Bellevue Jr/Sr High School history

The first school opened in 1869 and was located on the Mission Reserve, land given to the city by the Omaha Tribe.

The first class to graduate from Bellevue High School was in 1870 with two students receiving their diplomas.

For the first three months of the 1871-72 session, the Bellevue classes were scattered in various parts of the city in rented buildings.

The school, one of the first three built by the City, opened January 1, 1872, with twelve teachers.

Bellevue's third story was condemned and removed in 1908-09; pupils were relocated to the lower floors for four-hour daily sessions.

The building continued in use as an elementary school until the new Bellevue School opened in September 1914, at 2301 East Grace Street.

Old Bellevue was used for classes of mentally-handicapped pupils and as a vocational school (Bellevue Special School) until about 1927, when the last classes were removed.

But, with the construction of Lake Washington Floating Bridge in 1940 access was improved considerably and Bellevue finally started growing.

However, Bellevue was not incorporated until 1953.

Wanting their own, local college to support the region’s growth, Eastside citizens and school district officials in 1957 formed a community college planning committee.

They made enough progress to convince voters in 1962 to pass a $575,000 levy to establish a two-year college.

In 1963 a second bridge was opened across Lake Washington called the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge.

At long last, Bellevue Community College officially opened its doors on January 3, 1966, fulfilling the community’s dream of a local, accessible institution of higher education.

While construction continued, BCC moved into the first phase of completed facilities just in time for Fall Quarter 1969.

Among the new building was the innovative National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (formerly called the Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies), supported by private gifts and opened in 1998.

Bellevue’s newest elementary school, Bellevue Elementary School, opened August 12, 2009.