University Prep (known as UPrep, formerly University Preparatory Academy) is a

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co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, United States. As of 2023, school review website Niche ranks University Prep as the fifth best private high school, fourth best college prep private high school, and seventh best high school for

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

in Washington state. The mascot is the Puma, with a current student paid to wear the suit for sports games, open houses, and other school events.

History

University Prep was founded in 1976 by a small group of

Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest Public school (government funded), public school district in the state of Washington (state), Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Par ...

teachers dedicated to providing the best possible education to a heterogeneous student body. From 2002 to 2014, the head of school of University Prep was Erica L. Hamlin. From 2014 to 2019, the head of school was Matt Levinson. The temporary head of school for the 2019–2020 school year was Lila Lohr. The current head of school Veronica Codrington-Cazeau began to serve as head on school on July 1, 2020.

Curriculum

The school year is organized into two semesters and four quarters, and students are expected to carry a minimum of five classes each semester. School hours are 8:25 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. for Upper School and 8:15 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. for Middle School, after which athletics, activities, and after-school programs begin. In addition to academic classes, the day includes electives,

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

, supervised study, and free periods for Upper School students. The school transitioned from a

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education software client to a Schoology-based learning management system. In Middle School, all students have personal Chromebooks. In Upper School, students may choose either a

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computer. In most cases, students are given the option to complete an assignment digitally or on paper. All classes, excluding Physical Education and fine arts classes, are honors level.

Sports

University Prep competes at the 1A state classification level for sports. The 2010–2011 school year marked the change of the old sports system. Before that academic year, the Upper School had the same athletics program as the Middle School with the exception of having tennis. Boys soccer was moved to the spring season to bring a more competitive level of play for the teams and various other reasons. To counter the absence of boys soccer in the fall, boys tennis was added to the fall athletics season.

Campus

UPrep's campus has four main buildings: the three-story classroom and administrative building (including a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, cafeteria, science classrooms, and meeting spaces), a classroom building, a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium, the

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

center (part of the classroom and administrative building), which features a proscenium theater known as Founder's Hall as well as art and practice rooms, and the ULab which is home to an assortment of classes, a wellness center, as well as a makerspace, equipped with drones, VR headsets, 3D printers and more. The adjacent Dahl Playfield is used for sports and other activities.

Notable alumni

* Sam Cho, politician and entrepreneur *

Justin Kan Justin Kan (born July 16, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of live video platforms Justin.tv and Twitch, as well as the mobile social video application Socialcam. He was also the co-founder and fo ...

, internet entrepreneur and investor *

Benjamin Mako Hill Benjamin Mako Hill is a free software activist, hacker, author, and professor. He is a contributor and free software developer as part of the Debian and Ubuntu projects as well as the co-author of three technical manuals on the subject, ''Debia ...

, technologist and author * Katherine Reynolds, professional soccer player * Emi Meyer, jazz pianist and singer-songwriter * Rob Johnson, politician * Jackson Ragen, professional soccer player

References

External links

* {{authority control Wedgwood, Seattle Schools in Seattle High schools in King County, Washington Preparatory schools in Washington (state) Private middle schools in Washington (state) Private high schools in Washington (state) Educational institutions established in 1976 1976 establishments in Washington (state)