Annie Wright Schools: One IB Continuum, Three Very Different Ways to Live It

School structure

One campus, coordinate high schools

Annie Wright runs two distinct educational structures on one campus in Tacoma's North End. From Preschool through Grade 8, classrooms are entirely coed.

In Grade 9, the Upper School splits into separate academic programs for girls and boys, though students still share the campus, dining hall, traditions, arts, residential spaces, and many after-school activities.

The whole school enrolls about 900 students, with an average class size of 17 and a 6.5:1 student-teacher ratio. The school day is phone-free, uniforms are required, and Upper School students need dress uniform as well.

Kindergarten, Grade 6, and Grade 9 mark division transitions, and the school says boarders make up roughly half of Upper School students, which shapes the social life day students join.

Academics and rhythm

The IB continuum and daily rhythm

Academics follow the International Baccalaureate from start to finish: the Primary Years Programme in Lower School, the Middle Years Programme across eight subject groups in Middle School, and IB coursework for all students in Grades 11 and 12. One-to-one laptops arrive in Grade 6.

In the final two years, families choose how deep into the IB to go. Students can tackle the full IB Diploma, register for individual IB courses, or complete an Annie Wright diploma without IB candidacy.

The school reports that about half of Upper School students attempt the full IB Diploma and that its average Diploma pass rate is 88%, compared with a cited global benchmark of 78.5%.

For 2026–27, Upper School begins at 9:00 a.m. The school's example dorm schedule is more revealing for boarders. Academics run roughly 9:00 to 3:15 while the dorm is closed.

Opt-in (s)Electives run from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., followed by arts and athletics access from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. A day student who participates fully can stay on campus through 6:30 p.m. before heading home for dinner and evening work.

Residential life

Five-day and seven-day boarding

Boarding is built directly into the main school building, which has 132 beds for students in Grades 9–12 and eight full-time dorm parents. The school reports 33 five-day and 99 seven-day boarders, organized into eight dorm groups of 16 to 17 students under a dorm parent and one or two senior prefects.

Bedrooms sit just steps from morning classrooms, the dining hall, the library, and athletic facilities.

Families choose between two routines. Five-day boarders arrive Sunday evening, take meals through Friday lunch, and return home for weekends, with an invitation to stay on campus for one weekend each month.

Seven-day boarders live on campus full time, with organized weekend trips for shopping, skiing, hiking, and movies, plus scheduled local transport on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.

One enrollment boundary is firm: students attending on an F-1 visa or holding a green card may enroll only as seven-day boarders. Once in the dorm, all boarders share the same evening rhythm.

Mandatory Wednesday Dorm Night runs from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. for chores, meetings, and residential curriculum, while evening study hall claims 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Each week a dorm parent meets one-on-one with a different student in the group and then updates that student's parent, so the rotation, not the calendar, decides when your child's turn comes.

The public family guide sets a few firm rules. All medicines, including over-the-counter products and vitamins, must be approved by the nurse.

Prohibited items can lead to discipline, residential faculty may search rooms at any time, and volunteers, like employees, undergo background checks.

Break travel takes advance coordination. The school provides transportation to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and local bus and train stations only on designated travel days.

Residential staff require submitted travel forms before each departure. Dorm opening and closing dates sit behind the myAW login, so do not book flights until you have that calendar.

Support and wellness

Learning support, counseling, and health

Learning support provides accommodations rather than curriculum modifications. Accommodations include extended time, quiet testing rooms, assistive technology, audiobooks, and scribing or dictation in Middle School.

Students work toward self-advocacy, and services depend on available school resources.

Health and wellness staffing includes two registered nurses, an onsite dorm counselor for boarders, and Upper School counselors offering individual, group, and crisis check-ins. Middle School reserves one daily 50-minute appointment with Olympic Psychology for community referrals.

Long-term medical and mental health needs are referred to outside providers such as Olympic Health Services.

If your child relies on accommodations, bring your evaluations to admissions early. IB accommodations are a separate item: the school can support a child in class without having authority to approve every accommodation on an external IB assessment.

Ask which accommodations the school grants internally, which require IB approval, and when that paperwork begins.

Activities and commute

Arts, athletics, and the commute

Arts facilities center on a 350-seat theater, a recording studio, a textile lab, and dedicated music and visual arts studios, supported by 13 year-round specialists. In Upper School, orchestra can gather before classes, and Varsity Arts runs as a ten-week after-school commitment.

Athletics operates on a no-cut philosophy in the WIAA 1A Nisqually League, though sports offerings differ between programs. Girls play soccer in the fall while boys play in the spring; girls have volleyball and swimming, while boys list football.

Sports access shares the 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. afternoon block with arts.

The campus sits at 827 North Tacoma Avenue in Tacoma's North End, roughly 45 minutes south of Seattle and 30 minutes from the airport in off-peak traffic. For 2026–27, the school bus charges $3,300 for unlimited round trips or $1,650 one-way, with a 50% sibling discount.

