Washington Preparatory School

Washington Preparatory School is a day and boarding school in Bothell, Washington, offering the IB (International Baccalaureate) and AP (Advanced Placement) programs; its admissions page says it is enrolling grades 3 through 12. The website’s About page gives 2017 as the year the school was established, while the 2025-26 school profile says it was founded in 2018 by two local entrepreneurs and received IB authorization in 2020. The school is also accredited by the National Council for Private School Accreditation and Accreditation International and approved by the Washington State Board of Education. The profile reports 46 students in fall 2025, about half local and half international, with the high school making up 60 percent of enrollment and 16 faculty members. Head of School Mindy J. Watson is the founding head.

Boarding at Washington Preparatory School is mainly for international students. The profile states that in fall 2025 most international students boarded in off-campus housing three blocks from the temporary school building at 1617 183rd St SE. The school’s new three-story building opened in 2026 at 18416 Bothell Everett Hwy, and the building tour offered to visiting families includes the boarding facilities. The tuition page also lists optional boarding for local students, so local students may board as well. The website does not publish the number of boarders, the grade at which boarding begins or weekend arrangements.

Washington Preparatory School describes itself as one of only four private schools in Washington State authorized to offer the IB Diploma Programme, and it also offers a full AP curriculum. The website gives a 5:1 student-faculty ratio. Courses are organized into five divisions: language and literature, humanities, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), arts and physical wellbeing, and electives with college, career and life skills; the profile states that a non-IB diploma requires at least 27 credits and 160 hours of community service. AP courses include AP Calculus AB/BC, AP Biology, AP Computer Science Principles and AP Computer Science A. IB courses cover English, Spanish, Chinese literature and Chinese language, global politics, business management, biology, physics, computer science, sports and health science, mathematics, visual art and music. ESL (English as a Second Language) is offered in grades 9 and 10, and every senior completes a spring internship as a graduation requirement.

The profile states that the school weights GPA by 0.5 points for honors courses and 1 point for IB and AP courses; the average GPA in grades 9 through 12 is 3.55, and the all-time average SAT score is 1276. The school graduated its first two students in 2022-23. Its published 2026 acceptance list includes Cornell University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Washington in Seattle, the University of California, Davis, and Northeastern University; confirmed matriculations are Cornell University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Puget Sound, the Savannah College of Art and Design, Menlo College and Alabama A&M University. At the 2025 Washington State Science & Engineering Fair, students earned three first-place and five third-place awards.

Washington Preparatory School accepts applications on a rolling basis year-round, with no fixed deadline. The process has four steps: submit the application through the online portal; tour the campus or attend an open house, which the school strongly recommends; complete a student and family interview in person, by phone or by video; and receive a decision once all materials are reviewed. Required materials are the application, a parent or guardian statement, a student questionnaire and essay, report cards and transcripts for the current and two previous years, two teacher recommendations, a school administrator form and one standardized test result, from the ITBS (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills), the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam), the SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test), Smarter Balanced or an equivalent test.

The school has scheduled three open houses for fall 2026, on October 10, November 7 and December 12, each from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. with registration on the website. Families can also book a 45 to 60 minute weekday campus tour, which includes a building tour and one-on-one time with the head of school. The website does not publish the application fee or an acceptance rate.

Washington Preparatory School’s tuition page is labeled 2027-28. For local students, tuition is $28,000, academic materials are $850 and optional boarding is $25,000, for a total of $55,385 with boarding. For international students, tuition is $33,000 and boarding is $25,000, plus academic materials of $850, an activity fee of $750 and a $35 yearbook fee, for a total of $59,635 and a $3,000 deposit on signing. The website does not say whether students from California or other states are billed as local or international students, so confirm this before applying. Families supply their student’s laptop.

The school offers the WaPrep Merit Scholarship, and the tuition page states that about 60 percent of applicants receive one. A full-tuition award requires straight A’s in all courses across both semesters, a standardized test score at the 98th percentile or above and an award in a national-level competition; a half-tuition award requires straight A’s across both semesters; a 25 percent award requires at least six A’s and no grade below a B. The school board may consider other scholarships or financial assistance case by case, and the website does not publish rules for need-based aid.

Washington Preparatory School admits on a rolling basis, so Irvine families do not need to plan backward from a January deadline, but it is still sensible to visit and interview in the fall of grade 8 to confirm that a ninth-grade place is available. The school is very small, with 46 students in fall 2025, about half international, and its boarders are mostly international students; a child who hopes to live among many American classmates should weigh this carefully. The website says little about dorm supervision, weekend activities or which grades can board, so ask in person where boarders live, who supervises them at night and on weekends, and how a California student is billed. Bothell is about 1,000 miles from Irvine and in the same Pacific time zone, which makes travel easier than to an East Coast school. The full-tuition scholarship requires a test score at the 98th percentile, so a student aiming for it can prepare for the SSAT or ISEE early. EDUBUS is based in Irvine and works on school selection, SSAT preparation and high school planning.