The Overlake School

The Overlake School is a private, non-sectarian, co-ed, college preparatory school located in Redmond, Washington, USA. It serves 531 students in grades 5 through 12.^[1] The school was founded in 1967 by Charlie Clarke. The current head of school is Matthew P. Horvat.

Academics

Overlake offers honors tracks in science, math, English and history. Most students take more than one of the fourteen Advanced Placement courses offered in their junior and senior years. Students can study Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese and Latin from sixth grade onward; at least three years of one language are required to graduate. Students are also given the opportunity to travel to a native country of the language they are studying during Project Week. Overlake offers humanities electives, including "Race and Ethnicity", "Comparative Religion", "The Age of Genocide", "Constitutional Issues". Other electives span the sciences, including computer science.

The student-teacher ratio at Overlake is nine to one and the average class size is thirteen.^[1]

Athletics

Overlake has strong ultimate, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, basketball, baseball, volleyball, cross country, and golf teams. During the 1999-2003 period the team accrued three league MVPs and fifteen cumulative first team all-league recognitions. The boy's golf team won the league championships in 2005 and in 2006 as well as the state championship in 2006. The boy's tennis team won state in both singles and doubles. Overlake competes in the Emerald City 1A League.

• In 2009, the Overlake boys soccer team went undefeated and placed second in the state tournament. They proceeded to go undefeated in the league in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and, in 2012, they won the state championship.
• In 2009 and 2010, the girls soccer team advanced to the state finals.
• In 2008 the boys lacrosse team won the Division II State Championship.
• In 1999, the girls lacrosse team won the State Championship, while the boys won the title in 2009. The girls were second in 2011.

Performing arts

The theater department at The Overlake School has grown substantially since the addition of The Fulton Performing Arts Center in 2002. Since then, the school has put on two to three performances per year. In 2005 the school became host for the August portion of the Seattle Chamber Music Society's summer festival of chamber music.^[2]

Beginning in 2007, the school began to submit their theatre productions to the 5th Avenue Theatre High School Musical Awards program, in which it has received many nominations and awards.

The Fulton Performing Arts Center also houses the school's choir groups, orchestra, concert band, and jazz band. Conducted by Mr. Steve Mraz, the jazz band travels locally to competitions, gigs, and workshops.

Project Week

Every year in April, Overlake offers a week of co-curricular educational projects to the students. This is known is Project Week.^[3] In the past, the projects offered have been as diverse as a cooking class in Seattle, a forensic science project based on CSI, a choir trip to Italy, home rebuilding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, dog sledding in Montana, and international language exchange trips to Spain, France, Italy, Japan, and China. Many students feel that Project Week is an essential part of the Overlake experience.

Location

The original campus was located at the Redwood Manor by Marymoor Park. It was soon relocated to the basement of the Eastside YMCA. In 1972, Dean Palmer moved the school to its current location in Redmond.

The campus was originally a farm, and Overlake retrofitted a barn to facilitate its needs with the help of students. Overlake currently occupies 75 acres (0.30 km²). In addition to the main school buildings, the school's property also includes the headmaster's home, a parent center (formerly a neighbor's property), several athletic fields, and a ropes course.

In 2008 the Outdoor Wise Learning Spaces (OWLS) were created as a way to take advantage of the campus's expansive undeveloped acreage. But rather than clearing and developing those spaces, OWLS uses the property's signature rural nature for new outdoor learning spaces.The installations include an outdoor classroom, a fitness course, and a student art gallery; a weather station providing real-time readings online; and a 2.5-mile system of five trails, varying in length and difficulty, each including interpretive signs and trail marker posts.

Limited parking is available near the school itself; therefore, sophomores and juniors are required to park in auxiliary lots. The humanities building was recently reconstructed and opened for classes in the spring of 2009. The Technology/Language Center was rebuilt and finished completion in the summer of 2011. The Fifth and Sixth Grade Center was the final building to be redone and was also completed in 2011.

Global service programs

In 2002, members of the Overlake community raised the funds to construct an elementary school in rural Pailin, Cambodia.^[4] This school serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Beginning in 2003 and continuing every other year, the school has sent groups of fifteen to twenty students to Pailin to teach classes and connect with students. The participants in these trips have installed computers and internet on the campus and constructed a playground.

The Overlake School has also sent students on service trips to Ghana and Uruguay, and to play baseball and participate in community service in the Dominican Republic.

Notable alumni

• Carrie Brownstein ('92), singer/guitarist for band Sleater-Kinney, singer/guitarist for now-defunct Wild Flag, and co-star of IFC sketch series Portlandia
• Jay Stamper ('90), Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in South Carolina

Notes and references

External links

• Overlake School homepage
• Overlake Alumni Association homepage
• The Overlake School Cambodia Project homepage

Coordinates: 47°41′38″N 122°04′13″W / 47.6938°N 122.0702°W / 47.6938; -122.0702