are generally very receptive to additional assignments or work you'd like your child to do. For my son, the focus on social-emotional learning in a diverse setting, as well as the strong instruction in health/PE, art, literacy, etc. has been great. For now, we think this is more important than being pushed/accelerated in math, science, coding, geography, etc. Because this school preserves his curiosity and love of learning and teaches strong reading skills, he's able to learn a lot of that at home or through library books. There is a Boys and Girls Club for on-site after school care, which we all love as well.

We had high hopes and had heard great things prior to 2019 from other families. The school has changed drastically since then due to SPS policies, so any review that pre-dates 2019 is no longer accurate. After having two students attend this school, we decided to leave the district. Academically, the school has very low standards. I don’t think they read a single book in 8th grade English class or wrote a single essay. Many students have no respect for the teachers, and the teachers are too young and inexperienced to do anything about it, or they are hobbled by anti-discipline, pro-inclusion policies that give teachers few tools for addressing disruptive behavior. There are a few teachers at the school that are wonderful, especially in the science department, but I found the constant gaslighting and dishonesty from leadership to be exhausting. Now that we have spent a year in another public middle school, where there is honest communication and where the staff really do want to see students to be challenged and to reach their full potential, I realize just how terrible and toxic this school really is!! I think the difference is largely policy/leadership driven (not demographically driven).