Issaquah School District (ISD) is the only school district on the Eastside that does not provide a full-time Highly Capable program beyond elementary school. Lake Washington School District provides gifted program through middle school, and Bellevue School District provides gifted program through high school.
Many families make home purchase decisions based on school quality. Not having a gifted program through high school put our community at a disadvantage compared to Bellevue and other cities. This eventually leads to lower property tax revenue, the major source of funding for our schools. We have known many families and friends in the past moved out of our neighborhood to other cities citing education as the main reason of moving.
The communities of ISD have the most beautiful nature and outdoors in our area. We are frequently cited as the one of the top places to live in the nation. Our people are well-educated and hard-working. Our children also deserve high quality of education.
Although ISD currently provides a variety of options to accommodate the needs of highly capable students, the majority of these classes are based on self-select. This makes it difficult for the teachers to provide education that is both challenging and accommodating to the whole class, due to the various levels of understandings and capabilities on the subject matters. We demand ISD to offer these advanced classes in a more effective manner better tailored to students' capabilities.
We demand ISD to establish full-time Highly Capable programs for middle school and high school. This will significantly boost the reputation of ISD public school system, serve the various needs of our community better, and make our communities not only a great place to live, but also where our kids will thrive.
