The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in Science. The lowest is 84% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on International Community School
International Community School sits in Kirkland, a compact, dense suburb on Lake Washington east of Seattle. The school is an alternative school within the Lake Washington School District, serving grades six through twelve. It is a small school, with a total enrollment roughly in line with that grade band. The student body is predominantly Asian, with a sizable white population and smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races or as Hispanic. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch is very low.
Academically, the school posts strong results on state assessments. In math, proficiency rates across tested grades are far above the state average. In English language arts, the same pattern holds: the sixth and eighth grade results are very high, and the seventh-grade result was suppressed in the available data, likely because the tested group was too small for reporting. On the eighth-grade science assessment, proficiency is similarly elevated. When compared against all districts in King County, International Community School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile. These are genuinely strong outcomes and represent a clear strength of the school.
Because the school serves middle and high school grades, state testing data is available only for the grades that are assessed. The school posted results for the 2024-25 school year; the multi-year trend data shows only a single year, so no trend direction can be assessed. The four-year graduation rate was not available in the data, so a parent wanting to understand how students fare through to graduation would need to ask the school directly for that number.
The school’s website was not included in the available data, and no program offerings were listed. As an alternative school, International Community School likely has a specific academic focus or instructional approach, but the available data does not describe what that is. A parent considering this school would want to understand its mission and how its curriculum or structure differs from a traditional middle and high school program.
The district, Lake Washington School District, is the public school system serving the majority of Kirkland. The search for recent district changes such as referendums, boundary shifts, or curriculum updates did not yield specific findings, so none are reported here.
Kirkland itself has seen substantial growth in recent decades, with its population roughly doubling through annexation and development. Downtown and the Moss Bay neighborhood have added thousands of condominiums and apartments since the 1990s, and the Cross Kirkland Corridor rail-trail crosses the city. Major employers include EvergreenHealth, Google, and the school district itself. Housing values in the area are well above national medians, and rents are correspondingly high. The housing market has shown some softening in listing prices recently, but the area remains expensive.
For a family weighing options, International Community School offers a small-school setting with very strong academic performance on state tests, housed within a high-cost, growing suburban community. The lack of publicly available detail on the school’s specific alternative program model means that fit will depend on what that model turns out to be and whether it matches a student’s learning style and interests. A parent should also investigate the high school portion’s graduation rate and course pathways directly.
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