Mackinac Island School District

Mackinac Island School District is a public school district serving the city of Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. The school district occupies a land area of 4.35 square miles (11.27 km²), which includes Mackinac Island and the uninhabited Round Island. The district was established in 1848.[1]

Mackinac Island School District
Mackinac Island Public School
7846 Main Street (M-185) Mackinac Island, Michigan 49757
District information
Grades	PK–12
Established	1848[1]
President	Jason St. Onge
Vice-president	Terry Andress
Superintendent	vacant
Schools	1
Students and staff
Students	67 (2019–20)
Teachers	9
Student–teacher ratio	7.44:1
Other information
District area	4.35 sq mi (11.27 km2)
Website	Official website

It is governed by a school board of seven elected members. One school building, on Lake Shore Drive, is sufficient to serve the entire island, which usually has around 80 pupils in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th. There are 14 teachers employed at the school as well as support staff. The school building was built in 1962 and enlarged in 2000 to include a regulation-size gymnasium. The school's basketball, soccer, volleyball, track, cross country, and golf athletic teams, the Lakers, play in Michigan's Northern Lights League with other rural, island-based and small-enrollment schools in far northern Michigan.

Mackinac Island's Lakers have a traditional rivalry with the teams fielded by Lake Michigan's Beaver Island. The two islands have had an antagonistic relationship since the 1850s.[2] With 28 pupils enrolled in ninth through twelfth grade eligible for varsity athletic competition in the 2006-2007 school year (16 pupils enrolled in the 2015-2016 school year), Mackinac Island Public School is the second smallest public school, and eighth smallest overall, of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's 760 member high schools.[3]

MIPS operated the Thomas W. Ferry School, named after former U.S. Senator Thomas W. Ferry, from 1867 until 1960-1961. The Ferry School met in the historic wood-frame Indian Dormitory. After state lawmakers asked the Island to build a brick school building, MIPS constructed a new structure built to meet standards of life and safety. The Mackinac Island Public School opened for instruction on September 11, 1961.[4]

MIPS has no school bus. In the fall and spring students walk and ride bicycles to school, as traditional motor vehicles are banned on the island. In winter many take snowmobiles.[5]