Frequently Asked Questions

The Olympia School District's Avanti High School is a performance standards school where students receive personalized education. The small school size, dedicated and caring staff, and instructional format with the use of learning plans and theme classes, provides a challenging and motivating educational setting that focuses on a student's interests and strengths. Our staff recognizes that students learn, and can demonstrate their learning, in a variety of ways. Avanti serves about 140 students and often maintains a waiting list for entry.

Avanti is located on the first level of the Knox Building located on the corner of Legion and Eastside.

•  What are the graduation requirements for an Avanti diploma?

Graduation requirements are consistent with the other district high schools with the exception of a  required .5 credit of volunteerism or Service Learning and 15 hours of Cultural Awareness experiences.

•  How does the daily schedule differ from that of a conventional high school?

Students who attend Avanti are scheduled to attend either the morning program or afternoon program:

                         Morning Program                                                         Afternoon Program

Students attend school on Fridays, by appointment, for individual conferences and to attend CAW (Cultural Awareness) seminars. Students in both programs are expected to complete 25 hours of school related work each week.  A student's in-school hours are counted as part of the 25 hour requirement.  Students that do not meet this minimum expectation are required to attend an afternoon program on Fridays until they have returned to good standing.

• What attributes are needed to succeed at Avanti?

Students who find success at Avanti are those who like a small school environment and have the ability or desire to learn to:

·         Work on projects

·         Demonstrate learning in different ways

·         Share ideas of things s/he would like to learn

·         Manage time well and complete school work at home

·         Follow through with tasks

·         Challenge his/her own learning

·         Explore ideas and experience learning in the community

•  May I be enrolled at both Avanti and Capital High, Olympia High, New Market Vocational Skills Center, or Running Start?

Students may take no more than one class at one of the other high schools while enrolled at Avanti as long as the class taken at the other high school is in the area of music, a world language, Advanced Placement courses (Avanti offers AP English and AP World History) or International Baccalaureate (TB) courses. Students may also be dually enrolled in Avanti and New Market or Running Start at SPSCC. Students are responsible for their own transportation to these sites.

•  Does Avanti have a contracting program?

Avanti has a very limited number of spaces reserved for those students who have exceptional circumstances which prevent them from being able to attend school in either the morning or afternoon program. Students who feel that they cannot complete their high school diploma during either program should contact the principal to discuss other options.

•  What transportation is available to the school?

Students in the morning program may receive transportation via regular school district neighborhood bus routes, then transfer to Avanti from either Olympia or Capital High Schools. Several Intercity Transit routes have stops either in front, or within two blocks, of Avanti.

•  How do I apply to Avanti?

Avanti’s selection process includes three phases: application, interview, and orientation.

The application component includes completion of all documents necessary for admitting the student, an essay, and a short answer reflective question section.  The application is reviewed and educational references may be contacted to determine compatibility of the student with Avanti’s educational program. 

Students advanced to the interview stage meet with the Avanti administrator.  The interview usually takes an hour.  Questions during the interview are intended to determine a student’s ability to reflect on their role in past successes and failures, their ability to develop positive instructional relationships with teachers, whether or not a student has the ability to take ownership of the curriculum and their progress in it, and other indicators of success/risk.

During the application and interview process we are looking for compatibility of students with our program.  Risk indicators in academic ability, attendance, behaviors, and “distracters” are addressed and may be grounds for denial of admission to Avanti.  This does not mean that students with significant risk indicators cannot be admitted, but if significant risks are present we will look for “mitigating” factors; what efforts have been made to change behaviors.  Students are required to continue attending their home school during the selection process until they begin orientation.

Students who are advanced to the orientation cycle will have three weeks of instruction during which they must successfully complete the assigned orientation tasks.  Students not successful during orientation are referred back to their home school.

Students denied admission to Avanti, and those not successful during orientation, may reapply to Avanti after one successful term at another school.

Out of district students must apply for an inter-district transfer from their home district.  Due to limitations in Avanti’s school size and the size of the orientation groups brought in, in-district students will have a priority over out of district students.

If the school or orientation cycle is full, students with satisfactory qualifications may be placed on a waiting list.  Students on a waiting list must continue attending their home school with satisfactory attendance, behavior, and academic effort.

Falsification or failure to provide complete information during the application or interview process may result in a student being denied admission or being referred back to their home school even if they have successfully completed orientation.