- Located in Seattle’s North Capitol Hill neighborhood
- Pre-K through 5th Grade
- 240 students
- Class size: 18 (pre-K-2nd) | 20 (3rd-5th)
- Faculty: 40
- Tuition: $33,930 (2022-23 school year, financial aid available)
- $1M+ in need-based financial aid grants awarded each year
- Students receiving financial aid: 17% (1 in 6 students)
Bertschi at a Glance
Every day we support our students fully in their academic and social emotional development. Our curriculum features comprehensive academics—but it’s how we do it that makes us different. Students work in fluid and varied groups to learn and practice skills at their “just right” level. They also learn by exploring real life situations, engaging in meaningful hands-on activities, and through interdisciplinary, cross-curricular projects.
- Bertschi kids are curious, enthusiastic, cooperative, open to new ideas, and comfortable making transitions.
- Our strong curriculum integrates core academics with art, technology, science, dance, music and drama.
- Our urban campus exhibits our commitment to sustainability and nature with living buildings designed to teach and demonstrate social responsibility.
Explore Our Program
Learn more about our curriculum, teaching practices, and more.
Bertschi School combines challenging core academics with hands-on activities that engage students in interdisciplinary learning. We also believe deeply that social emotional learning goes hand in hand with academic readiness. Our curriculum is made even deeper and richer through our nine outstanding specialist classes. Additionally, every Bertschi student benefits from our Learning Services team, which helps each student reach their potential and address areas of challenge.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Since our founding, we have committed to building a diverse community.
We seek to engage with families, educators, and community partners who bring unique perspectives and experiences that enrich our understanding of each other and the world. The work of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is multi-faceted and ongoing, and is essential to our mission.
Learn more about our intentional curriculum, affinity groups, and our institutional work in DEI>>
Why Choose a Pre-K through 5th Grade School?
Bertschi School specializes in pre-K through 5th grade. Our faculty and staff are particularly skilled at identifying and supporting the unique strengths and opportunities present at each developmental stage during the elementary years. In addition, our head and assistant head of school each have over 30 years of experience working specifically with elementary students; this allows them to make programmatic choices that are steeped with knowledge of this wonderful age group.
While we keep up with current research, we are also deeply aware and protective of what is timeless in childhood. Trying to catch falling leaves, inventing games of tag and working out the rules, celebrating a lost tooth or a double digit birthday, and sitting with a friend in a window well to share stories are all essential moments in a child’s day.
While it’s common to see our fifth graders singing the latest pop song, it’s also common to see them engaging in imaginative play with younger children in our extended day program or enjoying a favorite picture book while eating lunch. There can be a lot of pressure on children to grow up quickly. But, when fifth graders are the oldest students in the school, some of that pressure is removed.
The age range of our school allows for students to grow as leaders and take on leadership roles as they move through the grades. Beginning in third grade, classrooms are paired with younger grade level “buddies.” Buddies provide opportunities for students to learn how to build relationships, find peers across the school, and for older students to coach younger students in strategies for playing and learning together in community. Visitors to our school often comment about the spontaneous kindness and collaboration they see in our classrooms and on our playground between students in different grades.
School leadership opportunities increase as kids grow, and the fifth grade class truly embraces the responsibility of being leaders. Many of our fifth graders serve on our “Green Team,” presenting at all-school meetings and creating action plans for how we can do a better job caring for our campus and the Earth. On our weekly pizza day, fifth grade students help distribute pizza to younger grades, and also chat with students in a way that models social skills and appropriate lunch conversations.
We never cease to be amazed at the development of children. We understand that who a child is today may not be who they are tomorrow, and it is our job as educators to keep open many different pathways for children. Today's athlete may be tomorrow’s artist or mathematician. Bertschi works tirelessly to ensure that by the end of fifth grade students are ready to choose their next academic environment, ready to expand their friendships, and ready to find their next school that matches their developing selves.
Strategic Plan
Curriculum Guide
