Our History

For four decades, The Island School has been creating a safe, supportive learning environment for children and their families. In 1977, Nancy and David Leedy and Kelly Webster sat around their kitchen table and dared to dream of a school community that valued every child. That fall The Island School opened in a garage in Rolling Bay on Bainbridge Island, with eleven kindergarteners and first graders.

Over the years, hundreds of children and adults have shared this vision and helped shape The Island School. By 1980, enrollment had doubled, and while kindergarten stayed in Rolling Bay, the first, second and third grades were housed in a portable building at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Winslow. Thanks to families and friends of the school, the Day Road property was purchased in 1982, and the first part of the current building was finished in 1983. The space was doubled in 1989, and portables were added in 1994 as the school expanded to add fourth and fifth grades. A remodel and addition in 2001 provided the classroom, library and office space enjoyed by all today. In 2008, the school completed its Campus Master Plan with the addition of Webster Hall, providing the school with a long-awaited gymnasium, stage and kitchen.