Middle College is an alternative high school, administered by the Seattle Public School District. It is open to all high school students, 16 and older, who are looking for an educational option to prepare for college and complete their high school graduation requirements in a small school setting.
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The first Middle College High School opened in New York in the 1970s. Seattle Central Community College, led by SU College of Education alumnae Dr. Julie Hungar, opened the first MCHS site in Seattle in 1991 (it has been housed at Northgate Mall for the past 11 years). South Seattle Community College opened a MCHS site in 1996 (housed at High Point Center Neighborhood House), and the University of Washington followed in 1998. In 2001, the American Indian Heritage Program joined Middle College High School (located at Wilson Pacific Center). www.mchslic.com.
Learn more about the Seattle Public Schools Middle College.
A maximum of 50 high school students are enrolled annually (this includes on campus and distance learners). Students must be between ages 16-20 and have a minimum of 10 credits earned at a previous high school, usually a comprehensive high school in Seattle Public Schools. Students residing in the Seattle University Youth Initiative catchment area are recruited.
Yes. A special focus is placed on outreach and recruitment of youth living in the Seattle University Youth Initiative neighborhood.
Students in MCHS have the option of taking community college, college-level courses free of charge through Running Start. These courses can transfer as credit to any institution of higher learning.
Having upper-level high school students on campus provides unique learning opportunities for colleges and departments across campus. There are opportunities for research and bridging theory and practice, allowing SU students to apply learning immediately to a classroom of high school students. Please contact Dr. Charisse Cowan-Pitre for information on how to connect the students in your college with MCHS.
Middle College partners with institutions of higher education to give their students the opportunity to experience a college campus so they can be inspired to think about college and careers. Providing social justice and education to underserved students is a shared vision between SU and MCHS.
The Seattle University College of Education's mission to prepare leaders and teachers to work toward social justice in schools makes the partnership a perfect fit. Teacher candidates, students in the School Counseling, School Psychology and Curriculum and Instruction programs are just a few who will be able to put into practice what they’ve learned in their classrooms in Loyola Hall into Middle College classrooms on the first floor.
SU's partnership objectives: