Bellevue High School's troubles

Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg Jun 20, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

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                <h1>Bellevue High School's troubles</h1>
                <h2><p>If you’ve been reading The Seattle Times lately, you’re probably aware of what’s been going down with the Bellevue High School Wolverines. If not, here’s a brief recap: Outside of BHS’s boundaries lies a private school named The Academic Institute, Inc. It’s a small,</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/jacob-nierenberg-crosscut-com/">Jacob Nierenberg</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>If you’ve <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/high-school/bellevue-highs-football-success-aided-by-diploma-mill/?ref=avalancheghost.one">been reading</a> <em>The Seattle Times</em> <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/high-school/bellevue-school-district-requests-state-probe-of-football-program/?ref=avalancheghost.one">lately</a>, you’re probably aware of what’s been going down with the Bellevue High School Wolverines. If not, here’s a brief recap: Outside of BHS’s boundaries lies a private school named The Academic Institute, Inc. It’s a small, exclusive school, charging $1,750 per month to its clientele of 40 students, and in the last seven years, at least 17 of the BHS’s football players have come from this school. While this in and of itself isn’t in violation of anything—private school students are indeed allowed to play on public school sports teams in the same school district—where BHS runs afoul is that The Academic Institute, Inc. doesn’t seem to be taking its educational requirements as seriously as BHS usually does. In short, BHS may be effectively using The Academic Institute, Inc. as a talent farm, or—to use the words of two former teachers—a “diploma mill.” Since 2000, the Wolverines have won 11 state championships.</p>
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If you’ve been reading The Seattle Times lately, you’re probably aware of what’s been going down with the Bellevue High School Wolverines. If not, here’s a brief recap: Outside of BHS’s boundaries lies a private school named The Academic Institute, Inc. It’s a small, exclusive school, charging $1,750 per month to its clientele of 40 students, and in the last seven years, at least 17 of the BHS’s football players have come from this school. While this in and of itself isn’t in violation of anything—private school students are indeed allowed to play on public school sports teams in the same school district—where BHS runs afoul is that The Academic Institute, Inc. doesn’t seem to be taking its educational requirements as seriously as BHS usually does. In short, BHS may be effectively using The Academic Institute, Inc. as a talent farm, or—to use the words of two former teachers—a “diploma mill.” Since 2000, the Wolverines have won 11 state championships.

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By Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg is an editorial intern at Crosscut. He has lived in Washington for nearly all of his life, and still proudly identifies with the Pacific Northwest despite his relocation to Stanford U