University Prep Seattle: Where Grade 6 and Grade 9 Are the Real Doors

Entry points

Grade 6 and Grade 9 are the real doors

University Prep runs from Grade 6 through Grade 12 in Seattle, but only two grades have open doors planned for newcomers. Grade 6 starts the school, and Grade 9 is the other planned entry point.

Families can apply for Grades 7, 8, 10, 11, or 12, but UPrep explicitly says space is limited in Grades 7–8 and 10–12, and an unranked wait pool may operate when a place becomes available.

There are no midyear transfers. Prior independent evidence supports the pattern, not current seat arithmetic.

NCES counted 102 sixth graders and 113 ninth graders in 2023–24, larger than adjacent grades, but those counts predate UPrep's present scale. Siblings applying to Grade 6 or Grade 9 work on an earlier fall timeline, though the school offers them no guarantee of a seat.

For international applicants, UPrep remains strictly a local day school. A student must live with a legal parent or guardian, speak fluent English, and already hold an appropriate visa.

The school does not sponsor I-20s or provide English language learning, and financial aid is off-limits to international families. Families pay a $100 application fee and must intend to graduate rather than visit for an exchange year.

International applicants follow the domestic process except that the campus visit is waived and UPrep schedules a Zoom interview.

Admissions and calendar

The January 14 deadline and the application file

Applications for 2027–28 become available in September 2026. The application and all supporting materials are due January 14, 2027, after an initial form and nonrefundable fee unlock later tasks.

A complete file brings together writing from both student and parents, past school records, two teacher evaluations, an administrator form, and an on-campus student assessment run by faculty between November and January.

Meeting with a parent or guardian is optional, not an interview, and the admissions committee leaves extra recommendation letters and portfolios out of the folder.

UPrep calls itself test-flexible rather than test-optional. The committee reviews official reading and math scores from the past two academic years, accepting the ERB, MAP, STAR, SBAC, HSPT, ISEE, or SSAT.

Applicants without an eligible test on record must take the ISEE or SSAT. Score delivery takes one to three weeks, leaving little room for a late test date.

The admissions calendar splits by division once applications arrive. Upper School financial aid applications close February 4, 2027, with decisions delivered February 19 and contracts and deposits due February 26.

Middle School aid applications close March 4, 2027, decisions go out March 19, and contracts and deposits are due March 26.

Sibling applicants to Grades 6 and 9 use earlier dates: October 8 initial application, November 7 assessment, November 12 materials, December 17 decision, and January 6 deposit.

The school's website gives conflicting directions on the mechanics. The main application page directs families to Aryval while referencing Ravenna elsewhere, and the sibling page suggests scheduling through either.

On fees, the application lists $60 with waiver code PSIS2026, while the financial aid FAQ posts $65 with code PSIS2027.

Cost and aid

Tuition, financial aid, and the all-in budget

Tuition for 2026–27 is $49,610 in Middle School and $51,120 in Upper School. Rates for Fall 2027 entry will be announced in January 2027.

The tuition sticker price does not cover the full bill. Published extras add $800 to $1,600 for personal technology, $250 to $450 for books, $16 a day for lunch, $2,950 a year for the Custom Bus, and $1,000–$3,850 Global Link travel.

A sixth grader buying lunch, carrying a new laptop, and riding the bus adds several thousand dollars before optional electives like an instrument rental ($55 a month), the Ski Bus ($400), or a semester of Middle School SchoolHacks coaching ($3,100 in 2025–26).

Financial aid is strictly need-based: awards are grants, not merit scholarships. Current school figures report between nearly $5 million and $5.5 million in total aid, supporting about 18% or nearly one-fifth of the student body with grants from $7,180 to more than $51,000.

A student's aid percentage also applies to covered school fees, including technology, books, lunch, transport, trips, retreats, Global Link, and co-curricular events.

Two financial aid policies carry serious weight for families. The admissions committee evaluates applicants independently of need, but if the aid budget runs out for an admissible student, that student goes into the wait pool.

Once enrolled at full tuition, families are expected to remain full-pay unless they experience a significant involuntary financial change. Applications go through Clarity with full tax records, and the school requires disclosures from both custodial parents as well as any spouses or partners.

Daily life

The rotating schedule, intensives, and daily rhythm

A standard school day packs five 60-minute classes into a rotating schedule that concludes at 3 p.m. Community Time brings together advisory, assemblies, clubs, study time, and teacher office hours, followed by a dedicated 60-minute Flex period every three-day rotation.

Middle School students keep phones and smartwatches off and inside backpacks during the school day until 3 p.m. Upper School students place phones in designated locations during classes, workshops, advisory, and assemblies. Watches and earbuds remain away unless a teacher approves their use or an accommodation applies.

Every January, the routine pauses for a three-week intensive. Students focus on a single subject all day, ordinary nightly homework drops away, and learning shifts toward projects, local field trips, and overnight travel.

