Reporter staff
Academy for Precision Learning
The school welcomes a new general education teacher, Nora Armstrong, who is certified in K-8. Currently, four full-time students are enrolled. Check the Web site, www.aplschool.org, for information about upcoming open house nights and tours. A fundraiser will take place on Sept. 8.
Children’s Institute for Learning Differences
CHILD welcomes a new curriculum administrator this year. The academic curriculum includes art, music, nutrition and shop, in which children work with wood, other media and tools to build what they design, such as ships, airplanes and birdhouses. CHILD will continue its developmental therapy services in speech, language, occupational therapy and counseling. A Board of Trustee and teacher dinner will precede Parent Night on Sept. 18, and an upcoming National Medical Report documentary about Autism Spectrum Disorder will feature CHILD on PBS. CHILD admits children ages 3 to 17 throughout the year, and registration depends on space available.
ETC Preparatory Academy
The academy recently moved to the 9655 building near Mercer Island City Hall and is renting Holy Trinity Lutheran Church’s education wing. Three new teachers have joined the staff of 35: Michael Berger, Karen Lindblad and Kim York. This fall, the academy will feature “Homework Hero,” a program serving a maximum of five kids from Islander Middle School. The program will help children with homework and organizational skills. In addition, the academy offers an SAT and ACT prep class, and eight languages: French, Spanish, American sign language, German, Japanese, Chinese, Latin and Russian.
French-American School of Puget Sound
As one walks through the halls of the French American School of Puget Sound on Mercer Island, one is likely to hear mostly French or English. The first language of the students, however, could be Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese or Arabic, to name a few of the 23 nationalities represented on campus.
Students learn in a multi-cultural environment that encompasses a rigorous academic program in both French and English, a constant linguistic exposure beyond the classroom, and an understanding of international perspectives and cultures.
Next year, an International Middle School will open with sixth grade, offering two programs: French-American Studies and International Studies. French American Studies will allow YPK through fifth-grade students to continue their bilingual education through eighth grade. International studies will enable the school to admit students without prior French language experience, thus increasing students’ social and extra-curricular activities.
The school, located on Mercer Island since 1999, is a non-profit bilingual immersion school that empowers its diverse community of 280 students to succeed in both the French and American systems, and builds the foundation for all children to fully realize their potential in a multicultural world.
Northwest Yeshiva
High School
This year, classrooms will feature special SMART boards, which will allow all lessons to be saved in different types of files and downloaded to students’ laptops. 15 new laptops were purchased. The school welcomes four new teachers: Ginger Hess and Eirech Schweikher, language arts; Benjamina Menashe, Jewish history; and Rabbi Schmuell Brdy, Jewish studies.
Privett Academy
Classes begin today, Sept. 5. This fall, the academy will offer a new course: honors precalculus. The academy is a diploma-granting institution for sixth through twelfth grades and offers high school courses and tutoring for credit. It is a 501-C3 non-profit institution.
St. Monica School
The school welcomes a new kindergarten teacher, Tara Rastetter; an art teacher, Regina Park; and a librarian, Melissa DeBruyne. School classrooms have new SMART boards—interactive white boards. Good works continue with Sparrow Club, a national organization that helps critically ill children. St. Monica School assists one child and family each year with prayer, fundraising and paying for expenses. An all-school barbecue will take place at noon on Sept. 5.
Complete Education, Inc., and American Academy is also in session. Please visit www.completeeducation.org for more information.
