Private or international school website cost in Bellevue, Washington: local agencies vs Kolonell (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

In Bellevue, a private or international school website built by a Seattle or Eastside agency costs, as a 2026 ballpark, between 30 000 and 90 000 USD, especially once a second language and an enrollment software integration come in. Kolonell builds the admissions journey, the waitlist explanation on the site and the program pages for a fixed price of 2 900, 4 900 or 8 900 USD, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks on Starter and Growth. Before you sign, compare the 3-year total cost, how each quote handles the Mandarin, Korean or Hindi version your families ask for, and who takes the photos on campus.

How much do Seattle and Eastside agencies charge compared with Kolonell?

The web market around Lake Washington is pushed up by tech salaries. The ranges below are prudent ballparks, not official figures: they rely on public rate cards of Seattle-area agencies, minimum project sizes on Clutch.co profiles (often 10 000 to 25 000 USD and up), hourly rates published by local agencies (commonly 130 to 220 USD per hour) and freelance rates visible on Upwork.

Payment is by bank transfer or Wise: 50 % to start, 50 % at delivery. The project manager books Google Meet calls at your hour and sends a written update every week. The team is based in Senegal (GMT), seven to eight hours ahead of Bellevue depending on the season, so calls fit into your morning. Details of the offer are on our international websites page.

What does the bill look like over three years?

A Bellevue school also has to budget for maintenance, hosting, updates driven by rolling admissions and translation. The table assumes the same maintenance and translation budget on both sides, to compare like for like. Kolonell maintenance after the support period is quoted on request.

These amounts structure the discussion; they do not predict your invoice. Have every supplier fill in this same table, line by line.

Which Kolonell tier fits a Bellevue school?

A custom parent portal, a purpose-built waitlist tool or a mobile app are applications, quoted on request. Ongoing search work is also quoted on request.

What do Bellevue families expect from a school website?

Bellevue hosts the headquarters of T-Mobile and large Amazon offices, and lives to the rhythm of Microsoft in nearby Redmond. Many families arrive through job transfers, at any point in the year, from India, China, Korea, Canada or Europe. They look for a school from their home country, often late at night, on a phone. What the site has to show:

• Real seat availability per grade, and how the waitlist works for mid-year arrivals.
• The program explained without jargon: Mandarin or Spanish immersion, the American curriculum, IB only if the school is authorized. Nothing beyond what is taught.
• Tuition, deposits and any sibling discounts, if the school chooses to publish them.
• The documents to prepare when enrolling from abroad: school records, immunizations, proof of future address.
• Accreditations only if held, with the exact name of the body.
• Virtual tours or videos for families who cannot visit before they move.

On compliance, facts only. Title III of the ADA covers many private schools (religious schools are generally exempt) and WCAG 2.1 AA is the usual technical benchmark. If a form collects health information (allergies, medical needs), Washington's My Health My Data Act, in force since 2024, may be relevant: keep those questions in the secure enrollment software rather than a contact form. COPPA only targets online services directed at children under 13. Student photos require written parental consent. This is not legal advice.

Which questions should you ask every supplier?

• Who translates, and who proofreads? Unreviewed machine translation on the Mandarin admissions page costs more in trust than it saves.
• Where does form data go? Insist on a suitable tool rather than plain email.
• Are the domain and hosting in your name?
• What will adding a division page cost in two years?
• Which accessibility test is run before delivery?
• What happens at the end of the contract: content export, transfer of access?

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Anita K., director of admissions and communications at a 600-student language immersion school (preschool to grade 8) in Bellevue, compares two offers. An Eastside agency proposes 52 000 USD, Mandarin version and photo day included, in 16 weeks. Kolonell proposes Premium at 8 900 USD; the school has key pages translated by a professional translator for 2 400 USD and books a local photographer for 3 000 USD.

Build, translation and photos: 52 000 USD versus 14 300 USD, a 37 700 USD gap. With the same maintenance assumption over 33 months (9 900 USD on each side), the 3-year total is 61 900 USD versus 24 200 USD. Anita chooses Kolonell, keeping the agency as an option if the school ever commissions a corporate film shot on site.

FAQ

What budget should a Bellevue private school plan for a website in 2026?

With a Seattle or Eastside agency, the ballpark is 30 000 to 90 000 USD, and 6 000 to 20 000 USD with a freelancer. Kolonell charges 2 900, 4 900 or 8 900 USD, fixed.

Can the site have a Mandarin version?

Yes, the Premium structure takes another language, but the copy is supplied by the school or quoted separately. Plan for example 2 000 to 3 000 USD of professional translation for about ten key pages.

Do you work on Pacific time?

The project manager books Google Meet calls in your morning, given the 7 to 8 hour difference, and sends a written update every week. There are no in-person meetings.

Can you manage our waitlist?

The site explains the waitlist and embeds your software's form from Growth at 4 900 USD. A custom-built waitlist tool is an application quoted on request.

How does payment work?

By bank transfer or Wise, in two parts: 50 % at kickoff, 50 % at delivery. On Growth, that is two payments of 2 450 USD.

Let's scope your project. Send us your divisions, your languages and the name of your enrollment software, and we come back with a fixed-price tier and a 3 to 4 week timeline. Request your free quote or see the international offer.