Hillside offers a rigorous, college prep program for grades 9 – 12. In grades 9 – 11 students complete a structured, core academic program on the Hillside campus. In their 12th grade, students enroll in Running Start, a state funded program in which students earn high school and college credit simultaneously through courses taken at community colleges. Students graduate through Hillside with college level courses on their transcripts.

In addition to their community college Running Start coursework, students are invited attend Hillside’s ‘Senior Seminar’, which guides and oversees the process of applying to colleges, and to continue to participate in Hillside’s after-school clubs or fall and spring electives.

The advantages of this program are many. After three years of intensive coursework at Hillside in grades 9 – 11, students are ready to test their wings in a college setting. At the community college our students take courses tailored to their interests that are not available in a regular high school curriculum, from Mandarin Chinese to Linear Algebra. Students realize that the skills they gained at Hillside serve them very well in a 30 student per class college setting and prospective colleges see that the student can succeed in at the college level.

Following this approach, Hillside students have been accepted at top colleges and universities such as Harvard, Oberlin, MIT, Whitman, Reed, University of Chicago, University of Washington Honors Program, Swarthmore, Stanford, Bowdoin, Bard, Hampshire, Columbia, St. John’s, and many others. They have found that the confidence and skills they developed here have contributed to successful and fruitful experiences at such institutions.

Because Hillside’s 8th grade curriculum fulfils Washington State standards for 9th grade, it is possible for students to complete all four years of their high school studies at Hillside. Students who choose this path receive 9th grade credit for their 8th grade courses and continue on through our three-year, on campus, college prep program to graduate in what would normally be their 11th grade year. High school graduation through this means is available for all students who attend Hillside in the 8th grade. However, because students graduate a year earlier than their peers, we generally recommend this path only for a small portion of our students, those who wish to take a break between high school and college to pursue an interest and those who plan on enrolling in a community college directly after graduating from Hillside. We can be flexible about when a student decides to adopt this path. It is helpful, however, to take the PSAT the fall of what is normally the 10th grade year for those students considering this approach. This Alternative Path does not preclude the student’s attending a four-year institution directly after graduation, but, in general, if that is a student’s goal, we recommend the Standard Path.

• New Washington State Requirements for State University Entrance and High School Graduation

  Changes in requirements for entrance into 4-year post-secondary Washington State institutions will go into effect in the summer of 2012. Hillside’s program meets and exceeds the state’s 2012 requirements for state university entrance as well as the prospective graduation requirements. Shown below are the classes offered at Hillside on campus as well as those available through Running Start in the student’s 12th grade.
  Note: ‘One credit’ is equal to 150 hours of high school coursework in a subject or one 5 hour college level class.

  Washington State 2012 Minimum College Academic Distribution Requirements	Hillside’s Program (Unless otherwise noted, each course at Hillside is worth one credit.)
  English: 4 credits	English: up to 6 credits: Ancient Classics Lit and Comp (HSC) / Shakespeare (HSC) / World Literature (HSC) / Running Start English: up to 3 additional credits
  Math: 3 credits	Math: up to 8 credits: Algebra I (HSC) / Geometry (HSC) / Algebra II (HSC) / Pre Calculus and Trigonometry (HSC) / Running Start Math: Calculus and other advanced math courses up to 3 additional credits
  Science: 2 credits	Science: 5 credits: Biology (HSC) / Advanced Algebra-based Physics (HSC) / Running Start: Chemistry and up to 3 additional credits
  Social Studies: 3 credits	Social Studies: up to 6 credits: Western Civilization before 1600 (HSC) / Western Civilization after 1600 (HSC) / US History and Government (HSC) / Running Start: up to 3 credits
  Visual and Dramatic Arts: 1 credit	Visual and Dramatic Arts: up to 5.2 credits: Art (HSC) / Visual Art and/or Dramatic Art Electives (HSC) (possible 1.6 credits) / Running Start: up to 3 credits
  Foreign Language: 2 credits	Foreign Language: up to 6 credits: French or Spanish I (HSC) / French or Spanish II (HSC) / French or Spanish III (HSC) / Running Start: up to 3 credits
  Fitness/Health: 2 credits	Fitness/Health: up to approx 4.5 credits: 0.5 credit grade 9 (HSC) / 0.5 credit grade 10 (HSC) / 0.5 credit grade 11 (HSC) / Running Start: up to 2 credits (credit hours vary per class)

  Occupational Education: 1 credit
  Students currently earn 0.75 of ‘Occupational Education’ credit required for graduation through the core curriculum at HSC in grades 9 – 11. The remaining 0.25 credit is earned senior year, in early September, in Hillside’s fall elective block (Running Start courses do not begin until late September).

  Extracurricular credit
  In addition to credit earned for coursework at Hillside and Running Start, students may also receive credit for extracurricular activities such as sports (including fencing), science and art camps, internships, volunteer work (subject to school approval), and classes and activities available at other state approved schools.

  Examples of outside academic programs for which HSC awards credit include:
  

  • Washington Aerospace Scholars Program through the Museum of Flight (open to juniors with 3.0 or better)
  • Materials Science Camp (apply in February for the summer before junior or senior year)
  • Biotech Expo (register in early October; expo in May)
  • Seattle Pacific University Summer Nursing Camp for High School Students
  • Summer Institute for Mathematics at UW (register by March 1st)
  • Enrichment courses through a community college (any term; must be 16 or older)