Parks & Community Services Department earns perfect score with reaccreditation

Published October 24 2025

Bellevue's Parks & Community Services Department, which maintains the city's impressive network of parks and trails, recently received a perfect score of 154 out of 154 from reviewers at the national Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies.

"Reaccreditation validates our vision and effort to deliver high-quality parks, services and programs to the city," said Michael Shiosaki, director of Parks & Community Services. "Our evaluators noted that we take the time to get to know our customers, listen to their wants and needs and make changes based on what we hear."

A team of reviewers from CAPRA visited Bellevue last spring and observed firsthand the department's commitment to equity, public engagement, program evaluation and partnerships, along with its thorough park and trail maintenance.

The evaluators scored the department on 154 rigorous standards related to the management and administration of lands, facilities, resources, programs, safety and services. The accreditation measures Bellevue's quality of operation, management and service to the community.

National accreditation is an extensive, multiyear process that consists of an application, self-assessment, site visit and final assessment by CAPRA. Bellevue, CAPRA-accredited since 2005, is the only parks department in the state reaccredited four times, and one of just 222 accredited agencies in the U.S.

Bellevue Parks & Community Services is dedicated to building a healthy community through an integrated system of exceptional parks, natural areas, recreation, arts and culture and a broad base of community services,

With 2,700 acres of parks and open space, the system includes a diverse range of offerings including Bellevue Downtown Park, the Bellevue Botanical Garden and the Mercer Slough Natural Park. The system's Lake to Lake trails connect these and other exquisite parks from Lake Washington to Lake Sammamish.

For more information, please visit Parks & Community Services.