Seabury School is an

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

for

gifted children Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average and is also known as high potential. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to per ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. Founded in 1989, Seabury is the only independent school in the South Puget Sound marketed towards intellectually advanced children. Seabury is a member of the

Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools The Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) is a nonprofit membership association that provides accreditation, professional development and support services to over 110 elementary, middle, and secondary independent schools in Alaska, ...

(PNAIS)PNAIS
/ref> and the

Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...

(NASC).Seabury School
/ref> Seabury serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grades on two campuses: pre-k to fifth in Northeast Tacoma (Browns Point), and six to eighth in downtown Tacoma. For the 2024-2025 school year, the middle school was relocated to the lower school campus for financial reasons, although the school still owns the building.

History

In 1988, Barbara Field and Lee Woodworth Fisher founded the school with grades kindergarten through second and with plans for inclusion through grade six. After accumulating used furniture, materials and books, Field and Fisher rented a commercially zoned building on 51st Street NE near

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in t ...

in Northeast Tacoma. In September 1989, Seabury School opened with eighteen students, two teachers and parent volunteer aides. By September 1990, Seabury had 38 students, a director, three teachers, three aides, a set of bylaws and an ever-expanding set of policies. In 1992, the school was accepted as a candidate member of the

. In the fall of 1993, enrollment had expanded so Seabury offered a full academic program of classes for students in preschool through grade six, including French language instruction. In 2009, Seabury opened a middle school for gifted students in grades 6-8 in downtown Tacoma. Seabury buses its students between the sites.Fisher, Lee. "History of Seabury." Dec. 10, 2009Field, Barbara. "Seabury History." Nov. 17, 2010

Lower School

Seabury's Lower School is located in its original location in Northeast Tacoma, and houses pre-kindergarten through fifth grades. The campus has expanded to include administrative offices, a Media Center and library and expanded outdoor play space. In fall 2010, the Early Learning Center at Seabury School changed from a preschool and kindergarten program to a 4-year-old pre-kindergarten and kindergarten program.

Middle school

Seabury's Middle School opened in September 2009, and was located in Tacoma's downtown Theatre District. The middle school houses sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The Seabury Middle School program features an

integrated curriculum Integrative learning is a learning theory describing a movement toward integrated lessons helping students make connections across curricula. This higher education concept is distinct from the elementary and high school "integrated curriculum" mo ...

and is designed so that students make the city their classroom.Jensen, Clare. "Book Smarts to Street Smarts." Tacoma Weekly, Nov. 11, 2009.
/ref> Students take physical education classes at the downtown Tacoma

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, do research at the

Tacoma Public Library The Tacoma Public Library system serves residents of Tacoma, Washington. It operates eight library branches, which include a central library in downtown Tacoma, two regional locations in north and south Tacoma, and five neighborhood branch locat ...

, visit the Tacoma Farmers Market and eat lunch at local delis and cafés. The school was housed in the Pythian Temple downtown. As of the 2024-2025 school year, the middle school students have been relocated to the lower school campus.

References

External links

Seabury School Website

Seabury Middle School Website
{{Coord, 47, 18, 18, N, 122, 25, 23, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-WA Schools in Tacoma, Washington Private elementary schools in Washington (state) Private middle schools in Washington (state) Educational institutions established in 1989 1989 establishments in Washington (state)