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August 1999, thirty-four vibrant, capable, and bright 5th graders returned from summer break with an array of opinions about the upcoming year.

The Mercer Island School District, at the request of the School Board, will be creating a policy to be used when considering naming facilities.

Childhood cancer hits close to home on Mercer Island as some of our students are currently battling this life-altering disease.

The Mercer Island School District New Family Welcome event is scheduled for Thursday, October 17, from 6pm-7:30pm in the Commons at Islander Middle School. Islander Middle School is located at 7447 84th Ave. SE.

Are you looking for an after-school activity that allows you to design, build, write and act in a creative environment?

By now, I hope your family is setting into routines accompanying a fresh school year.

The Mercer Island School District began water conservation efforts in collaboration with the City of Mercer Island in early May.

Therefore, to foster the learning environments we desire and promote healthy social and emotional development, Mercer Island School District will restrict access to personal cell phones and smart watches during the school day in 2024-25 for students in IMS and MIHS.

The Mercer Island School District is pleased to announce over the last three years it has received over $300,000 in incentives and energy savings costs from the Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Commercial Strategic Energy Management (CSEM) program.

Islander Middle School, Island Park Elementary, and Northwood Elementary were recognized for the growth of one or more student groups during the 2021-22 school year and West Mercer Elementary was recognized for the growth of one or more students groups during the 2022-23 school year. All four schools were recognized by the Washington School Recognition Program.

Endings and beginnings. Navigating all of these conclusions and commencements this time of year certainly sparks some poignant emotions.

Lakeridge Elementary, Northwood Elementary, and Mercer Island High School have been recognized by the King County Green Schools Program for sustaining Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 Green School practices during the 2023-24 school year.

Twelve Mercer Island Destination Imagination teams recently participated in the Global Finals tournament in Kansas City, Missouri and performed extremely well.

Mercer Island School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle recognized the District’s Employees of the Year, Retiring Staff, teachers earning National Board certification, Former School Resource Officers (SRO) who are retiring from the Mercer Island Police Department, and MISD staff with a years of service milestone in a ceremony this evening in the MIHS Library

The Mercer Island School District Destination Imagination (DI) teams had a fantastic showing at both the Regional and State DI competitions.

The Washington Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) presented Mercer Island School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle with their 2024 Leader of Distinction Award this morning at the annual WASBO conference which was held at the Tacoma Convention Center. 

Mercer Island School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle is pleased to announce the hiring of Melissa Robertson as the new Director of Special Services.

Monthly, and sometimes more frequently, I meet with two very important people in my life: Peg, my professional counselor and Ian, my mental health counselor.

The Mercer Island School District is pleased to present its ninth annual Pathfinder Award to 2013 MIHS graduate Jordan Morris whose achievements, strength of character, and citizenship inspire and challenge today’s youth to make significant contributions to humankind.

On April 2, first graders at Northwood Elementary had an out of this world experience when the Museum of Flight’s portable planetarium visited the school through a grant from the Mercer Island Schools Foundation.

On, March 26, 2024, Mercer Island School District successfully refinanced the remaining $40,495,000 outstanding from the 2014 Bonds. This proactive and voluntary action will not affect the District’s budget, however, it will save Mercer Island taxpayers over $1.5 million during the remaining five (5) years of bond payments.

Marisa LeVeque and Victoria Vermiglio’s fifth grade classes at Northwood Elementary received a special presentation called Skeletons and Skulls from Nature Vision on Friday, March 29 courtesy of a grant from the Mercer Island Schools Foundation (MISF).

If you have ever spent much time around first grade teachers you will be familiar with the term “Magical March.”

The Mercer Island School District, in collaboration with the Mercer Island Fine Arts Advisory Council, invites the Mercer Island community to the annual Fine Arts Showcase, a two-day event celebrating the amazing accomplishments of our K-12 students in Performing Arts (Music and Drama) and Visual Arts.

Superintendent Fred Rundle hosted an Open Enrollment Community Webinar in the evening on Tuesday, March 19.

