School district leaders have long discussed why and where Island parents decided to take their students to school.

As the school district plans to rebuild Island schools, much of the discussion has included how many students the district needs to accommodate. Part of that equation means counting the number of students who attend private schools.

Enrollment at Mercer Island schools has rebounded somewhat from 2007 with the advent of the recession and more students living on the Island in new housing, primarily in the Town Center.

A chart prepared by the Mercer Island School District shows how many Island school-age children attend private school, either here or off-Island.

According to school district data for the 2011-2012 school year, 468 students attended 29 private schools both on and off the Island for the school term in 2011- 2012.

The total is down 51 students or about 11 percent from 2007 levels. It represents between 12 to 15 percent of Island school-age students.

For the 2011-2012 school term, the highest number of Islander students attending private schools could be found at St. Monica School, with 83 students, an amount down slightly from 2007.

There were 63 Island youth who attended the French-American School here, up from 47 five years ago.

Three off-Island schools had 30 or more Islanders attending. They are Forest Ridge, Lakeside and Seattle Academy.

Five schools had between 15 and 24 Islander students. They are Eastside Catholic, Holy Names, The Bush School, Open Window School and Seattle Preparatory Academy.

Five schools had between 10 and 15 students, including Seattle Hebrew Academy, Seattle Girls School, Seattle Country Day, Northwest Yeshiva High School  and The Northwest School.