SchoolsPrivate schools › King County

Lakeside School

Private school · Seattle, King County · grades 5-12 · nonsectarian

Snapshot

K-12 enrollment
874
SBE-reported, 2024-25
Tuition (top division)
$52,000
2026-27, school-published
Student-teacher ratio
8.7:1
NCES PSS, 2021-22
Teachers (FTE)
100
NCES PSS, 2021-22

Identity and approval

Campuses
Lakeside School (Middle), 13510 1st Ave NE, Seattle 98125
Lakeside School (Upper), 14050 1st Ave NE, Seattle 98125
Host public district
Shoreline School District
Grades
5-12
Religious affiliation
nonsectarian
Coed / single-sex
coed
Accreditation
NWAIS
Website
https://www.lakesideschool.org
WA SBE approval
2026-27 (state-approved private school)
Profit status
Nonprofit

Enrollment

56789101112
34858584150147147142

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

Tuition and financial aid

Annual tuition
$52,000 (2026-27)
By division / fees
Single rate for grades 5-12; aid covers non-tuition costs (food, books, bus, laptop, trips) for recipients.
Financial aid
2025-26: $10M need-based tuition aid + $600K+ non-tuition aid; ~30% of students receive aid; recipient family incomes $15K to $250K+.

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

Academics

Curriculum
No AP or IB by design (program positioned at/above AP rigor); 135 upper-school courses.
College matriculation
No published matriculation list; 100+ college admission officers visit campus annually.
Notable recent graduates
Corbin Carroll ('19) is an MLB All-Star outfielder and the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year; Paul Rothrock ('17) plays for the Seattle Sounders. (source)
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
33%
Black
10%
Hispanic
4%
White
34%

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

Lakeside School

Independent school in North Seattle · grades 5–12 · 874 students (WA SBE, 2024-25) · nonsectarian coed day school, NWAIS-accredited.

The verdict

You already know the reputation: the hardest admit in the Northwest, the default answer when someone asks for the best private school in Seattle. The reputation is accurate and almost useless for making a decision. Three things the lore omits matter more. Getting in is less a merit contest than a calendar-and-inventory problem. There are three realistic entry grades, 5th (~34 seats), 6th (~51 new seats), and 9th (~66 external seats); every other grade offers zero to two spots, and the school reads exactly one Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) score, the earliest you submit. What $52,000 (2026-27) buys is deliberately illegible. There is no Advanced Placement (AP), no International Baccalaureate (IB), no grade point average, no class rank, and no state test results. You are buying peer density, a college-scale endowment, and a counseling office that translates it all for admissions committees. And the sticker price is a fiction for nearly a third of families, because aid recipients pay $11,722 on average. Families who want a credential-legible transcript, or whose child's grade misses the entry years, should look elsewhere without regret. The funnel is built to say no.

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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