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Congregation Bikur Cholim, the oldest continuous synagogue in Seattle (established 1889), inaugurated the first Cheder (Jewish elementary school) in Seattle. In 1894, the Hebrew Free School was established as an after-school center for Jewish learning. From 1895-1898, Hebrew and Bible classes were held at the Seattle Central Building on 5th Avenue and Washington Street. By 1898 education advocates at the Bikur Cholim decided to form a separate corporation. The Hebrew Free School became the Seattle Talmud Torah.

The concept of the Talmud Torah stemmed from a national movement. The idea was that students would meet after school to attend classes two or three times a week. From 1914 until 1948, the Talmud Torah convened in many different locales, but always with the mission of fostering a supplemental Jewish education program. By 1920 the school, founded under the auspices of an orthodox religious institution, was renamed the Seattle Talmud Torah and became an "an institution for all Seattle Jews" ("The Jewish Experience in Washington State," p. 6).

The end of the 1940s ushered in a new era of Jewish education. Post-World War II optimism, the lessons of the Holocaust, the stirrings of the new state of Israel, and the emergence of Boeing as the major economic force in Seattle forced the Jewish community to re-examine existing institutions.

The promise of the baby-boomer era became the catalyst to try new things. The Seattle Hebrew Day School formed in 1947 to provide an integrated program of Jewish and secular studies during regular school hours. By 1948, the Seattle Talmud Torah and Seattle Hebrew Day school had consolidated. In 1969, with the initiation of an early childhood center, the name of the school changed to the Seattle Hebrew Academy.