The Power of Learning

September 12, 2025

According to BCF’s 2024/25 Community Report, 87% of respondents on Bainbridge Island positively rated opportunities for education, culture, and the arts, including K-12 education, reflecting strong support for both education and lifelong learning in the community. Nonetheless, declining enrollment rates in public schools and budget deficits has put this high rating at risk for K-12. Below are some key highlights.

In Washington State, the amount of funding that school districts receive varies based on certain characteristics of the district. In total, state dollars make up about 73% of the district’s budget. Local revenue sources, like property tax levies, donations and grants, make up 25% and federal funding comes in at about 2%.

Thankfully, nonprofits like the Bainbridge Schools Foundation provide vital support for public school needs, while other organizations extend their assistance to education beyond the classroom and adult learning as well.

Academic interventionist positions are funded by the Bainbridge Schools Foundation, making academic success possible for every student.

From the first days of kindergarten through the final years of high school, students in Bainbridge Island School District receive targeted academic support that helps build skills, confidence, and independence. At the elementary level, Reading Club offers small-group, personalized instruction for students who need extra help with foundational literacy skills.

Parents have seen the impact of this support. One first-grade parent shared, “A few weeks ago, our first grader read their first chapter book ever, all by themself. Just months ago, this same first grader would shut down when encouraged to sound out words on a menu. They’d say ‘I can’t read’ when opening mail from family or a letter from their pen pal. Reading Club provided a safe, encouraging, and accomplishment-focused environment for them to learn not only how to read, but how to believe in themselves. When they were done reading their first chapter book, they threw their hands up in the air and said, ‘I’m a reader!’ with the biggest, brightest, proudest grin.”

This kind of support continues at the secondary level through the Achieve program at Woodward Middle School and Academic Workshop classes at Bainbridge High School. These programs offer small classes and one-on-one help to strengthen study habits, catch up on work, and build the confidence to speak up for themselves. Carrie Newman, an 8th grade Language Arts teacher, said, “The biggest successes in Achieve come not necessarily from a student’s increased performance in school, but more from a comfort that they develop about what they can tackle on their own.” Learn more about Bainbridge Schools Foundation.

On a Friday night, two moms got together to do some pottery and talk about life and children. Soon, the group grew to three, and then four. Three of the moms worked with neurodivergent children professionally. All four were neurodivergent themselves and raising neurodivergent kids. There were a lot of connections and shared experiences.

Two months later, they created Neurodiverse Connections, a local nonprofit that envisions a world where every neurodivergent child grows up knowing that he, she, or they has value, exactly as they are, without needing to mask or change. In the schools, they focus on NeuroEmpathy Workshops to build empathy and understanding for neurodiversity by offering educators experiences that mirror how school tasks might feel for neurodivergent students.

For example, during one task, BISD educators were treated to an “auditory obstacle course” of Hamlet overlaid by common classroom noises at unpredictable volumes, mirroring how many neurodivergent students feel when sensitive to noise. Participants were encouraged to notice their own responses which included racing hearts, disconnection, and hands over ears when the mock fire alarm sounded.

One of the founders, Meg Wolf, explains “The goal of NeuroEmpathy is to provide an experience that challenges the way we are accustomed to processing the world. It’s one thing to understand ADHD or dyslexia conceptually, but when we get to spend time actively trying to navigate the differences, challenges, and frustrations that are part of neurodivergent life, we gain a much deeper understanding.” Learn more about Neurodiverse Connections.

Bainbridge Island offers countless opportunities for lifelong learning, including enriching programs like Great Decisions supported by Library U.

In May 2025, Former Washington governor Jay Inslee moderated a group discussion on international climate change cooperation as part of the library’s Great Decisions program, an annual event series that presents high-level issues to the public for education and debate.

According a story covering the event in the Bainbridge Island Review, Inslee has been working on climate issues for most of his career. He was honored by Time Magazine as an “Earth Hero” for his work toward climate resiliency independent of national leadership as governor of Washington and for his participation at the international COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, a three-day U.N. event covering climate change and its global impacts.

More than 150 attendees participated in the event held on May 4, which featured a 30-minute presentation and a panel Q&A session. This gathering marked the final installment of this year’s Great Decisions series, which also explored key topics in U.S. foreign policy, including relations with China, the Middle East, NATO allies in Europe, and the role of artificial intelligence in homeland security.

Other recent events included a discussion with Dr. David Fenner, from the U.W. Jackson School of International Studies, who lead a February 2025 conversation about the current situation in Gaza in Bethany Lutheran Church. Bainbridge Islander Dale Perry at a March 2023 program on the war in Ukraine at the Bainbridge Public Library. When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Dale started an aid operation from Poland to purchase and deliver relief aid to Ukraine.

Now in its nineteenth year, Great Decisions at the Library is part of a nation-wide, non-partisan program of the Foreign Policy Association intended to broaden public involvement in foreign affairs. Each conversation features different speakers and explores new topics.