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The Bush School

Private school · Seattle, King County · grades K-12 · nonsectarian

Snapshot

K-12 enrollment
735
SBE-reported, 2024-25
Tuition (top division)
$47,700
2025-26, school-published
Student-teacher ratio
10.4:1
NCES PSS, 2021-22
Teachers (FTE)
67
NCES PSS, 2021-22

Identity and approval

Campus
The Bush School, 3400 E Harrison St, Seattle 98112
Host public district
Seattle School District
Grades
K-12
Religious affiliation
nonsectarian
Coed / single-sex
coed
Accreditation
NWAIS
Website
https://www.bush.edu
WA SBE approval
2026-27 (state-approved private school)
Profit status
Nonprofit

Enrollment

K123456789101112
36393636384071646779777478

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25 school year, as reported to the WA State Board of Education.

Tuition and financial aid

Annual tuition
$47,700 (2025-26)
By division / fees
Lower (K-5) $39,190; Middle (6-8) $45,580; Upper (9-12) $47,700.
Financial aid
$5.6M need-based aid annually; 22% of students receive aid; average award $33,081.

Source: the school's own tuition page · aid page, observed 2026-07-03. Tuition changes annually, verify before applying.

Academics

Curriculum
Experiential 'learning by doing' K-12 program; AP course offerings not stated on site.
College matriculation
Publishes class matriculation news posts; ~150 colleges visit annually.
Washington private schools are not required to publish state assessment results, and this school's internal test data is not public. Unlike the public-school pages on this site, no score comparison is possible here, treat curriculum labels and matriculation lists as the available evidence.

Student demographics

Asian
12%
Black
7%
Hispanic
3%
White
58%

NCES Private School Universe Survey, 2021-22 (the most recent federal collection). Private-school demographics are reported biennially and lag public-school data.

Competition evidence

Known results compiled from public competition listings (National Merit press lists, tournament PDFs, The Blue Alliance). A missing result is not evidence of absence.

Research dossier

The Bush School

Independent school in Seattle's Madison Park neighborhood · K–12 · 735 students (WA SBE, 2024-25) · nonsectarian coed day school, progressive/experiential model, NWAIS-accredited

The verdict

Bush is the century-old progressive counterweight to Seattle's credential-driven private tier: no Advanced Placement (AP), no International Baccalaureate (IB), no uniform, a second campus in the Methow Valley for outdoor immersives, and a straight-faced institutional argument that "learning by doing" beats teaching to the College Board. The question a family has to settle isn't whether the school is serious. A $107 million balance sheet, a 2026 state Ethics Bowl title, a 1A golf championship, and four 2026 National Merit Semifinalists say it is. The question is whether you're comfortable paying $47,700 in Upper School tuition (2025-26) for rigor the school deliberately declines to prove with standardized yardsticks. Two timing facts matter as much as philosophy. Admission is effectively an entry-grade lottery: kindergarten, 6th, and 9th are the doors, and every other grade offers zero to four attrition seats. And anyone enrolling for 2026-27 walks into an active construction zone, because the new Center Campus building doesn't open until fall 2027 and food service is displaced in the meantime. Self-directed kids who need room to build things thrive here. Families who want tracked classes, visible rankings, and test-prep scaffolding are shopping at the wrong store.

Researched 2026-07-04. Citations and claim ledger included in the full dossier.

That is the free excerpt. The full dossier covers what the school's own marketing won't: admissions mechanics and real selectivity, all-in cost and aid behavior, matriculation depth, culture and fit signals, institutional health, every claim cited and dated. Unlock it for $9, or get a $29 Research Pass with 3 dossiers included.

The real comparison is against your public options.

Tuition here runs five figures a year, the question is what it buys over the public schools your address already gives you. A $29 Research Pass unlocks score trends, peer percentiles, competition evidence, gifted-pathway detail, and PTA capacity on every public school in the region, plus 3 full research dossiers for the schools on your shortlist.

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Sources

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