Families move to Lopez Island and remain here in part because of the strength of the Lopez Island School District, which provides an individualized, broad-based education to its diverse yet small student body. Students are encouraged to excel in whatever interests them, from athletics to music to farm education. “We have amassed an amazing staff that is dedicated to teaching kids and helping them learn in whatever manner best suits them,” says former superintendent Bill Evans. “We go out of our way to deal with the whole student.”

The Lopez educational experience includes small class sizes, several subsidized opportunities for foreign travel to such places as Guatemala, France and Japan, involvement in the L.I.F.E. Garden program that teaches lifelong healthy habits, and a variety of athletic programs in which every student gets to play.

To get the word out about the wonderful opportunities that Lopez Schools provide and to help the district communicate to its students, parents and community, the Heller Family Foundation provided funding to the Lopez School Foundation for a new school Website. Launched in 2009, the Website outlines the school’s programs, teachers and policies and showcases the many outstanding features of this small but stellar public school.