Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (commonly referred to as Seattle Academy or SAAS) is a coed independent middle and high school located on Seattle, Washington's urban Capitol Hill. The school was founded in 1983.
Seattle Academy has 817 students. Annual tuition is $32,238 for the middle school and $33,840 for the upper school during the 2017â€"2018 school year. The school consists of grades 6â€"12 and describes itself as a preparatory school whose mission is to "prepare students for college and life".
In 2017, the institution broke ground on a $48 million, five-story middle school known as "Cardinal Union", located at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Union Street.
SAAS consists of six main buildings: the Temple building (the school still shares the same building with the Temple De Hirsch-Sinai), which houses the middle school; the Vanderbilt Building, the core of the Upper School; the Arts Center, which houses math and art classes; the Gym, complete with a weight room, multiple exercise machines, and a basketball court (SAAS's gym is one of the largest school-owned gyms in the Seattle area); the STREAM Building, a Gold LEED certified facility dedicated to the Upper School Science curriculum; and the Cardinal Union Building (commonly referred to as CUB), a five-story middle school building set to open in Fall 2018.
Administration
Seattle Academy was founded by Jean Orvis in 1983, who served as head of school until the 2008-2009 school year. Current Head of School Joe Puggelli has had a long and varied career, which includes US Army service,[citation needed] publishing, education, and coaching.
The school has a 21 member board, which consists of current parents, alumni parents and alumni of the school. The current chair is Donna Bellew.
Technology
Seattle Academy has an extensive technology program, which includes full-time tech support staff, a fully wireless campus, and mandatory laptops for all high school students. The middle school has a full computer lab and a number of laptop banks.
The school has converted its former Moodle-based academic software to a customized, Schoology-based education software client.
Student Life
Seattle Academy has many student-run clubs facilitated by faculty members. A sampling include:
- Climbing Club
- Community Service Organization
- Ethics Bowl
- Film Club
- Girls Taking Flight
- Hip Hop Dance Club
- Model United Nations
- Music Production Club
- Paintball Club
- Queer Straight Alliance
- Robotics Club
- The Cardinal
- Youth Legislature
- Zambia Club
Facilities
- Arts Center
The Arts Center, or AC, is one of the six main buildings currently used by Seattle Academy. The building was opened in 2001. The Arts Center holds the high school's arts programs, which include theater, music, studio arts, and photography. It is a requirement for all students to take every arts course at least once.
Art Center facilities include a darkroom, a video production studio, visual art studios, a metallurgy balcony, music classrooms, the 250-seat Orvis Theater, a smaller black box theater, dressing rooms, and a green room.
- Cardinal Union Building
The Cardinal Union Building, or CUB, is a five story middle school building currently under construction at the corner of 13th Avenue and Union Street. When completed in 2018, it will add a second gym, rooftop play field, lunchroom, and common spaces to the existing SAAS campus.
- Gym
The Gym was completed in 2003. This two story building houses a dance studio, a weight-training room, and a regulation basketball court with bleachers, among its other facilities.
- Temple
The Temple Building, which Seattle Academy shares with historical synagogue Temple De Hirsch Sinai, houses the Middle School. In addition, the school will often use the Temple's Sanctuary for all-school meetings.
Upper School students are accustomed to walking to the Temple Building for their foreign language classes.
- Theaters
The Orvis Theater (named for previous head of School Jean Orvis) is Seattle Academy's primary theater and is located in the Arts Center. The theater holds 250 seats and is equipped with advanced sound and lighting technologies. Each year, the Upper School holds three major high school productions: a comedy, a musical, and a drama.
An intimate black box theater is used to perform smaller shows, including Middle School productions.
- Vanderbilt
Acquired in 1998, the Vanderbilt is the second oldest of Seattle Academy's five buildings. The Vanderbilt Building houses Seattle Academy's English, History, and Science departments. The school's library and offices can be found on the second floor.
- STREAM Building
Completed in the summer of 2015, The SAAS STREAM Building is a facility dedicated to the Upper School Science curriculum and project-based integration of Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.
The STREAM building includes 7 purpose-built science lab and studio spaces that have been designed to maximize both space and flexibility to meet current and future course needs. The building also features another important new space for SAAS - a Learning Commons. The Commons are dedicated to student collaboration, study, and research, as well as a place to spend free time and lunch.
- 12th Avenue Annex
SAAS rents space from Capitol Hill Housing's 12th Avenue Arts building two blocks from the main campus. The 12th Avenue Annex houses two multi-purpose classrooms used for various classes such as English, Speech & Debate and Yoga.
- 12th Avenue Conference Room
The 12th Avenue Conference Room is a small facility located between the Vanderbilt and Arts Center buildings. It is a multi-purpose space, commonly used for meetings and classes.
References
External links
- Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences website
