HILLSIDE STUDENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL PROFILE
Hillside Student Community School
5027 159th Place SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
(425) 747-6448 (phone only – no fax)
info@hillsidesc.org
School Information
- Director: Kael Sherrard – Kael@hillsidesc.org
- Assistant Director: Lizeth Gutierrez – lizeth@hillsidesc.org
- Academic Counselor: Rebecca Nick – rebecca@hillsidesc.org
- College Board code: 480697
- Private School, Grades 5 – 12
- Washington State approved since 1969
- College Preparatory Program of Science, Math, Humanities and Arts
- Small classes (3 – 14 students per class)
- 12% of students receive financial aid to ensure socio-economic diversity
- NCAA approved
- Member of Washington Federation of Independent Schools
High School Curriculum
For grades 9 – 11, Hillside offers on site: 3 years of English, 3 years of history, 2 years of laboratory science, 5 years of math (Algebra I through Calculus), 3 years of foreign language (French and Spanish), and 3 years of visual and dramatic arts (along with various electives). Please see Hillside’s website for detailed curriculum outlines.
Hillside oversees students’ coursework in grade 12 as students attend college through Washington State’s Running Start program, in which they take college courses and simultaneously earn high school and college credit for their work. The level of the college coursework open to our students extends throughout the college 200 series, in whatever field interests them.
Honors Recognition
Students receive academic honors in grades 9 – 12 when the level of their work exceeds class expectations for an ‘A’. Each class has a specific rubric for receiving honors recognition.
Honors recognition is communicated by the word ‘Honors’ in the title of the course on the student’s transcript.
Running Start students automatically receive Honors recognition for academic work done at the college level.
Grading and Ranking procedures
Hillside’s grade point averages are not weighted; a 4.0 is the highest GPA possible.
Our students are graded on a 100-point scale, according to the rubric below.
- 94 – 100 A
- 90 – 93 A-
- 87 – 89 B+
- 84 – 86 B
- 80 – 83 B-
- 77 – 79 C+
- 74 – 76 C
- 70 – 73 C-
- 67 – 69 D+
- 64 – 66 D
- 60 – 63 D-
Due to our small size, students are not ranked in relation to their class.
SAT Scores and College Board Merit Recipients
SAT score averages for our graduates for the past two years are below. These averages are based on the best scores each student received in each area (not their projected score range).
Critical Reading: 680
Math: 630
Writing: 650
This group included:
1 National Merit Scholarship winner
1 National Hispanic Scholar
Awards and Distinctions
In 2015 and 2016 Hillside was recognized as one of Washington’s top 10 private schools by Niche.com based on students’ SAT scores, academic rigor of the institutions where students were accepted, and parent and student feedback about our program.
Graduation Requirements
In order to graduate from Hillside, students must fulfill Washington State credit requirements for high school graduation, and create a ‘Junior Project’ in which they research an interest and respond (in a variety of formats) to what they have learned. Our college bound students (approximately 90% of our student body) also fulfill rigorous college and university entrance requirements.
College Attendance History
Depending on the year, 90 – 100% of our graduates go on directly to 4-year colleges and universities.
Hillside’s graduates have been accepted into top tier schools including (but not limited to): Stanford, Pomona, Swarthmore, Harvard, Reed, Oberlin, Hampshire, Bowdoin, Bard, University of Washington, Brandeis, Cornell and Whitman.
Extracurricular opportunities
Hillside clubs provide opportunities to explore subjects and activities outside of the classroom. Many of these clubs are skill based and may be counted as credit towards graduation.
Current club offerings include: Fencing, Fiber Arts Club, Broadway Club, Creative Writer’s Club, Filmmaking and Editing Club, Social Justice Club and Drama Club.
Hillside’s fencing students compete in regional and national competitions. Fencing is the only competitive sport offered at Hillside.
Please contact Lizeth Gutierrez at (425) 747-6448 if you have any specific questions regarding the information above.
