Located 35 miles northeast of Seattle in the Skykomish Valley, in the southeast corner of Snohomish County, Monroe has rapidly grown from a rural community to a suburb.

The Monroe School District faces the challenges of housing its expanding student population, and prides itself on a variety of academic programs as well as its flexibility in meeting the needs of the growing community.

Superintendent: Ken Hoover was hired in June 2006.

Alternative/home school programs: Leaders in Learning, Sky Valley Education Center.

The numbers: 1% African American, 3.4% Asian American, 13.1% Hispanic, 1.3% Native American, 79.3% White; 19.5% low-income 10.2% special-education; 5.8% ESL.

Funding: A four-year, $53.1 million operations levy and a two-year, $4.7 million capital levy to replace aging school-building roofs and heating systems were approved in 2008.