The 2026–27 catalog notes an upcoming change: beginning in 2027–28, intensives will no longer satisfy graduation requirements, except for LaunchPad.

Grades 7 and 8 use domestic travel during intensives. Global Link offers Grades 10–12 international programs lasting roughly 10–12 days, often with homestays.

Current published estimates range from $1,000 to $3,850, with aid or remission available.

Fine arts are required, and offerings span dance, drama, music, visual art, journalism, and publications; makerspaces add fabrication, robotics, and design before school, after school, and during Community Time.

Athletics cover baseball, basketball, cross-country, soccer, tennis, track, Ultimate, and volleyball, and Middle School adds developmental Puma League basketball and volleyball for students not on travel teams.

UPrep reports that 51% of students and 33% of faculty and staff identify as people of color. A three-person DEIB office supports monthly advisory work, and required LEAD dialogues run five times a year in Upper School and twice a semester in Middle School, alongside affinity groups, heritage events, and Social Justice Week.

Middle School

Middle School: standards-based learning and math pacing

The 2026–27 program requires a standard seven-course Middle School load plus an intensive. Report cards drop traditional letter grades.

Instead, teachers evaluate Middle School work against standards marked E, M, W, and N. Parents track growth through quarterly checklists, detailed narrative evaluations in the first and third quarters, and student-led conferences where children explain their own work.

Math placement is decided after enrollment through an optional assessment. Pathways include Math 6 and accelerated Math 6A, a split that influences how soon they reach Algebra I and what Upper School courses open to them.

UPrep allows no retakes, giving that single placement test genuine significance.

Upper School

Upper School: all-honors coursework and graduation pathways

Ninth graders take a core load of yearlong English 9, Early World History, Biology, mathematics, and world language, alongside a semester of Health and electives. The Upper School designates every course as honors-level and calculates an internal unweighted GPA that caps at 4.0.

UPrep offers neither Advanced Placement nor International Baccalaureate courses. Students may sit AP exams independently, and the school notes that more than 88% of those outside test results score 3 or higher.

Students in Grades 10 through 12 may also take one elective through Global Online Academy (GOA), replacing one of six scheduled classes without fulfilling a subject-area graduation requirement.

Graduating requires 225 credits, 80 hours of community service, and completing senior year on campus. Most Upper School students schedule six regular courses each semester (up to seven), leaving room for one free period.

Support and wellness

Advising, academic support, and counseling limits

Every student belongs to an advisory group of 16–18 students with one or two adults; it meets several times a week, and the advisor stays with the group through the division. Teachers offer office hours during Community Time, study halls, and after school.

For extra academic coaching, Integrated Learning opens every morning for drop-in help and runs 30-minute after-school sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays until 3:30 p.m.

Approved accommodations cannot fundamentally alter the curriculum or reduce graduation requirements. In Middle School, SchoolHacks is a one-semester course that cost $3,100 in 2025–26, with financial aid available.

In Upper School, SchoolHacks is free and noncredit. Drop-in coaching is not scheduled remediation or individualized instruction.

Three school counselors divide up the grades to provide short-term confidential support, consult with faculty, refer to community clinicians, and coordinate with outside therapists. Health curricula cover consent, suicide prevention, and substance use, while faculty and staff complete suicide-prevention training every other year.

Campus and commute

Getting to Wedgwood and the 3 p.m. pickup question

UPrep is in northeast Seattle near routes 372, 65, 62, and 79. Route 79 connects with Roosevelt light rail, while route 372 connects with UW and U District stations.

Washington riders age 18 or younger may use regular transit free with an ORCA card. UPrep also coordinates fee-based Custom Bus service with Lakeside and The Evergreen School.

UPrep warns that routes vary yearly and fill by capacity.

The campus sits in residential Wedgwood, sharing a block with Temple Beth Am. Street parking and curbside loading follow neighborhood rules, and weekend parking can be restricted.

UPrep reports coded or key-card building access, central visitor check-in, staffed arrival and dismissal, and regular drills, and it funded nearly $1 million in sidewalks, ADA ramps, signage, and flashing signals around campus, while adults in safety vests staff a nearby corner during morning arrival and afternoon dismissal.

The regular day ends at 3 p.m., learning-support drop-in ends at 3:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and arts and athletics can run later. UPrep publishes no aftercare program or late bus, so a Grade 6 family needs a written answer for every weekday afternoon.

Campus tours run Tuesdays and Thursdays from October through January, with limited capacity and a request that families visit only once. Because classroom observation visits are reserved strictly for admitted students, applicants should use these tours to inspect hallway transitions, shared space, outdoor access, and how students use Community Time.

UPrep's after-class help, standards ratings and math pathways

UPrep's standards-based grading and all-honors Upper School raise specific questions about help after 3 p.m., ratings and acceleration in math.