Our District

The Mead School District has a passion to position our students for success now and in the future. We do this through a commitment to providing each student with an outstanding education, building and maintaining safe schools and partnering with our community. Mead School District is a public school system serving north Spokane for over 100 years.

 

• 92% "on-time" (4-year) graduation rate at Mead and Mt. Spokane High Schools
• 95% "extended" (5-year) graduation rate at Mead and Mt. Spokane High Schools
• 7 out of 10 high school graduates attend college - tops in the Spokane Region (Spokesman, August 2013)
• Newsweek/The Daily Beast (2013) ranked both our high schools among "America's Best High Schools"
• Washington School Research Center ranks the Mead district in the state's top 5% for performance

• Elementary: In addition to core academics offer music (band, choir, orchestra), intramural sports and Quest, a program for gifted students
• Secondary: 250+ course offerings including an advanced placement program. music (orchestra, band, jazz, choir), art, drama, languages, Project-Lead-The-Way engineering and bio-med courses, plus vocational classes offered in house and at the Skills Center
• One of only three districts statewide to be named a S.T.E.M. Lighthouse District, teaching accelerated science, technology, engineering and mathematics - only district in the state to receive a $25,000 grant in conjunction with this designation
• Both traditional high schools offer rich athletic programs; Mead is a 4A school and Mt. Spokane is 3A - 65% of high school students participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular programs and athletics

• 2012 & 2011 Washington Achievement Award - Mountainside Middle School
• 2013, 2012 & 2011 School of Distinction Award - Five Mile Prairie School
• 2011 & 2007 High School Principal of the Year (Great Spokane League)
• 2011 WORD Administrator of the Year (Washington Organization of Reading Development)
• 2011 Administrator of the Year (Washington Association for Learning Alternatives)
• 2010 Washington Achievement Award - Shiloh Hills Elementary
• 2010 Washington State Coach of the Year
• 2010 Washington State Forensics Coach of the Year
• 2009 Blue Ribbon School (U.S. Depart. of Education) - Colbert Elementary
• 2009 ESD 101 Teacher of the Year
• 32 National Board Certified Teachers
• Teachers average 15 years experience and 77% have a masters degree

• $121.5 million operating budget, 85% of which pays for staff
• Expert financial leadership:
• Superintendent Dr. Tom Rockefeller is an adjunct professor teaching graduate-level finance at the university level
• CFO Wayne Leonard has more than 25 years in school district financial management, 8 years as a state auditor reviewing school districts and universities, and is former President of the Washington Association of School Business Officials
• Board members have over 90 years of collective board experience and they bring extensive prior experience in financial management

• 80% State government
• 14% Local taxes
• 6% Federal government

• 70% Teaching
• 5 % Central Office Administration
• 6% Building Administration
• 8% Maintenance
• 5% Transportation
• 3% Food Service
• 3% Other