More renovations planned for Mary Wayte Pool | School briefs

Published 10:59 am Tuesday, October 13, 2015

More renovations planned for pool

Though Mary Wayte Pool hosted its grand re-opening last September, it may be in store for another in the not too distant future.

Following a resurfacing project in August that pool managers expect will extend the pool’s life by a decade or more, Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano told City Council members the school district is planning to earmark $3.8 million for further renovations to the pool in the 2016 capital levy. The next wave of renovations would include replacement of the pool’s 40-year-old pipes.

The district has an interlocal agreement with the city, a 10-year commitment of operating subsidies from the city in exchange for the school district putting up to $3 million into upgrades for the pool’s infrastructure.

“In doing some investigation, we found that if we added an additional $800,000, we will be able to retrofit all of the major mechanical infrastructure systems, thereby rendering the pool many, many more years, potentially 30 years of serviceable life,” Plano said.

The six-year capital levy will not go into effect until 2017, meaning capital levy funds will not be available for the district to begin further pool renovations until then at the earliest. MISD CFO Dean Mack estimated the project will take place in 2-3 years, he stated in an email to the Reporter.

53 MIHS students ‘commended’

The National Merit Scholarship Program sent a letter of commendation to 53 Mercer Island High School students, who are among the 34,000 Commended Students recognized throughout the nation. These students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2015 competition.

Mercer Island’s National Merit Commended Students for 2015-16 are: Alexander J. Banbury, Jackson W. Borek, Benjamin J. Chase, Wesley L. Ecoiffier, Daniel S. Gest, Bailey A. Groh, Eliana B. Grosof, Jennifer E. Kang, Eric S. Kim, Chahyon L. Ku, Sabrina C. Kwan, Jacqueline S. Li, Namya Malik, Elly S. McMillan, Claire J. Moore, Kira R. Newell, Abraham K. Newman, Brian M. Oppenheim, Jonathan B. Perr, Samuel F. Pirie, Tomasz A. Prussak, Alison L. Rosenman, William E. Schulz, Helena J. Shield, Jeongmin Shin, David M. Stein, Noah S. Talerman, Emma R. Van Orden, Benjamin Vandenbosch, Amanda M. Wall, Vienna M. Weber, Ryan L. Wong, Anna E. Yoshida, Artemis B. Zafari and Jason R. Zhu.

Northwood selects mascot, colors

Northwood Elementary principal Aimee Batliner-Gillette told the School Board on Oct. 8 that the school selected the Owl as its official mascot.

In concert with the Owl, and also Northwood’s building colors, the school colors will be yellow and dark gray, like an owl’s eyes.

Batliner-Gillette and her school’s core team, which consists of six K-5th grade teachers, received input from students through a survey before making a decision. Animals that served as options were animals specific to the Northwest.

Batliner-Gillette said her team meets twice a month and remains busy in the beginning stages of designing the building, developing school themes and other general planning for how the school will take shape.