Admissions FAQ

After you have created an account in School Mint, and you are ready to apply online:

• If you do not see Puget Sound Skills Center, be sure you choose 2024-25 School Year and then PSSC will be included in the list

All students interested in attending PSSC for the 2023-24 School year will need to complete a new application. We have transitioned to a new online application platform, so all students need to complete an application for the upcoming school year.

All students interested in attending PSSC need to apply through the online application portal during the open window. Once the application window closes, our enrollment team will review all applications and notify students and their families/guardians with the status of their application – accepted, wait list, etc. If a student is unable to get into their first choice, they will be contacted by PSSC staff who will discuss alternate options, such as placement in their second-choice program or be placed on the wait list.

Yes, there is a short answer section on the application. The goal is to give students a space to think through which program they are interested in and communicate that reason with the enrollment team. There is an essay assistance guide (Spanish version) with sentence prompts on the website to help create an answer.

If there is a specific pre-requisite for a class, such as already having passed Algebra 1 for the Video Game Programming course, that will be noted on the program page. Please refer to your program of interest to see if there is anything listed there.

You do not need a minimum GPA, but you need to be on track to graduate, or have a plan in place at your home school to graduate. We do not offer credit retrieval options at PSSC, so we want to ensure you will graduate on time. All students who pass their program at PSSC will earn 3.0 credits for a full year of instruction, either all as CTE credits, or a combination of CTE and equivalency credits.

Some programs are designed as a 1-year program, and others have a 1st year and 2nd year component to their program.

Each program is worth 3.0 high school credits for the full year. PSSC will forward your course history, including credits and grade earned, to your high school to add to your official transcript.

PSSC Daily Schedule

1st Session - 7:55 a.m. - 10:25 a.m.

2nd Session - 11:15 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.

3rd Session - 3:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. (Aeronautical Science Program ONLY)

Transportation is provided by our consortium district between sending schools and PSSC. Bus schedules for each district are posted on our website at the beginning of the school year. For students who are not part of the consortium, they are responsible for their own transportation – whether that is self-driving, family, metro, uber, etc.

Students coordinate their schedule with their sending school counselor. They will spend half their day at PSSC and the remaining half school day at their sending school.

We have many students who have IEP/504’s here at PSSC. We have a full time Special Education coordinator who is part of the application review team. Together with the team during the review process, we look over IEP’s and 504 plans to ensure we can meet the accommodation needs of each student.

We recommend students work with their high school counselor to determine which avenue to pursue. There are factors to weigh with both options, and a counselor can help students choose the best for for their situation and academic goals.

Each program has different approved college credits available to earn through accreditation agreements between PSSC and the specific college/university/trade school. Instructors will provide more detailed information at the beginning of the school year regarding their specific program.

Students who choose to earn the college credits will need to enroll at the partnership college/university in order to create a college transcript. This transcript can be sent to any college/university in the US to show what credits were earned while attending PSSC, similar to a college transfer after graduation.

The process has multiple steps, so we recommend you connect with our counselor and your instructor to ensure all paperwork is completed properly.

Our home district is the Highline School District, so any days that Highline School District is closed, PSSC will be closed. Towards the beginning of the school year we will publish a full school year calendar, and we do our best to line up our days with our consortium district schedules. Due to the complicated and varying reality of multiple school district calendars, there will always be days off and breaks that are different between the districts. We will provide specific assignments/notifications regarding these varying days throughout the school year to ensure you receive your maximum instructional days possible to meet state requirements.

Highline School District, Federal Way Public Schools, Tahoma School District, and Tukwila School District have a district consortium agreement with each other to send students and provide transportation to PSSC.

Application status updates will be sent out via email by end of April. Check the email used when you applied through SchoolMint .If you do not receive an email by May 3rd, please contact PSSC and we will assist you. 

Highline Public Schools has adopted a very specific process to enroll non-resident students wishing to access skills center programming only. Inter-District Agreements are set up to allow students to request consideration for part time enrollment or dual enrollment in two different districts at the same time.

Non-resident students requesting attendance to Highline Public Schools (HPS) for the sole purpose of enrolling in a Skills Center program are required to complete an Inter-District Agreement form for part time release. Please contact your resident district for an inter-district agreement form or contact Student Placement for any additional questions 206-631-3065.