Lakeside School (Seattle)
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Lakeside School (abbreviated as Lakeside or LS) is an independent, co-educational day school located in Seattle, Washington. It enrolls approximately 900 students in grades 5 through 12, and is divided into a Middle School (grades 5-8) and an Upper School (grades 9-12).
Founded in 1919, Lakeside has one of the largest endowments among independent schools in the United States, reaching $260 million as of March 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It launched one of the earliest continuously-operating free summer educational programs in 1965 called the Lakeside Educational Enrichment Program (LEEP), designed to promote diversity by enrolling its first Black students of color.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lakeside offers need-based financial aid to students with family incomes under $250,000. Its list of alumni includes Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Greenpeace USA executive director Annie Leonard, American actor Adam West, Major League Baseball athlete Corbin Carroll, and former Washington governor Booth Gardner.
History
The Moran-Lakeside School was established as an independent preparatory school for boys in 1919 by Frank G. Moran on the shores of Lake Washington in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood of Seattle.<ref name="HistoryLink">Template:Cite web</ref> The school was intended to feed students to Moran's other school, the Moran School on nearby Bainbridge Island.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The school was incorporated in 1923 by a group of parents and renamed to Lakeside Day School. It moved a year later to the present site of The Bush School in Washington Park.<ref name="HistoryLink"/>
A site near Northeast 145th Street in northern Seattle was selected in 1929 for a new campus for the Lakeside Day School, which had outgrown the Washington Park campus. Four buildings were constructed, including dormitories for 30 students and a refectory. The campus opened on September 4, 1930; a year later, the school was renamed to the Lakeside School.<ref name="HistoryLink"/> Additional buildings were opened during the 1930s despite low enrollment and mounting debt during the Great Depression; several were later named for students who had died during their World War II military service.<ref name="HistoryLink"/>
Lakeside adopted stricter academic requirements for admissions in the 1950s and launched a zero-fee summer educational program in 1965 with Seattle Public Schools. The first Black students enrolled through the summer program, called the Lakeside Educational Enrichment Program (LEEP). The formal school uniform was abolished in 1969 by a vote of the student body. By 1971, the boarding program at Lakeside had also ceased.<ref name="HistoryLink"/> The school became co-educational in a 1971 merger with St. Nicholas School, a Capitol Hill private girls' school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Initially, the Lakeside campus was used by older students from both schools while the St. Nicholas campus was used by younger students. Three new buildings were constructed at Lakeside to complete the full merger.<ref name="HistoryLink"/>Template:When?
Academics
Lakeside has an average class size of 17 students, and most humanities classes utilize the Harkness method. Classes are graded with a mixture of a standard letter grading system and a 4-point grading system, in which an A is worth 4.3 points and an F is worth 2 points.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school does not offer Advanced Placement nor International Baccalaureate courses, stating that their "academic program is designed by our talented educators for our unique student body".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Students who attend Lakeside are required to take courses in English, mathematics, science, history, foreign languages, physical education, health and human development, and the arts. They must also complete a one-week outdoor program and at least 80 hours of community service. Students may independently study subjects in the form of investigations under the supervision of a faculty member.
Student life
Lakeside has over 80 official clubs. The school's official newspaper is the Tatler, which additionally runs Imago, a literary arts publication. Lakeside has affinity groups for various religious, sexual, racial, and ethnic identities, including BSU (Black Student Union), GLOW (Gay Lesbian Or Whatever, a gay-straight alliance club), LAPS (Lakeside Asian/Pacific Islander Students), MIXED (Multicultural Initiators EXperiencing and Encouraging Diversity), and LATISPA (a support network for Latin American students).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several of its clubs such as its Chess Team participate in extracurricular competitions and events, including Model United Nations, Quiz Bowl, Ethics Bowl, Science Bowl, VEX Robotics, and Science Olympiad.
Athletics
Lakeside's athletic program offers golf, football, soccer, volleyball, crew, wrestling, baseball, basketball, ultimate frisbee, tennis, swimming, diving, cross country, and track and field as well as a strength and conditioning program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In recent years, the boys' swim team won a 3A WIAA state championship in the 2011–2012 season, the 2012–2013 season, and the 2023–2024 season. The 2013-2014 boys' soccer team won the WIAA state championship in the 3A division.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 2014 girls' swim team won the 3A WIAA state championship for the first time in school history, and won the 2015 state championship as well. The 2016 volleyball team won the 3A WIAA state championship for the first time in school history. The 2021 girls' soccer team won the 3A WIAA state championship for the first time since 2003.
Notable alumni
- Wilber Huston (class of 1929), NASA mission director, Edison Scholar.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- David "Ned" Skinner (class of 1937), former owner of Seattle Space Needle and the Seattle Seahawks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Adam West (class of 1946), American film actor, played the original role of Batman in the 1960s TV Series.
- Charles Pigott (class of 1947), chairman and CEO of Paccar 1967–1996.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Booth Gardner (class of 1954), former Governor of Washington state; former chair of the National Governors Association.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Edward Ferry (class of 1959), rower who won a gold medal for the coxed pair at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
- Craig McCaw (class of 1968), founder of McCaw Cellular (now part of AT&T Mobility) and Clearwire Corporation.
- Tor Seidler (class of 1968), author of "A Rat's Tale", "Mean Margaret" and "Gully's Travels".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Frederic Moll (class of 1969), co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, Hansen Medical, Mako Surgical,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Auris Surgical Robots.
- Paul Allen (class of 1971), co-founder of Microsoft and Vulcan Inc.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ric Weiland (class of 1971), computer software pioneer and LGBT philanthropist.
- Hal Foster<ref name="senior thesis">Princeton University senior thesis catalog Template:Webarchive: Foster, Harold. Retrieved November 4, 2011.</ref> (class of 1973) is an American art critic and historian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Bill Gates (class of 1973), co-founder of Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the 13th richest person in the world (2025)
- Maria Eitel (class of 1980), first president of the Nike Foundation.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
- Annie Leonard (class of 1982), executive director of Greenpeace USA.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Adam Selipsky (class of 1984), Former CEO of Amazon Web Services and former Tableau Software CEO.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Alice Crary (class of 1985), philosopher and distinguished professor at The New School for Social Research.
- Christopher Miller (class of 1993), American film director, writer, and producer (How I Met Your Mother, The Lego Movie, and the Jump Street franchise).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Seth Gordon (class of 1994), American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film editor (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Four Christmases, Freakonomics, Horrible Bosses, Undefeated, Identity Thief, Baywatch).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Lauren Selig (class of 1994) Film producer, entrepreneur and investor (Hacksaw Ridge, Lone Survivor, American Made). Daughter of Martin Selig.
- Marjorie Liu (class of 1996), author and comic book writer (Monstress, NYX, X-23, Dark Wolverine, Astonishing X-Men).
- Duncan Atwood, Javelin thrower who qualified for the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.<ref>Template:Cite web
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- Freddie Wong (class of 2004), filmmaker, musician, VFX artist and competitive gamer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Daniel Kan (class of 2005), entrepreneur and founder and COO of Cruise Automation (acquired by General Motors for $1b).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Royce David (class of 2017), multi-platinum music producer.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
- Corbin Carroll (class of 2019), baseball player, 2023 MLB All-Star and NL Rookie of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Kyrell Choi (class of 2023), K-pop idol from Ampers&One
References
External links
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