MIHS ranked among nation’s Best High Schools

Mercer Island High School has again been recognized among the nation’s Best High Schools in the 2016 annual rankings by U.S. News and World Report for student achievement.

“This is great news,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano. “It is an honor to be ranked again among the nation’s Best High Schools and validates how well our students are prepared for college and their future careers with new century skills in critical thinking, collaboration, invention and creativity. This recognition is also a testament to our students’ dedicated teachers and supportive families.”

Mercer Island is ranked eighth in Washington out of 477 high schools in the state, and 654th out of more than 28,500 high schools in the United States, earning silver medal status from U.S. News.

To create the 2016 Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News worked with RTI International, a North Carolina-based research firm. High schools were evaluated in four areas: overall student performance on state assessments, how effectively schools educated their low-income and minority students, graduation rate and college readiness.

High schools that made it through this analysis were then eligible to be ranked nationally. U.S. News determines the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work by analyzing student success in Advanced Placement (AP), which includes college-level courses.

See the report at www.usnews.com.

MIHS science teacher Larry Bencivengo awarded grant to conduct research at UW

Larry Bencivengo, a science teacher at Mercer Island High School, has been awarded a grant in the Partners in Science program of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

During the next two summers, he will be conducting basic science research with Dr. Russell Van Gelder, professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Washington and director of the UW Medicine Eye Institute.

“This is a tremendous honor for Larry and for our district to receive this grant,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano. “He is an outstanding teacher and our students will benefit from his participation in basic research at UW.”

“I have found experiences working in labs provide me with invaluable insights into the working life of actual scientists,” Bencivengo said. “Students who are interested in science benefit from finding out what the daily working life of a researcher is actually like, and the more experiences I have, the better I will understand the diversity of research experiences.

“I have also changed the way I teach in response to these summer programs. For example, I now include a computer-programming project in all my classes after seeing how essential this skill set has become in every lab I worked in or visited. I feel excited to get back to school where I can share my experiences with students.”

Following each summer of research, he will share his work at both regional and national Partners in Science conferences.

Bencivengo has taught at MIHS for 22 years and was honored as one of the district’s Teachers of the Year in 2015.

These grants were awarded through a competitive process in the Partners in Science program at the Murdock Trust.

Learn more about the program at www.sciencepartners.org.