September 1, 2010

On August 31, 2010 at the monthly meeting of the Mercer Island Rotary Club, Superintendent Gary Plano celebrated the first day of school with his annual “State of the District” for 2010. Dr. Plano began his talk with a review of the district’s 2020 Vision adopted by the School Board last year. “It is not enough for students to simply memorize facts,” he said. “In today’s world our students need to be able to “convert information into knowledge and create innovative solutions demanded by tomorrow’s world.”

Mercer Island students continue to outperform their peers on standardized tests, and last spring Forbes Magazine ranked MISD as “among America’s 25 best school districts for your housing buck and among the top ten public districts in small cities across the country.” The Seattle Times School Guide ranks Mercer Island High School as the #1 public high school in Washington for the quality of college preparation (94% of MIHS graduates attend college), and Mercer Island students take full advantage of outstanding program offerings in athletics, fine arts, clubs, organizations and community service. These facts, in combination with the fact that the Mercer Island community consistently supports its schools through levies and donations to the PTA and Mercer Island Schools Foundation, has attracted more and more families to the island.

“One of the most pressing challenges we presently face is our aging facilities and a growing population,” said Dr. Plano. “Demographic studies show that by 2020 we could have 800 more students than we have now, close to the levels we had in the 1970’s when we had eight schools instead of five.”

The district has conducted an engineering study of all district buildings and is currently working with a team of 19 community volunteers to design a Facilities Master Plan through 2020. “Right now we have enough portables at our elementary schools to support another school. The North Mercer campus (former site of North Mercer Junior High), which houses Youth Theatre Northwest and private schools, is nearly 50 years old without having had any significant modernization.”

In addition, we may become the sole operators of the Mary Wayte pool after 2012 when the inter-local agreement with King County is about to expire. Dr. Plano stated, “We obviously have many questions to consider and with challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, we must work together to continue Mercer Island’s outstanding legacy to our young people.” Click here for more information on Facilities Planning.