About Sammamish High School
Sammamish High School is one of four regular 9-12 grade schools in Bellevue School District (Bellevue, WA). The school's mascot is the Totems, and its colors are red, black, and white. The current principal is Laura Bang-Knudsen, with Andrea Pfeifer and
Nyla Fritz serving as Assistant Principals. Previous principal Spencer Welch departed after the 2005-06 school year to become Director of Human Resources for the school district.
Sammamish generally serves students from the east zone of the district, but students from outside its attendance area can enroll at the school through its open enrollment policy. The student body is the most diverse in the district, with more than 35% of the students come from minority backgrounds. Sammamish High's feeder elementary schools are Cherry Crest, Stevenson, Lake Hills, Phantom Lake, and Spiritridge. Its feeder middle schools are Odle and Tillicum.
The school is well known for its magnet programs (Sammamish Visual and Performing Arts Center), solid and challenging Advanced Placement classes, strong career and technical programs, and its unique block schedule (see below). Sammamish was named the Washington state recipient of 2006-07 Siemens Awards of Advanced Placement. This award recognizes the excellence of Sammamish's Advanced Placement instructions and student performances.Sammamish was also recognized as a Community Treasure in 2005, part of the nationally sponsored Neighborhood Matters! program. In addition to citing the school's many community-service contributions, this award recognized the school for "valuing diversity" and for its "warm, inclusive climate."
Sammamish was ranked as #104 in 2007, #190 in 2006, #227 in 2005, and #141 in 2003 out of all the high schools in United States by Newsweek Magazine. The ranking is based on the number of Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate tests taken divided by number of graduating seniors. All other high schools in the district including the 6-12 International School are on the list of the best 1,000 high schools within the US (some argue that the Newsweek index is unfair for various reasons while others point out that Sammamish's lack of an IB program deflates its rating as compared to its neighbor school, Interlake High School).
In 1999 Sammamish High School was 22 seconds away from a Football State championship, losing 42-38 to Prosser High School, finishing as State 3A Runner Up.
