University Prep
| University Prep | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Main entrance in August 2015 | |
| Address | |
|
8000 25th Avenue NE Seattle, Washington 98115-4600 United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private (independent) middle school and high school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | unaffiliated |
| Established | 1976 |
| Head of School | Matt Levinson[1] |
| Grades | 6-12 |
| Enrollment | 533 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 9:1 |
| Color(s) | Blue and Green |
| Athletics |
Soccer Cross Country Volleyball Ultimate Basketball Baseball Softball Track and Field Tennis |
| Mascot | Puma |
| Newspaper | The Puma Press |
| Website |
www |
University Prep, formerly known as University Preparatory Academy and now popularly known as U Prep, is an independent, coeducational middle and high school located in the Wedgwood neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The campus sits just across the street from Dahl Playfield and is adjacent to the Picardo Farm, the original P-Patch (community garden area).
Approximately 530 students attend University Prep.[2] The Upper School, which includes grades nine through twelve, enrolls about 320 students, and the Middle School, which includes grades six through eight, has about 210 students. Academic classes average sixteen students, and there is a student-to-faculty ratio of nine-to-one.
History
University Prep was founded in 1976 by a small group of Seattle Public School 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. The current head of school is Matt Levinson.[3]
Campus
University Prep's campus has four main buildings: the three-story classroom and administrative building (including a library, cafeteria, and meeting spaces), a classroom building, a gymnasium, and the fine arts center, which features a state-of-the-art proscenium theater known as Founder's Hall as well as art and practice rooms. The adjacent Dahl Playfield is used for sports and other activities.
Curriculum
The school year is organized into two semesters, and students are expected to carry a minimum of five classes each semester.[4] School hours are 8 a.m. to 2:50 p.m., after which athletics, activities, and after-school programs begin. In addition to academic classes, the day includes electives, physical education, supervised study, and free periods for Upper School students. The school transitioned from a Moodle education software client to a Schoology-based learning management system.
Mission Statement
The school's mission is as follows
| “ | University Prep is committed to developing each student's potential to become an intellectually courageous, socially responsible citizen of the world. | ” |
Some ways in which the school pursues this mission include providing a wide variety of intellectually stimulating classes, such as biotechnology and art history, encouraging community service, and immersing students in other cultures with its annual exchange program, Global Link.
Sports
University Prep competes at the 1A state classification level for sports. The Middle School sports program offers girls volleyball, soccer and cross country in the fall, basketball in the winter, and boys baseball, girls softball, track and field and ultimate frisbee in the spring. The Upper School also offers the same sports as the Middle School, but with the exception of flag football, girls soccer and boys ultimate frisbee in the fall, and boys soccer and boys and girls tennis in the spring. The 2010-2011 school year marked the change of the old sports system. Before that academic year, University Prep's Upper School had the same athletics program as its 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 and boys ultimate frisbee were added to the fall athletics season. Recently University Prep's most successful teams have been boys ultimate and girls soccer. Boys ultimate has finished 2nd in state in the two years since its creation while girls soccer has most recently finished third in state. Seventy-seven percent of the school participates in school's athletic program.
Notable alumni
- Justin Kan (founder of Kiko and Justin.tv and Twitch and Socialcam and a partner at Y Combinator)
- Benjamin Mako Hill (technologist and author)
- Katherine Reynolds (defender for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League)
- Emi Meyer (recording artist)
- Rob Johnson (member of the Seattle City Council)[5]
References
External links
Coordinates: 47°41′16″N 122°18′00″W / 47.687879°N 122.300004°W