Mercer Island Schools Don't Make Gold

Unlike several of our neighbors, Mercer Island schools are not in the top 100 nationwide, according to a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report.  Mercer Island High School received a "Silver", meaning we meet the ranking for "college readiness index" (a rough guide to how many students finish AP courses and other indicators of college success) , but we're out-classed by the following area schools:

School	College Readiness Index	Nationwide Rank
International Community (Kirkland)	88.2	17
Newport (Bellevue)	72.7	44
Garfield (Seattle)	53.2	N/A
Mercer Island	45.3	N/A

Too many Mercer Islanders will look at this and say "Oh this is great--we're better than average", but if you want your kids to have the best education possible, you should be disappointed.  Someday our kids will be competing worldwide for jobs and opportunities, and I don't want them left behind.  

Incidentally, here's how we compare to a few Silicon Valley schools:

Monte Vista (Cupertino)	67.8	59
Gunn (Palo Alto)	64	N/A
Homestead (Cupertino)	32.6	N/A

Interestingly, neither Los Altos nor Mountain View High made the list at all.

See Schoolmatters.com for a comprehensive list of schools, with far more details about each one, including the Mercer Island School District.  The Seattle Schools Blog has more interesting information and commentary.