The Bellevue School District serves students in the city of Bellevue plus the communities of Beaux Arts, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Medina, Yarrow Point and parts of Renton, Issaquah, Redmond and unincorporated King County.

After making a common curriculum for all its students more rigorous and challenging, the district now is in the top one percent in the nation in terms of student participation in advanced-level coursework and readiness for college.

Bellevue is known for its full-day kindergartens and a K-12 Spanish immersion program. Bellevue has more teachers with National Board Certification than any district in the state, and twice as many as the district with the state's second highest number.

A major effort to upgrade all the district's schools began in 2003 with the construction or renovation of 12 schools. A second phase, which will include rebuilding three elementary schools, two middle schools and Bellevue High, continues following the 2008 passage of the district's largest-ever construction bond measure, easily approved by voters.

Bellevue schools enjoy substantial community support, especially from the powerful Bellevue Schools Foundation, which raises significant funding for enrichment programs and especially targets the needs of struggling or economically disadvantaged students.

Superintendent: Karen Clark, interim.

Alternative programs: Robinswood Middle/High School alternative school. Kelsey Creek Home-School Center.

The numbers: 2.5% African-American, 25.6% Asian-American, 7.8% Hispanic, .3% Native American, 8.7% Multi and 55% White; 18.6% low-income; 8.5% special education; 9.2% ESL.

Funding: A four-year, $136 million operations levy and a five-year, $51 million technology capital projects levy were approved in 2006. A 20-year, $545 million construction bond measure passed in March 2008.