The Mercer Island School District will host a community webinar on Open Enrollment on Tuesday, March 19 from 6:30-7:30pm.

The Mercer Island School District’s Open Enrollment Community Webinar scheduled for 6-7pm tonight has been cancelled.

Now that my bio and academic rhythm is in sync with the Pacific Northwest calendar, I’m thrilled to know we still have over a third of the year to go for teaching and learning! This is not the time to throttle down but rather hit our stride and finish strong.

Superintendent Fred Rundle will host a community webinar on Open Enrollment on Monday, March 11 from 6-7pm.

The Northwood Student Council led the school’s first Belonging Assembly of the year Wednesday morning.

Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle hosted a MISD Budget and Human Resources community webinar on Tuesday, February 6.

All four Mercer Island School District Elementary Schools will be holding school tours on Thursday, February 8 and Wednesday, April 17. The tours will take place from 9:30am-11am.

The Mercer Island School District is hosting a district Budget and Human Resources community Zoom webinar on Tuesday, February 6 from 6-7pm.

The Mercer Island PTA Council has announced 21 first place winners, 19 second place finishers, and 16 third place winners in the annual Reflections Arts Program. 

We appreciate our community’s flexibility this week as we dealt with a two-hour delay for schools on Wednesday. Hopefully the worst of the winter weather is behind us, but if it is not we are prepared. And speaking of emergency preparation and communication, I thought it would be a great opportunity to revisit some of the tools, resources, and things families can access and do to help keep our schools safe and supportive for everyone.

I struggled with this month’s message- starting, stopping, and deleting many drafts. Toiling with what to say seems odd given the many student, staff, and district accomplishments in 2023. I’m proud of what we accomplished in November alone. However, I am also keenly aware of that which continues to challenge us near and far.

In honor of Inclusive Schools Week, WASA is partnering with the Mercer Island School District to present a showing of the film This is Not About Me followed by a forum with the film’s star Jordyn Zimmerman and Mercer Island High School graduate, Grant Blasko.

Humankind. Last November, I attended a conference with our student representatives to the school board, Director Lurie, and Director Tucker. Guest speaker, Dr. Adolph Brown, delivered one of those keynotes that leaves you reflecting, wondering, and thinking well beyond the ride or flight back home.

This past week, the Mercer Island School District held three community engagement sessions to present proposals and ideas from the Long Range Facilities Planning Committee. While nothing has been decided, the presentations and feedback from the community will help the District complete the final Long Range Facility Plan (LRFP).

If you have not already, you might hear about threats from Hamas calling for violent acts to be brought against Jewish people globally on October 13, tomorrow.

Our hearts are with our students, staff, and families impacted by the horrific events in Israel and Gaza that began over the weekend.

The Mercer Island School District is partnering with nonprofits CORE Tanzania and The Book Project to repurpose the district’s surplus kindergarten through fifth grade curriculum and materials.

Welcome to the beautiful month of October. It is an honor to provide an update on the happenings within our district and extend my heartfelt appreciation for your continued support.

The Mercer Island School District New Family Welcome event is scheduled for Thursday, October 5, from 6pm-7:30pm in the Commons at Islander Middle School. Islander Middle School is located at 7447 84th Ave. SE.

Our schools, students, and staff started the year strong and confirm we are poised for an exceptional year. Though my last communication just came out a couple of weeks ago, I committed to providing mid-September updates, highlights, and recognitions. I would never pass on the opportunity to brag about our school district!

The Mercer Island School District will be hosting three Community Engagement Sessions in October about the District’s Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP).

Wonder, worry, accomplishment, apprehension…joy. I flew home on Sunday night after dropping my oldest child off at college. I had many emotions to keep me occupied. Those of you who have already watched children move out, you know the feelings all too well.

The Mercer Island Instructional Tech Day on Monday, August 28, in the MIHS Performing Arts Centre was a huge success.

Today at Northwood Elementary MISD staff received a training session from Dr. Vanessa Tucker about how to enable students with autism in the classroom.

