Lakeside School

Getting to and from school is an important part of the school day, and Lakeside wants students and families to travel safely and conveniently. Travel and parking may be challenging this year, with the City of Shoreline’s project on 145th and the City of Seattle’s project on 130th — not to mention the final stages of construction associated with Lakeside’s new academic building at the Upper School and improvements along 1st Avenue. In the long term, each of these projects will greatly benefit our community and improve our transportation experiences, though in the short term, they’ll require all of our patience and flexibility.

Before the start of the school year, students and families should have thoughtful conversations about how to get to campus. We highly recommend that students and families form carpools, take advantage of the custom bus program, or take public transportation.
 

Carpool: Community in action!

Carpooling — students from multiple households traveling together in one vehicle, driven by a parent/guardian or an older student — is not only better for the environment, it’s also better for our community. It cuts down on traffic and parking issues, and the shared commute helps build relationships between students and families. Many Lakeside families already carpool — this year, we encourage you to form one as well!

To find families near you, sign in to the Veracross family portal. Click on the “Online Directories” button. From the "Households" tab, click on the "Nearby Student Households" link to access a list of nearby families. Upper School students who carpool can register for one of the special carpool parking spots on campus.

And parents and guardians: Want to know what’s really going on in your child’s life? Become a carpool driver and keep your ears open. Just don’t tell them we told you.
 

Custom bus program: Routes around the region

Nearly 40% of Lakeside students take part in our custom bus program, which stretches from Redmond to Rainier Beach and South Park to Kenmore. The buses run on six morning/afternoon and two evening routes that are specially designed to bring our students to and from school. Buses are provided by King County Metro and ZUM, a private school bus provider, and the program is a partnership with University Prep and The Evergreen School. Students must be enrolled in the custom bus program to take one of these buses; we do not offer a program for occasional riders. There are still spots available on most custom bus routes, so if you are interested in your student riding the bus (for a semester or the full year), get in touch with Ying Purcell in the business office soon at info@lakesideschool.site.

Lakeside’s business office manages all aspects of the custom bus program. Detailed information about the program was sent to all families last spring. Students registered for Lakeside’s custom bus program are issued a special sticker to be affixed to the student ID card that must be used on the custom bus routes. The custom bus routes are commuter-style, running on major arterials with occasional stops and serving the greatest number of families in the shortest amount of time. Families generally drive or carpool to the bus stops.

Visit our transportation webpage at lakesideschool.org/transportation for important information about this program, including the bus schedule and maps. For additional questions, please contact info@lakesideschool.site.
 

Public transportation: A life skill that gets students to school (for free)

With the opening of the light rail station last year, many Lakeside students, families, and employees experienced the ease of getting to campus via public transportation. Our campus is accessible via the 1 Line on Link light rail: the Shoreline S / 148th St. light rail station is about a 10-minute walk to our Upper School campus. See Sound Transit's trip planner for more information; you can also check out the Light Rail 1 Line Train Schedule.

Lakeside offers a morning, afternoon, and evening transfer service between the Shoreline S / 148th St. light rail station and both the Middle School and Upper School campuses. This free service is for Lakeside employees and students. In order to use the free transfer service, students must register through the school’s custom bus program. Learn more about the transfer service. If your family would like to register for this transfer service for the 2025-2026 school year, don't hesitate to contact the business office at info@lakesideschool.site.

Parents and guardians: Please consider light rail as an option for yourselves as well!

Traffic and parking this year

With the construction projects happening to the north and south of our campuses, as well as our own construction, we are anticipating regular delays and detours, as well as limited parking, at least through the winter. While the outcomes will be good (including safer routes for pedestrians), the road getting there has its challenges.

We will share more detailed information about projects in the Back-to-School Inside Lakeside. In the meantime, if you need to come to campus, please drive slowly and stay alert around detours and construction zones. Bicyclists will share many routes, and crews will be working near live traffic. At the moment, some Lakeside parking lots are closed (including the visitor lot and Stimson), while others have stalls closed off for construction equipment. The Upper School roundabout is closed to vehicles. Our construction partners are working extra hours to get the Upper School campus ready for students to return this September.

Learn more about transportation and directions on our transportation webpage.