Type | Community College |
---|---|
Established | 1946 |
President | Marty Cavalluzzi |
Students | 12,825 |
Location | , , United States |
Colors | Red and White |
Nickname | OC |
Mascot | Rangers |
Website | www |
Olympic College is a public community college in Bremerton, Washington. It opened as Olympic Junior College on September 5, 1946. [1] Olympic College serves Kitsap and Mason counties in Washington. The college's service area contains two major naval installations: Naval Base Kitsap and Naval Hospital Bremerton.
In 2015, Olympic College was named as one of ten finalists for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation's preeminent recognition of high achievement and performance in America's community colleges. [2]
For their inaugural season in 2012, the Kitsap Admirals used the Bremer Student Center as their home venue. [3] The team has since relocated to more suburban Silverdale at Olympic High School.
The college offers certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees. Through partnerships with local universities like Washington State University and Western Washington University, students can also complete an associate degree with Olympic College then transfer into a partner program to earn a bachelor's degree without having to leave Kitsap County.
The college's main campus is a 33-acre (13 ha) site located in Bremerton, Washington, and its two satellite campuses are located in Poulsbo and Shelton, Washington. The Poulsbo campus is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) site and is 15.9 miles (25.6 km) from the main campus, while the 27-acre (11 ha) Shelton campus is located 38.4 miles (61.8 km) from the main campus. These three campuses serve more than 12,000 students a year mainly from the 281,374 residents of Kitsap and Mason counties spread over 1,617 square miles (4,190 km2) of wooded and lowland mountain terrain (Census 2000).
The land for both the Shelton and Poulsbo campuses was donated. The 27 acres of land that is now the Shelton campus was donated by Simpson Timber in 1991 and the 20 acres of land that is now the Poulsbo campus was donated by the Olhava Family in 1993.
The student body is predominantly full-time (59%), between the ages of 20–29 (37.7%), and slightly more female than male (56% female). At 73% white, the student body is more diverse than the two counties in which its campuses are located (Kitsap 84% white, Mason 89%), and is more like Seattle (70% white) in King County, which is an hour's ferry ride from Bremerton across the waters of Puget Sound.
Kitsap County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard; its largest city is Bremerton. The county, formed out of King County and Jefferson County on January 16, 1857, is named for Chief Kitsap of the Suquamish Tribe. Originally named Slaughter County, it was soon renamed.
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap.
Navy Yard City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,759 at the 2020 census.
Port Orchard is a city in and the county seat of Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located 13 miles (21 km) due west of West Seattle and is connected to Seattle and Vashon Island via the Washington State Ferries run to Southworth. It is named after Port Orchard, the strait that separates Bainbridge Island from the Kitsap Peninsula.
Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the smallest of the four cities in Kitsap County. The population was 11,970 at the 2020 census and an estimated 10,927 in 2018.
Silverdale is an unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, in the United States. Despite many failed attempts at incorporation, Silverdale has not become a city. The population was 20,733 at the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Silverdale as a census-designated place (CDP).
Suquamish is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,266 at the 2020 census. Comprising the Port Madison Indian Reservation, it is the burial site of Chief Seattle and was the site of the Suquamish tribe winter longhouse known as the Old Man House.
The Kitsap Peninsula lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kitsap County except Bainbridge and Blake Islands, as well as the northeastern part of Mason County and the northwestern part of Pierce County. The highest point on the Kitsap Peninsula is Gold Mountain. The U.S. Navy's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and Naval Base Kitsap are on the peninsula. Its main city is Bremerton.
Seabeck is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,105 at the 2010 census. Seabeck is a former mill town on Hood Canal.
State Route 3 (SR 3) is a 59.81-mile-long (96.25 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving the Kitsap Peninsula in Mason and Kitsap counties. The highway begins at U.S. Route 101 (US 101) south of Shelton and travels northeast onto the Kitsap Peninsula through Belfair to Gorst, where it intersects SR 16 and begins its freeway. SR 3 travels west of Bremerton, Silverdale and Poulsbo before it terminates at the eastern end of the Hood Canal Bridge, signed as SR 104. The highway is designated as a Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) corridor under the National Highway System as the main thoroughfare connecting both parts of Naval Base Kitsap and is also part of the Highways of Statewide Significance program.
Hansville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. Its population was 3,858 as of the 2020 census. The coastal community is located at the northern end of the Kitsap Peninsula and is about 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Poulsbo, the nearest city.
South Puget Sound Community College is a public community college in southwest Olympia, Washington. The college contains 125 acres (0.51 km2) and is serving about 5,300 full and part-time students as of the fall 2020 quarter.
The Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates 158 miles of track serving the Kitsap Peninsula, Grays Harbor County and Centralia, Washington in the U.S. State of Washington, and is headquartered in Centralia, where the railroad interchanges with the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad has been a subsidiary of the Genesee and Wyoming since 2012.
The Kitsap Regional Library is a public library system in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It has nine locations that serve over 280,000 residents in Kitsap County; its collection includes over 300,000 items that have an annual circulation of 2.4 million. Founded in 1945 as the Kitsap County Rural Library District, the modern system was formed from a 1955 merger with the Bremerton city library.
Burke Bay is a small bay in Kitsap County in Washington state. It is located on the Kitsap Peninsula of Puget Sound, west of Seattle and Bainbridge Island. Nearby communities include Brownsville, Illahee and Keyport. Close towns are Bremerton, Poulsbo and Silverdale. A strong military presence strengthens the county's economy.
Central Kitsap School District 401 is a public school district in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It serves unincorporated portions of the county, including the community of Silverdale, and portions of the City of Bremerton. As of June 2014, the district has an enrollment of 11,091 students. Approximately one-quarter of students are from military families, and one half are from families economically dependent on the US Navy. It consists of CK High and Middle school, Klahowya, and other schools like Ridgetop or Fairview
Clear Creek Trail is an urban trail in Silverdale, Washington, "at once in the suburbs and simultaneously immersed in the natural world". In a 2011 book by Mountaineers Books, it was reported to be over seven miles long. The trail extends along Clear Creek from its uplands near the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor Trigger Avenue gate on State Route 3 to the creek's estuary at Dyes Inlet.
Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park is a 3,493-acre (1,414 ha) county park founded in 2014, and is the largest in Kitsap County, Washington. It contains 60 miles (97 km) of trails.
Chief Kitsap Academy (CKA) is a grade 6-12 school in Suquamish, in unincorporated Kitsap County, Washington, with a Poulsbo postal address. The Suquamish Tribe Department of Education operates the school. The school is on a 27 acres (11 ha) parcel.