Reversing an earlier decision, the Crest Block class will not be eliminated in the 2026-27 school year. The MIHS administration planned to close multiple programs this coming year, including the Crest Block class, because of budget cuts across the entire district. However, after a board meeting in late April, it was decided that Crest Block would be re-evaluated as a course and it is no longer being discontinued.

“When I think of Crest as a program, I think of an all-day school building where students can get access to a variety of core classes that are intentionally structured in such a way to have teachers who collaborate and overlap with each other,” Patrick Rigby, the current Crest Block teacher, said. “While Crest Block has been just one class, it has also been the foundation of that ecosystem of learning.”

Crest is a building down the street from the main high school campus that offers some classes including Horticulture, Marine Biology and Block (English and History combined). The Crest Block has been a foundational structure for many students who need an alternative, more personalized teaching style to thrive.

Jamie Prescott, Director of High School and Post-Secondary Success, explained how Crest was involved in the overall budgeting cuts at MIHS.

“There used to be more students enrolling in the [Crest] Block than there have been in the last few years, so there have been conversations about how to bolster enrollment and how to increase those things,” Prescott said. “But ultimately, this coming year as a high school, we were told we had to cut $500,000 in our budget, which is pretty significant … We really had to look carefully at where resources were allocated and where they’re concentrated and what choices we had to make.”

Crest has a strong reputation for providing alternatives to the main high school curriculum, so it is difficult for students to understand what went on behind the scenes to decide to close the Crest Block class in the first place.

“This has been something that we’ve been monitoring for three or four years now,” Principal Nick Wold said. “Crest Block is among 20 different class closures. So we have class closures across every single department in our school, from science to math to English to social studies to CCR — all of our departments have some class closures, just based on registration and student enrollment.”

When the administration announced it was eliminating the class, many students expressed surprise and sadness.

“I walked into Crest and saw some of my friends sobbing and I was like, ‘Oh no, what’s going on?’” Crest Block student Shay Smith said. “Then I saw administration in the big room and I was like, ‘It’s actually happening; Block is shutting down.’ I didn’t think it would go this far.”

Others raised awareness in the broader community, with one Crest graduate, Samantha Volchok, starting a petition. The petition had around 430 signatures after one week.

“At the main [high school] building, I honestly felt like it was very strict in a way that I felt was intimidating and it wasn’t helpful for me,” Volchok said. “I’m autistic and I feel like I needed something that was a little bit more flexible for my personality and for my needs, and honestly, if Crest [hadn’t been] there, I think I wouldn’t have gone to school.”

Several students said Crest is a vital part of their education because it offers an alternative to the main high school, where sometimes the setting can be overwhelming.

“Crest has been a safe space for me, and it’s so different from the regular high school classes,” Crest Block student Emilie James said. “School has never really felt easy for me. There were times when my mental health got so bad that I stopped going to school completely … [Crest] was the first time I actually felt comfortable at school. I could actually speak up, be involved and learn in a way that worked for me.”

The community that Crest has built is unique in that many students work together and socialize not only within the courses they take but also during lunch, breaks and outside of school.

“I kind of felt at home here and now the fact that [hey were] cutting it feels like they’re not really taking into consideration the value of it,” Smith said. “I think the community here is not going to be as strong and I’m really worried about that.”

Before the decision was re-evaluated, Crest students worried about changes they might undergo as they transitioned to more classes at the main campus.

“I’m just hoping I can take what Crest has taught me and try to carry that with me, even though I know it won’t be the same,” James said. “I hope my experience will be OK [at the main campus], but if I’m being honest, right now it feels more like something I just have to get through.”

Although its numbers may be decreasing, Crest Block maintains a reputation for growing throughout the year, leading to there being more students actually in the class than there were initially enrolled before the school year.

“While Mercer Island High School is an excellent educational institution, young people come into situations in their world where that’s not working for them,” Rigby said. “This program, especially the Block, has largely historically been built with room to grow because it is hard to predict when kids are going to need something different … Thirteen students have enrolled in Block since the school year started.”

During the April board meeting, community members fought for Crest Block to be kept running.

“Community members, whether it’s students, parents or alumni, even past Crest educators, came back to share their concerns and that in their opinion there should always be an option for an alternative school in our community,” Wold said. “I think they are planning to table our financial choices so that we can continue to study where we will want to go with alternative ed.”

While this is not a completely final decision, they are planning to dive into a deeper evaluation of why Crest is so essential for so many students. 

“I care about every kid, so it just means that we’re making decisions based on things that are sound inside of the values of our school district,” Wold said.

When tasked with making decisions and allocating resources for every single student at the high school, it comes down to where the values are most present, as well as simply the number of enrollment. Crest Block will continue to be reevaluated, but has no final plan as of right now.