Next Monday and Tuesday, the Mercer Island Schools Foundation (MISF) will begin its annual fall fundraising campaign, the Phone-A-Thon, to support academic curriculum and enrichment for Mercer Island schools. Volunteers will call Island households over the course of two nights, Nov. 3-4.

This year’s goal of $445,300 is slightly up from last year’s goal of $440,800, which executive director Penny Yantis said was met with gifts from the community.

“We are very fortunate to do the work that we do for students and teachers in this community. It’s the community that makes up the schools foundation,” Yantis said. “We have a very supportive community that values education and wants the best for their kids and we’re here to help provide it.”

Yantis said donations raised have helped fund a new K-2nd grade literacy curriculum, professional development for teachers, and enrichment grants and support plans at all five schools. Donations from this year’s Phone-A-Thon will help fund curriculums including K-5th grade math, K-8th grade science and music, drama, dance and visual arts for all grade levels.

“It’s the full gamut of great education for kids, helping create as much personalized learning environments for kids, and with programs that aren’t necessarily reading, writing and arithmetic, but help support student growth,” she said.

MISF has also provided textbooks. About 95 percent of texts books in the district were purchased through donations from MISF, which Yantis says goes way back. Funding classroom materials has been a long-standing tradition with the schools foundation.

“We’ve done new math curriculum, new language and arts, new reading and writing curriculum. Any new curriculum that comes online is adopted through funding through the schools foundation,” Yantis said. “Those are the things that are funded by donations that make our schools so incredibly strong. They allow for our school district to move faster in changing to keep curriculum current than without schools foundation funding.”

Donations can be made online at www.misf.com/donate or mailed to the Mercer Island Schools Foundation at P.O. Box 1243, Mercer Island, Wash. 98040.