Mercer Island High School

The math and science department have long been problematic. Post pandemic, the district spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new math curriculum, without providing the appropriate professional development and training for teachers to properly implement the curriculum that is supposedly more inclusive to all learning styles. So, no improvement in learning skills or mastering concepts. Over 100 students, at $8000 a math class, take math classes at a private learning center instead of at the high school. That says it all about the math program. Many teachers are not engaging, not preparing students for college or careers and vocations. They teach the lowest bar math in class and send kids home with more rigorous assignments to do with math tutors. Any success you see in math or science is because students are being tutored and parents are paying for that. While MIT and other prestigious schools for math and technology once accepted students from Mercer Island high school, they no longer do. They know the science and math program is a joke, there’s not even a STEM program. No engineering. Nothing for tech either. Come to Mercer Island and get a math and science education your parents did in the 80s. Oh and, you’ll need to hire someone to teach your student how to use their laptop — each student gets a Xerox Alto. The district isn’t going to help them learn how to use technology tools for the 21st-century. They do have a class to learn how to use the Cotton Gin though!

We moved here for the schools - which have been exceptional - and stayed for the community.Our children went thru Lakeridge, West Mercer E2 program, IMS, and MIHS.Continually challenged with AP courses, engaging instruction, and friendly helpful peers.Regarding other negative reviews: If your child is not interested in learning, this is probably the wrong district for you. The kids here are passionate, creative, and work hard. They push and support each other to excel. Very few cliques; no "popular" groups - actually the "popular" kids are the interesting ones - engaged in classes, sports, or the arts. There is room for all passions.What was surprising - and awesome - was that I did not have to encourage my children to study. Their peers did - simply for the love of learning. So I can see that if your child struggles to connect with others - due to learning/emotional disabilities - then MISD may be a struggle. That translates to poor reviews by bitter parents.In conclusion, this is a wonderful small engaged school district that is well worth our effort to move here. Good luck!

We moved here primarily for the schools. Overall, it's a very small school district which keeps the curricula at the HS level very limited. We moved out of state for a few years and by contrast in a much larger district, the middle and high schools had Latin, a 4-year college credit-qualified course of engineering classes, a debate team, and a much more developed math curriculum at the high school level. (MIHS has none of those.) There were also much more inclusive academic competition programs for students. The 1st thing you should know is that the band director is the highest paid employee of the school district, and the band program runs this island. If your child is serious about music, this is great. If your child loves music and it is a big part of their life for recreational purposes, but your child does not have a single-focus devotion to music at a very high level, you should be prepared to see all other programs and activities they participate in be deprioritized for the band program. Don't get me wrong: the band program is amazing. The issue is that there's no balance, and not every kid wants band as their #1 priority. Your kid will literally be pulled mid-varsity competition from their sport to participate in a band event, if there is a conflict. Conflicts will not be resolved in favor of other activities. Other activities directors (including the AD) will not advocate for their students or their programs vis a vis the band. The other main thing about Mercer Island is that it's very content to rest on its laurels and generally, already being convinced of its own greatness, does not strive for continuous improvement. It has been fully eclipsed recently by Newport, Lake Washington, and other schools in the Bellevue School District, which admittedly is a bigger district which may help it offer more to students. The district will do everything to avoid qualifying your child for Special Education services. Internally and externally they will pit the Hi-Cap program against Special Ed, creating and fueling division among parents (assuming there aren't parents with one kid in each of those categories - which is what I am, so I see both sides of this). For example when the high school cut advanced Calculus recently, the principal's public statement was that literally she would've liked to keep it, but she needed the funding for Special Ed. This is unhealthy and despicable behavior but not unique, unfortunately. Caveat emptor!

Very disappointed. The teachers are not effective at motivating or inspiring students. At the end of the year I heard students say they felt so glad to be done with school. The school fails to build a love of learning or build self esteem. I didn't have a positive experience and don't recommend this school.

My daughter went straight through Mercer Island schools from K-12. It is a tough school district, but she rose to the occasion. She was constantly being challenged by her peers, as all of the kids come from high achieving backgrounds. I moved here specifically for the schools and I could not have made a better decision. She was leaps ahead of her 3 year older cousin in Seattle Public Schools. She would show her, a straight A student how to do her homework. She would say, "Oh we learned that last year...let me show you". Move ahead 8 years. She has her dream job. Makes more than me already. And she graduated from her chosen college with NO DEBT. She got an academic scholarship at 50 percent. She also got accepted into every college that she applied to. I am so proud of her. Please believe me the higher home prices on island were worth her not getting any college debt. Also, I might mention she graduated with only a 3.2, but with a super high SAT score and Mercer Island nationally known as a high performing school she had her pick of the all colleges she applied at.