Jean Orvis

Jean Orvis is the founder and director of Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, an urban college preparatory school serving students in grades 6-12. Under her leadership, the school has become one of the largest and most successful independent schools in the Pacific Northwest, with 100 percent of its recent graduates matriculating to four-year colleges. In addition, the school has pioneered the integration of technology in the academic classroom and the use of applied brain research to serve a diverse student body that includes gifted students as well as those with identified learning challenges. Ms. Orvis serves as vice-chair of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Commission on Accreditation. Within the Commission, she chairs the Committee on Schools of the Future. She is also a member and past president of the Board of Governors of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) and serves on the Accreditation Committee and Standards Sub-Committee. A graduate of the University of Washington, she holds undergraduate degrees in French and classics and an MBA in finance and marketing.