About Us

Why Northwest Academy

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Our Urban Campus

Northwest Academy’s downtown campus is enhanced by close proximity to cultural institutions, colleges, and even the assortment of food carts where many of our high school students gather at lunch. Being part of a thriving city allows teachers to expand classroom instruction with field trips to museum exhibits, lectures and films, and theater and musical performances. Our students quickly become savvy downtown citizens, and they also become quite expert at using Portland’s exceptional public transportation services and its bike-friendly environment.

Northwest Academy is proud of what it brings to Portland’s downtown milieu and its unique place as a combined middle school/high school program in the heart of Portland’s arts, culture, and college corridor.

Northwest Academy’s Commitment to Downtown Portland:

With a campus located just steps from arts and cultural institutions, colleges, City Hall, and local businesses, Downtown Portland provides unique educational and social opportunities for Northwest Academy students, faculty, and staff. Our campus and curriculum are enhanced as we use the city as a classroom; whether that be walking to a theatre to watch a performance, grabbing lunch at a food cart, engaging in civic demonstrations, or doing yoga in the park. The intangible and invaluable benefits of interacting with the city, its varied and colorful citizens, and its microenvironments allow our students to learn what they cannot in a traditional classroom setting and challenge them to examine preconceived ideas and rhetoric inherent to urban environments. We believe that our students emerge more informed, confident, and reflective after spending time in and with this community, and our commitment to being a part of an ever-evolving downtown Portland is just as strong as the day we moved in. As members of Portland's downtown community, Northwest Academy commits to:

educating our students about the importance of civic engagement and becoming informed and active citizens

partnering with the City and local businesses and organizations to better understand who this community is comprised of and work to support those with similar goals and missions
keeping our campus and surrounding community clean and safe, not just for our school community but for the community at large
ensuring that our students leave this community with a sense of pride and understanding of what it has to offer

What Sets Northwest Academy Apart

Challenging Academics & Intellectual Curiosity

Whether they are researching their thesis essays or creating a multimedia visual project, Northwest Academy students approach complex concepts with intellectual curiosity. At every grade level, we respect our students’ abilities to comprehend challenging ideas and to demonstrate their understanding with insight and creativity. As a result of this trust, our students become self-motivated learners with a strong desire to explore new ideas.
Downtown Portland Campus

Northwest Academy’s campus is located in downtown Portland’s cultural district, near its public transportation hub. Surrounded by the Portland Art Museum, the Central Library, the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, the Northwest Film Center, and Portland State University, Northwest Academy students and faculty participate in the cultural and academic offerings near campus.
Strong Academic and Arts Partnership

Our arts and academic partnership promotes an environment in both arts and academic classes where a student’s multiple intelligences can flourish. Through their arts experiences, our students acquire skills and strategies–such as attention to detail, self-discipline, self-awareness, and risk-taking–that help them succeed in their academic classes.
Small Class Sizes and Passionate Faculty

Northwest Academy’s commitment to small class sizes and access to faculty help students succeed at high levels. In our classrooms, no student can disappear or remain passive about his or her learning. Combined with an environment that encourages free and open inquiry, our teachers’ passion for their subject areas motivates student interest in learning and creative thinking.
Proficiency-Based Learning

At Northwest Academy, knowledge, skill, and academic maturity – rather than chronological age – determine a student’s placement. Appropriate placement is critical to the school’s proficiency-based program. Proper placement positively affects a student’s motivation, initiative, and risk-taking, and it also impacts a student’s ability to succeed in subsequent years of study in a subject.

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Accreditation

Northwest Academy is an independent, non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oregon. It is governed by a Board of Directors according to policies set forward in the bylaws. Northwest Academy has a 501(c)(3) classification and tax-exempt status.

Northwest Academy is accredited for secondary matriculation by the Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) and by AdvancEd. Its fiscal and administrative processes are regularly examined in fulfillment of the school’s accreditation. Accreditation of an institution by NWAIS indicates that it meets or exceeds the NWAIS Major Standards and Good Practices. An accredited school is one that has available the necessary resources to achieve its stated purposes through appropriate educational programs, is substantially doing so, and gives reasonable evidence that it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. As an accredited school, Northwest Academy has demonstrated that it is focused on providing a safe and enriching learning environment while maintaining an efficient and effective operation. Accreditation further validates that Northwest Academy is effectively delivering a quality educational experience to its students.

Accredited by AdvancEd (Cognia) and Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) CEEB No. 380912