Mercer Island community raises $850K for schools!

We did it! At the end of the day on June 1, 2010 the Mercer Island Schools Foundation and PTA Bridge the Gap Task Force announced that our community has met the $170,000 challenge grant put forth by generous donors. This year, 1,493 people gave to Bridge the Gap, and participation among families with children in the schools increased by 150 percent. Including the challenge grant, the campaign raised a total of $850,000, well over the $500,000 budget gap!

“Half of our families with school-aged children gave to the campaign, and we received another 218 gifts from donors with no children in our schools," according to Penny Yantis, MISF executive director. She said gifts came from City Council members, past MISF Board members, teachers, friends, pre-school parents, grandparents of our school families and many other community leaders. “We also have 113 people who have given more than once to this campaign. We are just so grateful to all of our donors. This is a community that truly cares about our schools, teachers and most of all –our students.”

These additional funds will allow our district to retain teachers and help ease crowded classrooms at the elementary, middle and high schools. Other districts are laying-off teachers, but because of the amazing response to this campaign, Mercer Island’s class sizes on average will be smaller when school starts in the fall. This is an incredible effort by an entire community working together to ensure that all students are prepared for the cognitive, global and digital world.

Mercer Island School District Superintendent Gary Plano said, “I am simply overwhelmed by the caring spirit of every single person who has given to this campaign. On behalf of all of our students and staff, thank you for this wonderful support.”