Room to explore

Situated on 3.4 acres, Clearwater’s buildings, play yard, and surrounding meadows and woodlands are transected by North Creek. Five buildings contain kitchen, music room, art room, theater, computer room, office, library, quiet areas, an active room, and many spaces for lounging, conversing, reading or gathering in groups.

Outside the buildings, there are covered and uncovered play areas—but most importantly, there’s room for students to roam, watch salmon in the creek, build forts from storm castoffs, or otherwise explore nature.

A rainbow shines over the trees at Clearwater.

Students play on the playground, running on the woodchips or sitting on tires embedded in the ground.

The Clearwater playground and play structures covered in a light layer of snow.

A young student stands on a play structure, framed by leafy branches.

The entrance to campus. A sign proclaims "2017 Fall Festival" and there are festive decorations on the buildings.

A young student watches a spider held in the cup of their hand.

Three students sit or stand on a large tire embedded in the ground.

Large group of students on an outside structure, crowded around two students who are playing a hand-clapping game.

Two students playing on a Foursquare court.

Two young students playing in puddles in a blocked off section of the parking lot.

Five stumps and three very large tires embedded in the ground, surrounded by plants and trees.

Clearwater playground during a light snowfall.

Campus Accessibility

Clearwater strives to ensure that students who wish to pursue self-directed education at our school are able to do so with as few barriers as possible. See our FAQ for details on different aspects of accessibility. Our campus contains older buildings and uneven terrain that can be physically challenging to navigate. We want to address the aspects of our school that may be barriers and will work with your family individually to improve accessibility for your family at Clearwater. For more information contact us here.

Image of a young white student with medium length blond hair wearing a mermaid design face mask, a pink mermaid shirt, and black pants holding a piece of chalk in one hand and their foot up with the other. The bottom of their foot is covered in chalk

Commitment to Sustainability

The Clearwater School holds a strong commitment to contribute to a more sustainable environment. We’ve taken on several major restorations to our acreage funded in part by Snohomish County environmental initiatives. In the fall of 2011, we completed a major creek and habitat restoration project funded by Snohomish County, Salmon Recovery Funding Board and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The stretch of North Creek at the school and across the street at Clearwater Commons—together known as the Clearwater Reach—is now reshaped, restored and replanted to promote salmon habitat and minimize flooding.

We installed a solar panel demonstration project in the winter of 2010 funded by Snohomish County PUD’s Planet Power program through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. In the summer of 2009, we installed a rain garden along our playground that was partially funded by Snohomish County and Snohomish Conservation District.

Several Clearwater families collectively purchased the 7.5 acres directly to the north of the school campus and founded the Clearwater Commons, an intentional, low-impact development. A total of 16 units will be constructed using low-impact building practices. The friendly relationship between the school and the Commons make for many shared opportunities.

Our Campus

Room to explore

Campus Accessibility

Commitment to Sustainability