2023 Best School Districts in Seattle

• Mercer Island, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.08 out of 5  24 reviews

Senior: Mercer Island is a community that really pushes for progress, whether it's academic or communal. While it's not perfect, the students have an incredible spirit and pride for our school. There's strong student leadership throughout the school. While we are still working toward getting students a bigger voice in our school, students are making a great impact with the influence they have.... Read 24 reviews

• grade A+

• Total schools 6

• Students 4,192

• Bellevue, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.91 out of 5  138 reviews

Junior: Bellevue School district is a great place for academia and extracurricular activities. These include music and the arts as well. There are vast opportunities for students like me to explore, grow and strengthen their interests, leadership and themselves. They also excel in providing technology to students in relation to academics. However, with the loads of activities students have to do in balancing grades and extracurriculars because very stressful. Though it pressures us to learn how to manage our time, it still brings much stress for students and it isn't easy for some of us to manage much of that time with taking care of ourselves at the same time. Regardless of the stress it can cause, it also creates a strong sense of community as many students go through stresses together. Overall, Bellevue school district is a good and wealthy district where there is a great, but not perfect, community.... Read 138 reviews

• grade A+

• Total schools 31

• Students 20,191

• Redmond, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.98 out of 5  86 reviews

Sophomore: Lake Washington School District has very good academics, clubs, activities throughout the school, and makes a good attempt at making sure everyone feels included. The district has a lot of diversity will people for various backgrounds and I feel the district values acceptance of all students. The majority of teachers are great from my experience, however some classes and teachers aren’t great at supporting students and lets students learn individually. I believe the overall district is a great environment with some actions and fixes that need to be improved upon.... Read 86 reviews

• grade A+

• Total schools 57

• Students 30,964

• Shoreline, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.09 out of 5  58 reviews

Junior: The student culture is wonderful and diverse, and there is a large focus on equity and social justice. As a queer person of color I feel comfortable and happy in the social environment that has been established. There are a wide variety of clubs and many, many ways to get involved in the community and gain leadership experience. The courses are fairly rigorous, and while some AP classes are offered the selection is limited and AP classes can only be taken starting sophomore year. The honors courses have been watered down in the name of equity to the point of redundancy. If you want to push yourself, you have to seek opportunities beyond the classroom, because the courses aren't extremely rigorous.... Read 58 reviews

• grade A

• Total schools 18

• Students 9,522

• Seattle, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.76 out of 5  209 reviews

Parent: I thought they managed public schools well. Although the school district is generally diverse, there are pockets within Seattle that differ in ethnicity and income. The school district addressed these differences with greater services in the areas of greater need. For example, the school district has stated that it is committed to providing resources needed for African American Males. The statistics have shown that this group has not fared well in public schools. The school district started the program for African American Male Achievement, a mentoring program which includes guidance from adult African American Males. The mentoring program starts in 7th grade and continues through high school graduation.... Read 209 reviews

• grade A minus

• Total schools 109

• Students 53,973

• Renton, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.68 out of 5  71 reviews

Senior: I really enjoyed my last year at Hazen, this is the first time in my life that I attended public school. I told my parents that they should have sent me to public schools since kindergarten, I like public school much better that private schools, the rules are easier to follow, it’s closer to my home, I get free lunches, I also get free transportation, the school gave a computer to use at home, they also gave a hotspot! Hazen school has great people helping the kids and the parents.... Read 71 reviews

• grade B

• Total schools 30

• Students 15,584

• Burien, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.58 out of 5  93 reviews

Senior: I went Highline Big Picture starting my sophomore year. The moment I started, on my first day of 10th grade, I felt at home. Because Big Picture has small advisory's that stay together until they graduate, it was easy to feel accepted. Teachers made sure that I got to know the students and the faculty from the very beginning. The thing that I appreciate most about the Highline school district is their ability to listen to the students. On numerous occasions, students were asked to participate in major decisions regarding school. I truly felt as though our voices were heard and that they mattered. The only thing that I would like to see change is how students are disciplined, especially when it comes to discrimination and things such as that. I think that there should be harsher punishments as opposed to a simple handshake and letter of apology. If there were real consequences for people's actions, there would be less of an issue when it came to basic respect on campus.... Read 93 reviews

• grade B minus

• Total schools 42

• Students 18,635

• Tukwila, WA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.88 out of 5  16 reviews

Sophomore: I've been in this school district since pre-school, and I must say theres nothing like it. This school district is located in a low-income area which mean that our school is well funded or supported in general by our government, which honestly makes it hard to get some resources. But I am very thankful for the teacher that go out of their way to support their students that are constantly looking for for opportunities for their students. The community here is also amazing and it one of a kid. In this school there is so much diversity it's incredible, i've never seen this much diversity in any other school. Which makes learning here better.... Read 16 reviews

• grade C+

• Total schools 8

• Students 2,712