I hope you are having an enjoyable summer and finding ways to relax and take advantage of the wonderful summer weather. While most of our staff and students are away, preparations for the 2023-2024 year are full steam ahead, especially for our operations and maintenance teams. 

The Mercer Island School District and the Mercer Island Education Association (MIEA), the union that represents district certificated and classified staff, are pleased to announce they have agreed on a one year contract for the 2023-24 school year.

Students in Northwood Elementary school first grade teacher Beth Christofferson’s class toured Mercer Island High School (MIHS) yesterday.

The Mercer Island School District community deserves a huge shout out for the amazing effort in collecting plastic film for Earth month. 

Eleven Mercer Island Destination Imagination teams recently participated in the Global Finals tournament in Kansas City, Missouri and performed phenomenally well. We represented less than 2% of the 589 teams at the tournament, and yet the teams took home 16% of all the first-place awards!

Well, we made it to June! However, this is a bit like our hopes and dreams for each graduating class. Our dream for our graduates is to not just get into college or on a career trajectory, but instead to thrive wherever life takes them. Thus, we need to all remember that getting to June is not the objective- it is now time to excel all the way through June 23rd!

Mercer Island School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle recognized the District’s Employees of the Year, Retiring Staff, and staff with a years of service milestone in a ceremony this evening in the MIHS Library.

The Mercer Island School District Transportation Department will be hosting rides and tours of our new Electric School Bus this Saturday, June 3, to introduce the Island community to the new bus.

The students, staff, and community continue to amaze and inspire me. Students are excelling in and out of the classroom through athletics, clubs and organizations, and even personal pursuits beyond MISD. 

The Mercer Island Destination Imagination (DI) teams had a fantastic showing at both the Regional and State DI competitions. At the regional tournament 21 of the 24 teams earned awards and recognition for their work. This included several special awards recognizing exceptional technical designs, integration of music into their solutions, and the inclusion of superior engineering elements. 

The Northwood Elementary Adaptive Music and PE classes are grateful for a generous grant from the Mercer Island Schools Foundation (MISF) for pentatonic xylophones, Joia tube instruments, and adaptive bowling balls.

Upcoming in April, we have more religious and cultural celebrations to recognize. Though some of these spiritual or days of significance fall either on a weekend or when the schools are closed for spring break, we will continue to recognize and make space for our students and staff who participate in the many traditions. 

This afternoon at Northwood Elementary the Kids Quest Museum visited all three kindergarten classes to present their Forces In Motion program.

Ben is an author and illustrator best known for his Narwhal and Jelly books. Ben has written or illustrated over 25 children’s books.

Coming to Northwood Thursday, March 23, 2:30-3:30 pm, kindergarten and 1st graders. Order your autographed copy of Ben's Books by March 20th from Island Books. 

The Mercer Island School District, in collaboration with the Mercer Island Fine Arts Advisory Council, invites the Mercer Island community to the annual Fine Arts Showcase, a two-day event celebrating the amazing accomplishments of our K-12 students in Performing Arts (Music and Drama) and Visual Arts.

Welcome to March! Winter is not yet behind us, but longer days and buds forming on trees give us hope that spring is coming. We have spring athletics, Fine Arts Showcase, and so much more to look forward to in March.

The Mercer Island School District is pleased to announce we have relaunched our District and school websites. 

The Mercer Island School District and the City of Mercer Island are pleased to announce a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the newly updated South Mercer Playfields (SMP) on Saturday, March 11, at noon.

To kickstart the second half of the 2022-2023 school year MISD celebrates Black History Month. 

Kindergarten registration for the 2023-24 school year begins on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. 

Mercer Island School District Superintendent Fred Rundle and Executive Director of Finance and Operations Matt Sullivan held a Budget 101 webinar for the Mercer Island community on Thursday, January 19, from 5-6pm.

The Mercer Island School District is reforming the Long Range Facility Planning Committee to update the MISD Facility Plan for 2023 and beyond.