Asa Mercer Middle School on Beacon Hill has been honored as a “high progress Reward School,” one of the highest-performing and most-improved Title I schools in Washington state. (Title I schools serve populations with a high percentage of low income families. Schools with the Title I designation receive special funding and assistance.) Mercer is one of 58 schools in Washington to be named as Reward Schools.

High progress Reward Schools such as Mercer scored in the top 10 percent of Title I schools in combined reading and math on state assessments during a three year period (2008-2011). Mercer was also noted as a “School of Excellence” in 2009, 2010, and 2011, an honor given to schools placing in the state’s top 5 percent for improvement in scores.