Global Learning Community
Our Global Learning Community
We are the only boarding program in Seattle that offers a unique experience that is unmatched at other local independent schools. Attend class with students from all over the world. And enjoy a range of opportunities to travel and study abroad.
At Northwest, global learning is deeply integrated into everyday school life. And 80% of our students have participated in an international experience by the time they graduate!
From Ethiopia to Spain to Taiwan, these unmatched international experiences help prepare you for a diverse and interconnected world.
The Costa Rica trip stands out as an opportunity to experience global culture - this experience changed me and it was an incredible opportunity to grow as a person. That’s what makes Northwest amazing - these incredible opportunities.
Learn Alongside International Students
Our diverse campus provides unique and authentic opportunities for students to learn about themselves and our deeply connected global world. Classrooms are filled with students from different cultural, historical, and linguistic backgrounds, which helps build empathy and appreciation for diverse perspectives.
Curriculum Integration
Our commitment to developing self-aware global citizens extends into the curriculum at every grade level. This helps students develop important cross-cultural skills, cultural sensitivity, and cross-cultural competence.
Study Abroad Program
Cultural immersion cultivates a global perspective through deeper appreciation of diverse cultures, their histories, and languages. Every year, our Upper School students have the opportunity to participate in exciting study abroad exchange programs with our partner schools in Spain, France, and Taiwan. This includes a full trimester living with a host family as an exchange student. In return, their international classmates later visit Seattle and spend a trimester attending classes at Northwest!
International Trips
Enjoy two-week long immersive experiences to test your language fluency, experience local cultures, and study regional histories. Every year, students have the opportunity to participate in one of our many international trips (about 3 - 4 option available each year). Recent examples include a Spanish language immersion trip to our partner school in Spain, Cambodia, Morocco, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Tokyo, and more!
International Partner Schools
AHSNCCU cultivates freedom to explore in the world of learning, autonomy for self-initiated learning, creativity that goes beyond boundaries, and energy that adds excitement to life. Ranked as a top high school in Taipei, AHSNCCU focuses on life beyond the classroom, encouraging students to engage in volunteer work, social care, and international exchange programs.
Our partner school in Spain is a pre-school-pre-university independent school, providing education for approximately 500 students. The education focuses on three key areas: grammar, mathematics and English. Students also take science, history, society and geography classes, which are balanced with a wide range of extra-curricular activities to promote emotional balance.
Dajing High School is a three-year comprehensive secondary school in downtown Shanghai. Founded in 1962, the school is one of the first municipal senior high schools in Shanghai. Dajing High School has approximately 900 students and strives to foster independent thought and strong social responsibility.
Lebawi, founded in 2013, is a not-for-profit serving students in grades 9-12. Ellen Taussig, a Northwest School founder, played a pivotal role in its launch. Students largely come from undeserved urban and rural areas. The Lebawi experience is followed with an intense ELL (English Language Learning) training program, an unique summer school program, exploring geopolitics, Model UN, African studies, theatre, and intercultural studies.
Our French partner school is a small high school offering general and technical secondary education to 500 students, including students attending technical and vocational training. Northwest and Lycée Emmanual Mounier share an exchange program, with French students spending a part of the fall in Seattle, and Northwest students spending a part of the spring in Angers.
Rodwell Learning Center is a well-established secondary college-exam preparatory institution situated in the heart of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Founded in 2012 by a former Northwest School teacher, Rodwell caters to between 375 and 400 students each year, in grades 9 to 12. Rodwell’s academic curriculum emphasizes mathematics and the sciences and is a rigorous program that prepares students for college entrance exams and future career success.
“Whether it’s communicating across language barriers, trying new foods, or just adjusting to a different culture, all of us have tried new things and because of that, I think we’ll be better people for it!”
During lunch, we talked about the foods in Cambodia, how they go to school every day, and what they eat regularly.
My host family welcomed me with open arms and taught me so many new words (a lot of cognates). The language immersion element truly does work.