A small school experience!

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
We firmly believe students learn better with Project-Based Learning. They come to understand content more deeply and holistically, allowing them to better apply the things they learn.

ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING & STEM (STEEM)
Entrepreneurship to us is broader than business ventures; it is an expanded way of thinking and imagining ways of solving problems.

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED CURRICULUM
1 of 4 private schools in Washington State to offer the IB DP program. Our curriculum is internationally recognized and adopted by many of the worlds finest schools. We are an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program World School.

Service Leadership
The community of students and faculty mentors will challenge and support one another while learning, sharing, exploring, and serving together. Service and leadership opportunities will be driven by the individual passions and interests of students. As they take on the responsibility of leadership for their individual service projects, they will be guided by the philosophy of Servant Leadership.

Entrepreneurial Thinking and STEM
While many schools emphasize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM) we believe a fifth discipline, entrepreneurship, needs to be added to leverage the value of theoretical STEM skills. Entrepreneurial thinking skills enable our students to connect their STEM knowledge with real-world problems. The fusion of STEM with the entrepreneurial spirit - understanding and applying the innovative process - will allow Washington Preparatory School graduates to become leaders and influencers in business, education, and the social sector.
Science - Technology - Entrepreneurship - Engineering – Mathematics (STEEM)

Experiential Learning
Our experiential education program provides our students with learning-based experiences that build knowledge, self-confidence, teamwork, leadership, and responsibility. Through activities that extend the academic curriculum beyond the four walls of the classroom, we prepare our students for life beyond our doors.

International and Intercultural Understanding
Our students will cultivate a diverse world-view and appreciation for the world’s peoples and cultures via academic endeavors and personal experiences. Through classrooms, in-home exchange programs, and international travel experiences, students form an international and intercultural understanding that will give them the ability to contribute to our global society.

Academic Excellence
By creating a shared expectation between students and the school to strive for personal growth and academic excellence, we help students become independent thinkers whose curiosity, creativity, and commitment bring life-long success.

IB Mathematics Applications and Interpretations
In our IB Mathematics Interpretations and Applications class, students are not only learning new math concepts, but they are also using these concepts to make instruments and to solve problems they would not have been able to otherwise. The following is a project one of my students completed by constructing and using a clinometer to …

Digital Photography students create parodies of real magazines!
This semester WA Prep was excited to add Digital Photography to the arts course offerings. After practicing their composition and shooting skills they transitioned into using digital editing with Photopea. In their second editing project students used their new skills to create parodies of real magazines with their own images and concepts. After carefully studying the typefaces and …
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Scholastic Arts & Writing Awardee- Sophie Tanaka
Please take a moment to congratulate Sophie this week! Her artwork “Deep Breaths” has been awarded a Silver Key in the Scholastic Arts & Writing competition and will be included in an upcoming exhibition at the Schack Art Center in Everett. Nearly 340,000 works of art and writing were submitted this year, so this is …
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Students discover connections between their learning and the world around them!
Among the most rewarding moments as a teacher are those when students discover connections between their own learning and the world around them. This semester, Washington Prep’s 6th grade ELA class read the novel A Long Walk to Water, a fictionalized account of the real-life experiences of Salva Dut, a South Sudanese refugee. Salva became …
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Students consider the techniques of two inspirational artists for their own designs.
Kara Walker, Exxodus of Confederates from Atlanta from Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) [set of 15 prints], 2005. Offset lithography and silkscreen. 39” x 53’. Edition of 35 Kehinde Wiley, Arms of Nicolaas Ruterius, Bishop of Arras, 2014, Stained Glass, 54” x 36” Two inspiration artists that have been part of our …
Students consider the techniques of two inspirational artists for their own designs. Read More »

In language acquisition, a hypothetical filter is influenced by emotional variables
When I was a student, I dreamed that I could speak English fluently. Because I thought English could help me to open another door to the world. I worked very hard and learned tons of vocabulary and grammar rules. However, after almost 23 years of learning and having been through so many tests, I still …
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The greatest sign of success for a teacher…
by Eunice Bonaparte August is one of my favorite months. Personally, it a month filled with family celebrations, and the last of the fun summer rituals. Professionally, it is when I begin final preparations for the new school year. As long as I gather the books, find and watch the videos, download templates, create the …

Encryption, Decryption, and Matrices
Over the course of my 20 years teaching mathematics, matrices have been in and out of the Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus curriculum. I happen to love working with and teaching matrices, so I was happy to see them back in our Pre-Calculus/Pre-IB curriculum last year. After mastering the processes and problem solving uses of matrices, …

IB Biology at WaPrep
In biology there is a joke we pass around: the more complicated a system is, the more difficult it is to study. Biological systems are the most complicated systems humanity has yet observed, and thusly studying these systems is the most difficult science. This joke is especially fun around physicists and chemists. Yet there is …

Bringing IB into my Teaching Experience
Last academic year (2018-2019) I was fortunate to work as a Spanish teacher in three different schools: our own school Washington Preparatory School in Bothell, Soundview School in Lynnwood, and Cedar River Montessori School in Renton. I will let go of the idea of writing about the most efficient way to drive around the entire Seattle area but rather I will write of how I was introduced to the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB, and yes, the …