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This Weekend
All-School Alumni Award Ceremony, April 21
Eight St. Mark’s graduates will be inducted into the Cloister of Distinguished Alumni during an all-School ceremony this Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT. All St. Mark's students are expected to attend, and chapel dress is required. Learn more about our impressive award recipients. View the Livestream.
No St. Mark's Saturdays Classes, April 22
SM Saturdays classes are NOT scheduled for this weekend. As a reminder, Saturday classes meet from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m., and School Meeting begins the day at 8:40 a.m. The remaining spring SM Saturdays dates are: April 29, May 6, and May 13.
AISNE High School Students of Color Conference, April 22
This Saturday, April 22, St. Mark's is excited to welcome approximately 400 participants, chaperones, speakers, guest teachers, and workshop leaders to campus for the annual AISNE High School Students of Color Conference. The one-day event for students from independent schools throughout New England will run from noon until 10:00 p.m., and will feature dynamic keynotes, affinity gatherings, a wide variety of attendee-led workshops, and a dance.
Cutler Jazz Festival, April 23
Come and enjoy a wonderful evening of jazz! The concert is free and open to the public, and will take place on Sunday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the Putnam Family Arts Center’s Class of '45 Hall. A reception will follow for an opportunity to greet the artists.
The Cutler Jazz Festival is an annual event that features and celebrates the St. Mark’s Jazz Band and St. Mark’s musicians who perform in the jazz and popular music areas. Each year, the group hosts bands from area schools as well as esteemed professional players. Jazz bands from BB&N, MIT, and Canton High School have joined us in the past, as well as esteemed guest artists such as Bill Pierce, Ralph Peterson, George Garzone and the Fringe, and the BT/ALC Big Band who have performed and conducted master classes for St. Mark’s students.
This year St. Mark's welcomes the world renowned saxophonist and percussionist Yosvany Terry, who also conducts jazz ensembles at Harvard University. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Terry, a Cuban-born, conservatory-trained musician who moved to New York in 1999, has centered his career on such multilevel fluencies. In recent years, along with a few other bandleaders of similar background, he has helped reframe the sound of Afro-Cuban jazz in New York, reaching for a flexibly cerebral, harmonically advanced and culturally resonant kind of fusion.” St. Mark's will also welcome a group of musicians from the MIT Jazz Band under the direction of Keala Kaumeheiwa.
Academics
Modified Academic Schedule, April 21
We will run a "special schedule" Friday, April 21. The day begins with Chapel as normal at 8:00 a.m., followed by a modified sequence of class blocks and the normal dismissal to athletics at 3:05 p.m. This schedule is put in place to balance class meetings as a result of missed Monday class days.
Admission
Please Note Re-Enrollment Contract Updates in Green
Over the past few weeks, most parents of current III, IV, and V Formers received a 2023-2024 contract for next year. However, if the contract(s) for your family is 'On Hold' by any of the School's departments, it will not be sent until the hold has been lifted. Additionally, if a family was late in completing a financial aid application for next year's re-enrollment, but has submitted all required materials to the FA Office since our last communication in April, your contract will be released soon.
Re-Enrollment Timeline:
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Contracts released March 13—April 20: re-enrollment contracts have been, and will continue to be, sent out in waves during this period. Contracts are released online via email from info+stmarksschool@schooladminonline.com (with a unique invitation link). Please make note: the subject line of the email you will be receiving for this is "Accessing St. Mark’s School’s Online Enrollment Portal." Important: in order for each parent to sign the contract(s), you must use your own authentication code sent to you in the email generated from our database on behalf of Admissions. Each code is unique to each parent and is tied to each parent's email address. Trying to access in other ways simply will not work.
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Ongoing: as deposits are confirmed with submitted contracts, the Admission Office will continue sending out countersigned contract copies to your family. We appreciate your patience with the countersigned copies, as our offices are trying to process a large volume of these as quickly as we can! Even if you choose to submit your deposit via credit card or electronic check, there are still steps we have to take in our offices to confirm and process these deposits.
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By April 20 (TODAY!): completed re-enrollment contracts and deposits are due by the end of this business day. Reminder: deposits are separate from tuition.
If you have any questions or did not receive your contract, please contact our admission staff at admission@stmarksschool.org.
Athletics
Reminder: Spring Schedules and Updates
Please continue to check your student's game schedules on the website if/when inclement weather comes our way:
https://www.stmarksschool.org/athletics/teams. Game scores and updates will also be communicated through our SM Athletics social media accounts. Twitter: @SMSSports Instagram: @SMAthletics
College Counseling
Reminder: Paying Less for College Parent Webinar on April 25
Parents of III, IV, and V Form students, please join us for an introductory SMARTTRACK webinar, What Parents Need to Know Now about Paying Less for College, on Tuesday, April 25, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. You must register in advance using this form in order to receive a link to the webinar.
Institutional Research & Community and Equity
Two Student Surveys, April 27
On Thursday, April 27, all students will be asked to take part in two anonymous surveys. The first is the High Achieving School Survey (HASS), and the second is the ‘Racial Equity In The School Community’ questionnaire. Both surveys are designed and overseen by external partners.
The HASS covers areas such as personal values, empathy and kindness, depression and anxiety, substance use, and relationships with family and friends. The survey is designed by an organization called Authentic Connections, which aims to help schools improve mental health and well-being. The Authentic Connections team consists of experienced researchers, clinicians, and consultants. Click here to learn more about this partner.
The ‘Racial Equity In The School Community’ survey is run by an external company called FLAIR. The questions provide an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to reflect on their views and experiences related to race while at school. The responses will give us a better idea of community experiences and help us to understand in which areas we can improve. For further information, you can watch a short video from FLAIR’s CEO and founder.
