The Clearwater School

1510 196th Street Southeast

Bothell, WA 98012

11 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-12
Type

private

Find Homes for Sale in this School Zone

Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 25, 2025

The Clearwater School is a true testament to the values of diversity, inclusion, and community. Within a year of being there, my 8-year-old son (then six), who had never before felt comfortable in social groups outside his family, began calling this place his second home. He was given the time and space to build relationships with staff and other students at his own pace, always supported but never rushed.Children at Clearwater learn what they are interested in, developing one of the most valuable lifelong skills—how to learn. Through observation and thoughtful discussions with students, staff, and family, my son has deepened his understanding of people, the world around him, and, most importantly, himself.In his two years at Clearwater, he has learned to navigate conflicts through the Justice Committee, advocate for his needs through the democratic process, and appreciate the significance of friendship, culture, and responsibility within a community. And along the way, he has also learned to read, perform arithmetic, estimate probability and statistics, and explore physics through hands-on construction. He loves drawing, music, and the logic of computer programming—all interests that have flourished in an environment where curiosity is nurtured.I am incredibly grateful for the existence of this school and the role it plays in my son's life—and in our family’s life.
Submitted by parent on February 25, 2025

Imagine a school where your child is free to be who they are, constrained only by the desire to build and maintain relationships and to sustain a community that they love. A place where children learn because they see value in the knowledge and skills they seek to acquire. A period of life when they’re free to play but are also constantly challenged to take on new responsibilities as they self-direct their lives. A path at the end of which children are ready to face the uncertainties of their future with self-determination and confidence.Now, stop imagining and enroll your child at The Clearwater School to make this dream a reality.
Submitted by parent on February 24, 2025

Our kids have been at Clearwater for the past six years. We love that they are empowered to be their authentic selves, have time to pursue their interests, learn to advocate for themselves and what is right AND ger to be on a beautiful, large campus that they are working together to restore. The mixed ages were a concern for us at first, but our experience has been that it creates a beautiful caring community that accommodates different ages and abilities. We love the staff (most have been there for over 5 years) and our kids are thriving!
Submitted by parent on September 23, 2023

I really wanted to love this school. I love the concept and general ideas of independence behind how the school is wanting to function, but without realistic rules, it just becomes an environment where bullies thrive and neurodivergent children are left behind.I would also warn that if you are interested and wanting to do the trial period, 1 week might not be sufficient. Once you sign there tuition agreement if you withdraw, you'll lose out on a lot of money. This is called out in the agreement, but I figured I would point it out since they are very strict on this point.The way the current school is structured it works kind of like a daycare only the staff is very hands off. If you want any sort of oversight, this is not the school for your child. The oversight system requires the student to bring the issues formally to the staff. This is important to note since it is something that neurodivergent (especially autistic kids) can struggle with.This led to my child having multiple incidents within a short period of time including:* An older child hitting my kid multiple times with a hard pillow (not for fun, but out of anger)* An older child also bullied another kid for being autistic* Older kids consistently talk inappropriately including sexual conversations, swearing, and various slurs.* A student also exposed themselves to my kid and when my child asked them to stop and tried to leave the area they chased them* When this was brought to the staffs attention by my child they had a sit down with my kid and the kid that exposed themselves. The kid who exposed themselves ended up walking away from the meeting.* We (the parents) were NOT contacted about the above issue and had to learn about it through our child.I was initially very excited about this school even though family members had reservations about my child going to a school that is structured in the way Clearwater is (no teachers, no classrooms, independence in learning). I still believe this structure can be very beneficial to kids, but the staff at this school do not seem to have good ideas on how to handle conflicts and the current ideas in place support bullying rather than victims. There is also a severe lack of transparency to the parents when issues arise, which I found especially troubling.I ended up being out a lot of money (a fifth of the whole years tuition cost), but even though it was an expensive lesson, I know I made the right choice.
Submitted by parent on August 31, 2022

My kids love this school! It was hard at first to trust the process since there is no grades or classes but it works. There is true learning happening.
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2022

Our family has been attending Clearwater for the past 7 years. Because the model is completely divergent from the public school model, I had my concerns. But these concerns have all been alleviated after watching my children grow into themselves with the support of the Clearwater staff and community. They’ve each become entrepreneurs, leaders, friends, active community members, and mentors. What’s more, they’ve developed their own inner-drive that has lead to them being ever-curious knowledge seekers. They’ve tackled large difficult subjects and learned how to have hard conversations with people they care about. I’m confident that all of these skills will make them into happy and successful adults who will be able to tackle whatever obstacles come their way. Thanks Clearwater!
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2021

This is not a school. The "staff" are completely unconcerned with student safety and their education. Rampant drug use and vaping is common. Student are unsupervised at all times.
Submitted by parent on November 02, 2018

My kids we're in public and hated it and it was difficult to get them to do assignments. This school is different. I consider it an extensive social education. Here my kids are free, happy, and they get along with each other much better. My kids say there are no bullies here. It always amazes me when a Clearwater student talks to me as an equal. Coming from a boring, strict public education where I was extensively bullied for all of it I want nothing more but to have my kids benefit from the Clearwater community.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2018

clearwater has been cooper’s school home since he was 4 & a half {he’ll be 10 in just a couple of weeks!}. i’m grateful beyond measure that this little gem is family & heart & community to us.
Submitted by parent on February 25, 2016

My son is 5, and is in his second year at Clearwater. He is happy. I’d done a lot of reading starting with “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength”, “Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined”, and “Free to Learn” by Peter Gray. From there I started digging into Sudbury Valley School and democratic schooling. I read a number of the Sudbury books, watched a lot of You Tube about different Sudbury schools, and watched the BBC movie about Summer Hill School.I repeat that my son is happy. He goes to school and plays. He learned that being among the youngest and smallest at the school equated being treated with equal respect as everyone else there. He learned that he could stand up for himself and be heard. He requests that we change rules at home, because that’s something that is done at school. I’ve seen him say comforting words to a ten year old who was describing some conflict he was having. I’ve seen older kids check in with him because he was having a hard time. It’s part of the culture at the school and it makes me feel good about the atmosphere that he spends his day in.My son is learning to respect himself and others through the practice of managing himself in the context of a broader community that has as its core the rule that “no one may infringe upon the rights of others”. I want him to discover that part of himself that is going to carry him through his life and make him successful, as he defines that success.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2013

My 10-year-old girl and 13-year-old son LOVE going to Clearwater. Clearwater is very non-school-like, which I love. It's always been my approach to let them turn into the people they want to become on their own timeframe, in their own way--just like they learned to talk and walk. This is how Clearwater works. Kids do what they're drawn to, hang out with who they want to, eat whenever they want. The amazing thing is how smart they become, even without organized classes or curriculum. And how responsible, too--because with so much freedom, responsibility is definitely a big part of their days.