Guide for New Families

Ask Yourself Why Newport?
We focus on why—on our purpose and on helping students find theirs. We use lessons in knowledge and skills to teach our students 

• to gather quality information;
• to process information using the best from a variety of tools;
• to collaborate creatively to make decisions and solve problems;
• to understand and believe in their choices.

Our Why?
Teach our students the mental, physical, and psychological skills to continually learn and adapt in a rapidly changing and increasingly diverse world.

Your student’s Why? 
Newport can help your students find their purpose. Through experience and exploration inside and outside the classroom, students find the subject that, with fascination, will drive them through education to a career they will pursue with vigor and success.

Why Does Purpose Matter?

Why catalyzes critical thinking by pinpointing what to accomplish.  Knowing why focuses activity onto impact.

A purpose lowers stress by eliminating what keeps us busy without making impact.

Clear purpose alters daily pressures. Instead of fear-based stress, we experience healthy challenge-stress—enduring the discomfort to achieve something that matters. Challenge-stress prompts body chemistry and thought patterns that allow us to perform our best mentally and physically.

We design opportunities for our Knights—academics & extracurriculars—to answer their needs throughout the four years so that they move from adolescents to independent adults who have the skills to thrive while they succeed.

Habits of Success

• Intellectual: Learn, Think, Do, Assess, Repeat 
• Emotional: Self-Knowledge, Self-Management & Self-Agency 
• Involvement : Activity that matters in preparing for the future & caring for self
• Relationships: Support & mentoring plus learning teamwork, communication, problem-solving
• Course Selection: Actively plan exploration, depth, breadth, rigor, growth
• Plan College as a step to a Career that Suits You:  College for Career,  Technical College,  Job Entry,  Gap Year,  etc.

Activity that Matters

We offer more than 75 afterschool clubs and 28 teams because these opportunities are proven laboratories where students learn teamwork, problem-solving, communication, and the perseverance to persist in adversity.

Students experience real-world consequences with the support to independently resolve them. 

Athletics

We create athletic programs that draw all our students in, not only the athletically gifted and competitive.

Encouraging students to explore all the avenues to pursue physical well-being prepares them for a lifetime of health and vigor through games & conditioning.

Newport offers more science courses than any other Bellevue high school,. They include University of Washington credit courses and a variety of other dual-credit courses (i.e., credits toward high school graduation along with credits at accredited colleges for the same course).

In all core subjects, we guide students to pursue two dimensions:

• Breadth:  taking a variety of subjects and courses to find a passion that can fuel further learning and a rewarding career;
• Depth:  finding a fascinating subject and developing deep understanding in the classroom and through individual pursuits.

Visit Classrooms through video:

• Science
• Math
• English
• Social Studies

We offer Chinese Dual Language studies and the International Spanish Academy along with multiple levels of Chinese, French, and Spanish courses.

All include exploration of culture, literature, cuisines and other aspects of life for native speakers of these languages.

MUSIC:  Along with visiual arts, music plays a vital role in the well-being of students as well as building career skills, including teamwork and problem solving. We offer music for beginner through virtuoso; solo performance through marching band & orchestra; and instruments as well as voice. 

Watch Our Video

Choir at the Mariners

DRAMA & THEATER TECH:  Newport offers opportunities for students to perform and to learn the technical side of theater, including set construction, lighting, sound, costuming, and more. In fall 2025 we expect to open a Black Box Theater.

Theater Performances are open to the Public.

Learn about events & purchase tickets here.

VISUAL ARTS:  Studies in the arts build skills essential in any career and they bring the joys of discovery and creation that help keep our students healthy. Students can transfer the problem-solving and creativity skills they learn in the arts to any career that requires considering the materials at hand and how they might be employed.

Hear from our Artists who Teach
 

Newport offers AP computer programming and Cisco certification, which prepares students to step immediately into  $80,000/year networking careers.

Cisco includes assembly of computers and a spring trip to Antiqua where students build computer labs and networks in island schools.  

In 2024 we opened specially designed spaces for servers, assembly, and instruction, including two computer labs. 

Our Culinary program offers beginner through advanced courses where students compete nationally.

The students routinely cater events and leave Newport prepared to persue hospitality careers or continue to cooking schools or to related university degrees.  

We nurture a love of cooking safely and efficiently but with a creative flair that builds a lifelong passion for those headed to culinary careers and those who want to eat well.

Students in our Teaching Academy study child development and education theory and techniques.  They also experience teaching in classrooms around our district.

Hear from Our Academy Leader

Newport offers multi-year progressive programs in modern technologies and techniques for communication:

Digital Media, which includes our Newport Television program, helps students master audio & video. Every year, our Knights bring home top prizes from Pacific Northwest Film Competitions and from the high school Emmy Awards.  

LEARN MORE

Photography courses, including an Advanced Placement (AP) class, teach the artistry and the technology of creating digital photographic images.

Yearbook teaches students the publishing skills (e.g., fonts, design, printing, content development, etc.) and the business and management skills for a $125,000 annual project.  In an environment designed to teach problem solving, collaboration, management, and leadership, students oversee every aspect of creating and selling their annual book.  

LEARN MORE

We guide our students with academic & college counselors that build pathways for those aiming for college, technical careers, immediate employment or personal explorations after graduation.  

We also develop their abilities to protect their mental health through courses and building specific self-management and coping skills.

Our College & Career Center offers all the resources you would find in private college-prep services.

Newport welcomes students and families to our community in several ways.

Incoming Ninth Grade families enjoy an August Picnic each year where they meet other families and ask questions among our staff.  

On the first day of school, our Ninth Graders arrive two hours early to continue their orientation with Link Crew. This quiet morning follows several opportunities our freshmen have to work with Link Crew, an upper-grade mentor with a small group of their peers who learn together about Newport and how to thrive here. 

Link Crew is one of several Leadership courses older students can take at Newport. 

For students who join Newport after ninth grade, we have a similar program that pairs new students with an established student for information and support.

Outreach to families continues throughout the years with events and information to help students grow into independence and to help families learn proven methods to support teens. Our PTSA provides an annual grant to staff a part-time Family Engagement Coordinator who works to build services and to strengthen our community.

Each year, Bellevue School District revises a single course catalog for all middle and high schools. 

In each course description, you will find the locations where the course is offered. 

Look for Newport to see the specific courses offered at Newport. 

Bellevue Schools uses student choice to determine the courses offered each year. In February and March, students select first and alternate choice classes from the catalog. The staff builds the fall schedule and hires staff for the courses students selected in sufficient numbers to fill the class (about two dozen students each). 

Our Counseling Team guides each student to ensure that the teens include the courses necessary to progress to graduation. They also see that students include courses necessary to move toward their goals (i.e., college admission, professional certifications, etc.). 

BSD Course Catalog