Bellevue High School

Academically and athletically, the school speaks for itself. The school culture, however, leaves much to be desired. Though there's always an "in-group" in any school or setting, BHS's is particularly vicious. The same kids who ran the elementary schools in 4/5th grade, are the same kids who ran the middle schools, are the same kids who now run this high school. I've had 3 kids go through this school, 2 of whom were popular and still had problems with bullying, hazing, and the school looking the other way at their problems. The third developed severe anxiety and school aversion within 6 months of entering the school, now much happier being homeschooled. There is a true wolf-pack mentality not only among the students, but among the teachers as well. They seem to side with the "normal" kids and we had stunningly insightful suggestions about our GLBT teen such as, "Have you tried telling him not to flaunt it?" Make no mistake by the test scores and athletic program - a handful of students (and to a lesser extent their PTA moms) run this school. It's a school for the in-group and run by the in-group. My other children will not be going to BHS. We've had enough.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a school for students who will do well anywhere, anyway. If a student is struggling for any reason, the blinders go up and no one seems to notice or care. There is the rare teacher who will attempt to treat students as individuals, but that is the exception and not the norm. The administration is not supportive, creative or present. The counselors are completely out to lunch and not even capable. Remember that a very poor teacher can do damage to the way a student sees himself/herself as a learner and that is not easily undone.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter, a high achiever motivated to go to a good college, thrived in this school. After graduation, she is accepted to the honors program of a nationwide well known university. The level of academics in this school is comparable to college prep private schools found throughout the region. So any student with college aspirations and motivation to work hard will find what they are looking for in this school.
—Submitted by a parent

If you're son is looking for a football experience that no other school on the westcoast can offer, this is the school for him. the football team is one of the top programs in the country and the staff is hands down one of the if not the best in the country. It is loaded with ex-nfl and college players who truly care about the kids. The players learn valuable life lessons through the program, lessons that cannot be taught in the classroom. The coaching staff stresses progress and success in the classroom and will not allow a player to play if they feel he is slacking in school. The basketball teams as well as the lacrosse team are very talented as well.
—Submitted by a parent

Bellevue High has good academics if you take the AP classes, although they do push AP too much on students who are not ready or capable of it. However, if you want to take more than 3 or 4 AP classes, they will try to block you. I also found that the only way to move out of an AP class that I didn't want to take was to move into a different AP class, which reflects badly on their focus on AP classes versus what the students need. The counseling system is very poorly set up. Some counselors just don't care about their students, while those who do care are overwhelmed and slowly pushed under by the sheer number of students hey are responsible for (5 counselors for ~1400 kids). The administration in general is extremely unhelpful, with the exception of the people in the registrar's office.
—Submitted by a student

Serious need of better counselors. Parents need to educate themselves about how to get their kids into college. Don't need an outside coach, just get engaged in the process. My daughter has an IEP and is a 4.0 student. Kids need to advocate for themselves with teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

My son got into Stanford University and MIT from Bellevue high.
—Submitted by a parent

Bellevue is easily one of the best schools in the state. The student population is way more diverse than people say, it's demographics are rapidly changing with its generally upper-class neighborhoods. Academic programs are stellar, the majority of students take and pass AP courses. Obviously it has some great sports programs as well. In recent years other clubs and organizations are becoming involved. The mostly student-run LINK program has made tremendous progress in changing the overall attitude of students at BHS. Overall, Bellevue is an academically challenging school that will prepare your student for whatever they decide to do post-high school. Mike Bacigalupi and several staff members have helped transform this to a stereotypical 'upper class' school into a place where students are safe and learn about the real world.
—Submitted by a parent

BHS is a very excellent high school! caring teachers, great extra curriculars and great student body involvement. Bellevue is easily the best academically and sports wise! One con is that some courses are more advanced than they should be. for example, freshman are learning sophomore math in HIAG 2! Meaning sophomores take 11th grade level math in HIAT 3! What is the point in that when only basic 10th grade math skills for the WASL?
—Submitted by a student

*Counselling is abyssmal. Check out the huge student:counselor ratio.
—Submitted by a parent

Tha academic programs are excellent. My son enjoys taking musical course which merges into curriculum and gives students many chances of participate all kinds of orchestra. ESL (English as second language) teacher is very experienced. If anyone needs ESL class, this is the best one. Generally speaking, parents are highly involved in school activity.
—Submitted by a parent

A strong public school with a wonderful music program. Extracurricular activities could be stronger, as could parental involvment. Also, rather privileged student-body population.
—Submitted by a former student

It's a great public high school! People who have issues with BHS should be supportive with some possible ideas and solutions. Todd Morton
—Submitted by Todd Morton, a parent

Great school. They have a great sports program especially the football program. Parents are normally very involved in the school and academics. High stress on academics and student involvement in the school.
—Submitted by a former student

This school is lead by their Football team. Although the administration hates the fact that 'their' school is known for its football rather than acamdemics. They try to cut out announcments and pep rallies for their football team. The ratio of white to black kids is horrible and doesnt set a standard of what living in the real world is going to be like.
—Submitted by a student

Bellevue High lives up to its reputation of offering top private school education at a public school price. With few exceptions, the faculty is outstanding, very demanding, extremely supportive and flexible, and willing to work with a variety of learning styles, and an outstanding AP curriculum. My son reports there is high respect between students, and a large number of high-achieving students he can befriend. The biggest challenge is poor administrative services - it's time for the principal to focus on the counseling and administrative offices and weed out those who provide poor service to students and families. A survey of parents and students would reveal specifics that would aid that process (we parents compare stories and they are similar!). All in all, I rave about Bellevue High and am pleased I made the decision to live in this neighborhood.
—Submitted by a parent

Bellevue's solution for students with bad grades or discipline problems - send them to Robinswood (BSD's alternative high school). This school cares too much about it's reputation and test scores, and not enough about the individual struggling students. The school needs to be more lenient with students' grades, and also help them out, rather then suggest to and force students to go to the alternative school. Bellevue may be a great school that's well known, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a public school that needs to support all of its students - not just the 'jocks' and high achievers.
—Submitted by Sarah Yu, a parent

The AP teachers are great, but I think regular classes aren't doing as well as they should. However there is pretty good support for students falling behind, and most teachers are available after school. Bellevue has a young staff, a lot of great teachers have left, but a lot are becoming really good teachers. My complaints would include the 2.0 GPA and 40 hours of community service requirements for graduation. I think it's unrealistic to think every student can perform above a C average. And the 40 community service hours are ridiculous - I don't see how this can determine whether a student graduates or not.
—Submitted by Cassandra Yeung, a former student

Bellevue High is a great school. Bellevue excells academically and athletically. It's now the largest school in the district, and more and more students are coming to Bellevue because it's such a great school. I don't think AP is enforced, though it is highly recommended. They realize that not all kids can pull off AP, and have good regular classes. My complaint about Bellevue would be that it seems students leave for the local alternative school if they get low grades. There isn't much support for students with low grades, and switching schools shouldn't be the answer.
—Submitted by David Ishikawa, a parent

As for AP and Honors emphasis, our own children were not natural learners, their class rank was approximately 180-200/300 in their respective classes. However, we challenged them to take the higher level courses and found that with help at home and interaction with the teachers, our children were able to achieve beyond their wildest dreams. Both will graduate with 3.3 or better (one child took only 1 AP and 1 Honors Math class the other child took 3 Honors Math classes, 2 honors science classes and 4 AP classes) and both were accepted to 90% of the universities to which they applied! Oldest student is now a Freshman in College earning a 3.2 average. We believe that had they not attended BHS and participated in the advanced courses, our College Freshman would not be able to handle the demands and workload in college at all. Our BHS senior would not be a candidate to attend UW or the private university he has applied to. We think it's a great school for the money - gosh, it's free - and our kids are going to be well prepared for the hard work that will be required in college.
—Submitted by Linda Igelmund, a parent