Punch cards cost $180 for 10 rides, $450 for 25, and $875 for 50. Bus seats are first-come, first-served, and local connections link through Pierce Transit, Sound Transit, and Sounder rail at Tacoma Dome.

Cost and aid

Tuition, aid, and the all-in budget

For 2026–27, day tuition is $31,265 in Kindergarten–Grade 5, $35,725 in Grades 6–8, and $37,520 in Grades 9–12. Five-day boarding totals $57,225 ($37,520 tuition plus a $19,705 boarding fee), while seven-day boarding totals $81,085 ($37,520 tuition plus a $43,565 boarding fee).

Tuition covers more than just classes. K–5 includes before-school care and overnight trips in Grades 4 and 5.

Middle School tuition includes a school laptop, activity-day care, and class Journeys to destinations such as San Francisco (three nights in Grade 6) and Costa Rica (six nights in Grade 8). Upper School tuition includes the Grade 9 retreat and Grade 10 Expeditions.

Additional costs sit outside tuition: textbooks ($100 for K, $310 for Middle, $465 for Upper School), uniforms ($110–$260), day-student lunch (averaging about $69 monthly for Grades 3–12), school bus ($3,300), and a required TI-84 calculator.

The live site also lists a one-time Upper School technology package at $1,600 and international insurance at $950 under 2025–26 labels.

Need-based financial aid assists more than 40% of families, with awards from $1,000 to full Tacoma Scholars funding. Clarity applications cost $65 and are due January 23, 2027.

Aid is budget-dependent: an academically admissible student may be placed in a financial-aid waitpool if aid funds run out. Awards arrive with the acceptance package in February and must be renewed every year; divorced, separated, or never-married parents are generally both required to file, as are spouses.

Merit awards include up to four Grade 9 Paddock Scholarships covering half of remaining day tuition after aid, Jenkins boarding awards ($5,000–$25,000), Bates international boarding awards ($5,000–$30,000), and Tacoma Scholars (four full Grade 9 scholarships annually—two boys, two girls).

One Lower School contract choice comes with fine print: families entering K–3 can choose Preferred Admissions for priority through Grade 5, but leaving before that commitment ends generally creates an obligation equal to 50% of the current year's tuition.

• K–5 day tuition: $31,265; includes before-school care and core overnight trips.
• Grades 6–8 day tuition: $35,725; includes laptops, activity-day aftercare, and class Journeys.
• Grades 9–12 day tuition: $37,520; includes retreat, Expeditions, and after-school activity access.
• Grades 9–12 five-day boarding: $57,225; includes Sunday dinner through Friday lunch and dorm programming.
• Grades 9–12 seven-day boarding: $81,085; includes seven-day meals and weekend activities.

Admissions and entry

Applying for Fall 2027

The essential deadline for Fall 2027 entry is January 23, 2027. Both the completed application file and new-family Clarity financial-aid applications must be submitted by this date.

International candidates have an optional early deadline of December 15, 2026 (decisions January 15, 2027); regular decisions arrive in late February.

Requirements differ by entry grade. Kindergarten applicants ($80 fee) must turn five by August 31 and attend a February group play session.

Grade 6 candidates spend a day on campus with a student host, interview, complete a 20-minute handwritten writing sample, and take i-Ready math and reading tests.

Grade 9 day and domestic boarding applicants ($100 fee) complete an interview, submit math and English recommendations, take i-Ready or SSAT assessments, and spend a full visit day on campus (with an optional overnight for domestic boarders).

International applicants submit through Annie Wright ($100) or SAO ($150), with published TOEFL guidance giving 'considered' and 'competitive' figures of 60/70 for Grade 9, 70/90 for Grade 10, 80/100 for Grade 11, and 90/100 for Grade 12 as reference points rather than admission guarantees.

An I-20 file also needs a passport and financial documentation; the page's approximate $85,000 bank-statement figure is still labeled 2026–27, so ask for the Fall 2027 amount. The Middle School does not issue F-1 visas, and the FAQ warns that entering in Grade 11 or 12 can limit or prevent completion of the full Diploma.

The school's own pages disagree on two details: how many years of records Middle and Upper applicants need, and whether Grade 6 needs one classroom-teacher recommendation or separate math and English ones. Follow the portal checklist for your child and have admissions settle any difference by email.

Waitpools are unranked. If an opening appears, the admissions committee reviews the entire pool rather than calling down a numbered list.

The FAQ says a waitpool offer may require a signed contract within one week.

• One critical deadline: January 23, 2027 for both admission files and Clarity financial aid.
• Age cutoff: Kindergarten applicants must turn five by August 31.
• Waitpool offers can require a signed contract within one week.

Annie Wright's IB, dorm nights and the late-day block

Annie Wright combines an IB continuum with day, five-day and seven-day versions of school life, so ask about the version your child would live.