Where vibrant curiosity meets academic readiness.
A transformative education built on genuine relationships.
Upper School students engage in a rigorous academic program that encourages them to flourish. Small classes mean teachers know students as people and learners. Every Owl has caring adults in their corner, building the kind of foundational relationships that help them thrive. Our curriculum is both intentionally wide and deep, giving students vital skills and knowledge to succeed in college and as engaged members of our global community.
Self-directed learning meets real-world experience.
Every May, seniors step away from campus for three weeks to delve into their Senior Project, giving them a chance to explore something they're truly passionate about in the real world. Students blend disciplines to create an individual project grounded in Overlake’s values and in service of others. They also design their own experience from start to finish in partnership with the Overlake Idea Lab.
Seniors choose an area they care about, find a mentor to work with, and write a proposal outlining their goals and game plan. Once approved by the Senior Projects Coordinator and their advisor, they're off to spend six hours a day, checking in weekly with their chaperones.
This is the culminating piece of the Overlake Education; a capstone representing the high-quality thinking and engagement we ask our graduates to demonstrate. It's a self-guided challenge that asks seniors to take ownership, represent Overlake in the broader community, and learn by getting their hands dirty. At the end of the year, seniors share their findings through a formal presentation to family, faculty, and fellow students, bringing their journey full circle.
Developing well-rounded leaders who ask the hard questions.
Independent studies are student-designed, self-paced courses in which teachers serve as mentors and guides on topics of interest to our students. This opportunity, available only to juniors and seniors, allows them to self-direct their learning in a deeply enriching way, while digging into big topics such as:
- How Political Gerrymandering Shaped Racial Economic Divides Today
- Cancer: Interactions between Social and Biological Components
- Applications and Research of Comp Sci and AI
- Her-story: Feminist Literature
National History Day is a club that I started with the support of Chris Kuipers, a college counselor at Overlake. He helped me revise my National History Day paper throughout the competition process, as well as help from my History and English teachers. Following the competition, I took that paper and I conducted more research with the help and guidance of Overlake teachers and I was able to expand my paper and submit it for publication.