All the information submitted will remain completely anonymous. No identifying information—including names, birthdates, and IP addresses—will be collected. Your student's name will not appear anywhere on their response, and anonymous and aggregated survey data will be presented to St. Mark’s administrators only in terms of trends (by grade, gender, etc.). This video explains further how FLAIR protects participants’ identity.
Your student does not have to participate. If you do not want your student to participate, please contact Director of Institutional Research Sarah Enterline at sarahenterline@stmarksschool.org. Also, please know that if your student begins a survey but decides during the survey that they wish to withdraw, they may do so at any time.
Thank you very much for your support in this endeavor, and for playing your part in our efforts to continually improve our culture. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to sarahenterline@stmarksschool.org.
Community Life and Student Engagement
Weekend Activities
Want to know what's happening this weekend? Check out the Weekend Activities Google Doc for on-campus events and trips to off-campus locations.
Seated Meal and Evening Chapel, April 27
A reminder that seated meal and evening Chapel will take place from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. next Thursday, April 27. Chapel dress is required. The remaining seated meal and evening Chapel date for this year is June 7.
Reminder: Leadership Selection Information
We are in the midst of leadership selection for next year. Following the announcement of the 2023-2024 Monitors, the leadership selection process will continue with interviews for House Prefect, Peer Discussion Leader, Pathways Prefects, and SDC positions.
As you work to support your student through this process, we look for your partnership in encouraging strong self-reflection and clarity with regard to motivation. Our process is designed to help students think critically about seeking leadership roles as opposed to simply casting the net wide for the purposes of padding a resume. Our leadership information session, which was held prior to March Break, allowed students to hear from current leaders and advisors regarding the specifics of each role and applicable skill sets. We held group interviews and training sessions, which engaged students in role plays and problem-solving, allowing candidates to practice skills and explore their level of interest in serving the School community.
In addition, it is critical for students to think about their vision for the next academic year. This is especially important for rising VI formers. Housing choices, academic schedules, personal workload, study habits, and hopes for recreational time are all items we ask students to consider before completing the application process.
In short, it is our hope that the leadership selection process allows students to seek leadership roles that are in line with their desire to serve. Outside of the dedicated leadership roles, we are careful to remind students that we need all students to prioritize St. Mark's school work. Students who elect not to seek one of the dedicated roles are encouraged to stay tuned for information on how to contribute to the community through opportunities such as serving as a Pathways affinity group leader, admission tour guide, library prefect, Quad Games captain, peer mentor, and more.
Thank you for partnering with us to help students discover their goals and develop meaningful skills beyond the classroom. We will communicate leadership selection decisions for Pathways Prefects, House Prefects, Peer Discussion Leaders, and Student Discipline Committee representatives at the end of April.
Reminder: 2023-2024 Housing Information
The 2023-2024 student housing process will begin after the conclusion of the leadership selection process. For returning boarding students, housing is selected and assigned through a lottery system by form. A housing information session will take place on Friday, April 28; during this meeting, students will be introduced to the process, and they will have an opportunity to ask questions.
For the time being, students are encouraged to think about a peer in their same form who would be a good roommate. Students should think about what is most important to them in a roommate, and they should consider sleeping habits, room atmosphere, and levels of socialization in the room. Please ask your student for their thoughts about housing and rooming preferences, and remind them that their closest friend may not always be their ideal roommate. Single rooms are extremely limited, so students should begin by thinking about potential roommate pairings.
The number draw, a required first component of the housing lottery process, will take place on Monday, May 5, during the evening hours. Questions about the housing process can be directed to Maggie Caron, dean of student engagement, at margaretcaron@stmarksschool.org.
An Update on Prize Day 2023
Check your mailboxes! Prize Day announcements were mailed last week and will be arriving in mailboxes shortly. Additionally, digital swag and printables are now available online at this link.
The 158th Prize Day ceremony will be held on campus Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. under a tent on Belmont Field. For more information about Prize Day, as well as answers to frequently asked questions, please visit our Prize Day webpage.
Emergency Lockdown Drill Next Week
We will be having an emergency lockdown drill next week. EVERYONE on campus is expected to participate. Students were informed in School Meeting yesterday, and they received a follow-up email with details this morning.
Advancement
Please Save the Date for these Upcoming Events!
Speaker Series for Parents: Artificial Intelligence in Education
Presented by the Parents’ Association
Saturday, April 29, from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. EDT (in person and virtually)
Forbes Presentation Room, St. Mark’s School
Join Dean of Academics Nat Waters for an important and informative discussion about the role of artificial intelligence in education. Partner with the School, and hear how St. Mark’s educators are thinking about the implications of AI for our students' coursework, as well as their preparation for life and careers. Register here to attend in person or virtually.
State of the School for Parents with Head of School John C. Warren '74 Wednesday, May 10, at 7:00 p.m. EDT
Join Mr. Warren as he reflects on the current state of St. Mark's. This on-campus event will also be offered via livestream for those unable to attend in person.
Around the Quad
The Search for our Next Head of School
The Head of School Search webpage provides information for our community on the search for St. Mark's next Head of School. Please stay tuned to this newsletter for future updates on the search as it progresses.
SALE at the Online School Store
Looking for a St. Mark's gift and can't make it to campus? Shop the online St. Mark's School store here. For the month of April, receive 20 percent off grad signs and banners. Plus, orders totaling $50 or more receive free shipping. Happy shopping!
For More on What's Happening Inside the Pride
View photos from campus on our School's SmugMug page.
Read the latest news stories on our website.
Watch videos from St. Mark's on YouTube.
Enjoy the latest issue of St. Mark's Magazine.
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