Mariner was one of 16 schools in the state selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the Washington State Achievers Program in 2001. As part of the requirements for the more than $1 million grant, Mariner was divided into six small learning communities at the beginning of the 2003–04 school year on September 2, 2003, undergoing a renovation and expansion at the same time that added 28 classrooms to the school. Designed by the DLR Group, the new classrooms were grouped into clusters of four and five to accommodate the new program.