The Bear Creek School is a preschool through grade twelve private school in Redmond, Washington. Educating around 840 students, the school is a non-denominational Christian religious school, focusing on college preparation. It was established in 1988. The head of school is Patrick Carruth. As of 2020, school review website Niche ranks The Bear Creek School as the best Christian high school, third best private K-12 school, and seventh best college prep private high schools in Washington state.

Campuses

The Bear Creek School has three campuses in Redmond, Washington. The Main campus houses kindergarten through grade 8. The Upper School houses grades 9-12, and the third, or Valley Campus houses preschool and pre-k.

Academics

In profiles of the school, The Bear Creek School was one of 50 private schools nationwide selected in the 2014 Blue Ribbon School of Excellence and the only school in the State of Washington, public or private, recognized by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The Bear Creek School is accredited by the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities and the Northwest Association of Independent Schools. The school is also a member of the Association of Christian Schools International. Despite being a small school, Bear Creek students have had consistent successes in the National Merit Scholarship competition:

Athletics

The school is a member of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), participating as a member of the Emerald City 1A League and the CrossTown Middle School League. In 2014, The Bear Creek School opted up to the 1A classification. Numerous teams have won academic state titles. Performances of note: Basketball Golf Soccer Tennis Track & Field Other Sports

History

School symbols

The school's original crest displays four symbols surrounding a cross: a book and pen signifying the arts; an atom, the sciences; a winged shoe, athletics; and an honor torch, personal character. Above the crest is the Latin motto of the School, Credo Ut Intelligam, which means, "I believe so that I may understand." A more recently updated crest shows a cross and a path. The cross represents the school's Christian foundation, while the path represents the path of life. The motto, chosen by the founders, is traceable to St. Anselm and St. Augustine before him.

Notable faculty