The Perkins School

Our kids have loved their experience at Perkins! We've been at Perkins for five years now, and regularly make the 30-minute drive (one way) to school because it's such a wonderful place for our kids! Unlike many other independent schools, Perkins places a very high level of importance on building community within the school, and on the social and emotional health of each child. Perkins has a down-to-earth, kind, and loving feel that runs through the faculty, staff, parent community, and the kids. It's such a rare find! In addition to building a strong academic foundation for success, every Perkins student enjoys the experience of being truly known by every teacher, and most of the students know each other. This creates a truly "small town" community feel and one that is overwhelmingly positive! This school does differentiate for ability in the core subjects and also provides enriching "specialist" subjects for a well-rounded overall education. We can't imagine our kids being anywhere else!

Perkins is an amazing school - I simply cannot say enough positive things about my experience after just a few short months! Our daughter is currently a kindergartner at Perkins and, like many others, we considered other private and gifted schools in the Seattle area. We poured a lot of effort into finding the right academic program that was differentiated, fostered a love of learning/curiosity, emphasized social-emotional learning, and created an inclusive community. Perkins delivers on all these fronts, but what tipped the scales in favor of Perkins last year was the community feel and the type of childhood school experience my daughter would have at Perkins. It is the type of school where you drop your kids off in the morning and the Head of School is there to welcome them in, where teachers walk the halls drinking coffee and playing the guitar to wish everyone a beautiful day and quickly check in, and where parents are welcomed to explore the latest and greatest projects covering the walls of the halls and the classrooms. The teachers and administration at Perkins have created a warm, welcoming environment that is filled with joy and celebrates the best of what it means to be a child - to love learning, to be curious, to develop empathy, and to get messy! It takes a lot to get all of those things right and after having parent-teacher conferences in late October, I was blown away by how the school did all that plus got to know our daughter. They summed up her strengths and areas for development - academically and socially/emotionally - to a "T" and it was incredibly clear through all their examples how they've been able to support her accelerated development in reading/math while making sure she's building strong fundamentals and learning how to work well with others to figure out a "math challenge". Our daughter is thriving in every way I hoped that she would and I could not be happier that we followed our gut instinct on what separates Perkins apart from other Seattle area private schools as opposed to making a decision based on brand alone - it's such a special community that I feel our family is so fortunate to be a part of!

Our older son goes to the Perkins School since first grade, and we pulled him out of the Catholic school in our neighborhood because he wasn`t being academically challenged nor encouraged to speak up his mind (we are not religious). Being one of the highly capable children, Perkins is able to meet him at his level and provide more challenges academically and support him emotionally. He loves going to school every day and he likes every teacher there, also he enjoys spending time with all the animals in school quite a bit. When we toured we were very impressed with the science, math, and music teachers, and we appreciate the warmth and passion coming from the head of the school Barry and the admin team.

Perkins is an incredible experience for children and the entire family! It is truly a special community, with an excellent education that inspires the children and ignites their curiosity. My kids come home begging for more school and are sad when it's the weekend or a holiday. Highly recommended!

Perkins is an amazing school! The teachers, administrators, and staff are warm and very invested in the students, as well as having great communication with parents. Our daughter had an incredible experience at Perkins. Highly recommended!