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Entrepreneurship & Design

Courses in Entrepreneurship and Design prepare students for college and life by giving them opportunities to use creativity and practical intelligence to solve emerging real-world problems. We aim to equip students with a design-thinking mindset that emphasizes the skills needed to thrive in an ever-changing professional landscape. As educators, we assert that young people are inherently curious individuals with an endless capacity to learn and grow. With industry input, we implement an evolving curriculum which provides students the most up-to-date skills necessary to succeed in the world beyond the classroom. In the Middle School, Seattle Academy students take one trimester of Design Thinking in 6th and 7th grades. All Upper School students take a course titled Foundations in Design Thinking and can choose from a broad range of related electives that expose them to more advanced topics in both design and business.

Business Plan Competition

The Seattle Academy Entrepreneurship Club held its first Business Plan Competition in 2022. This was a hackathon-style competition where students were given information pertaining to a theme at the start of the event as well as some basic requirements. The teams had two and a half hours to create a full-fledged business idea including a name, logo, marketing strategy, analysis of competitors, and a financial plan. The competition culminated in the teams delivering a seven-minute pitch to a panel of judges.  

Photo of Seattle Academy Upper School students in Innovations class

Design

Curriculum is based in the design-thinking mindset.

Photo of Seattle Academy Upper School students collaborating in Innovations class

Collaboration

Classroom culture is collaborative, experimental, iterative, and fundamentally human-centered.

Photo of Seattle Academy student presenting in class in front of a smartboard

Process

The goal is to provide a space for students to develop the intellectual and behavioral tools to navigate adversity and failure successfully.  

Photo of a Seattle Academy Upper School student speaking with an industry expert visitor at Seattle Academy

Relevant

Interactions with industry experts and real businesses and organizations are an important component of this program.  

Entrepreneurship & Design at SAAS FAQ