September 21, 2023

Your weekly newsletter from St. Mark's School

Academic Information

VI Form Students Required to Attend Class This Saturday, September 23

In support of our Saturday Project VI class, led by our College Counseling Office, VI Form students are required to attend class at 9:00 a.m. this Saturday, September 23. Please send questions to Mr. Monheim.

St. Mark's Saturdays Classes Continue September 30

The fall semester of St. Mark's Saturdays continues on Saturday, September 30. You can read more about these courses and the alignment of Experiential Learning with the School mission in the course guide. 

• Mark your calendars for the remaining Fall SM Saturdays: September 30, October 21 and 28, November 11, and December 2 and 9. 
• School Meeting starts on these days at 8:40 a.m., and classes run from 9:00—11:30 a.m.
• Students must coordinate permission to miss class with the Dean of Students’ Office in advance.

Dean of Students' Office Announcements

All-School Photo on Thursday, September 28

Smile! The School photo and VI Form photo will take place on Thursday, September 28, at 12:45 p.m.

When in Doubt, Sign Out!

Anytime a boarding student leaves campus, even with parents or an advisor, we ask that students go through the proper sign-out procedure. Students need to get verbal permission from a faculty member to leave, check their riding permission status, and sign out properly using Orah. We appreciate your support in this matter. 

Overnight Permissions Due by Noon on Thursdays

Please complete overnight permissions by noon on Thursdays. Although we do realize that plans can sometimes change, the School will approve late requests only on a case-by-case basis. Should there be an emergency issue that requires an overnight after the deadline, you must contact the administrator on duty at 508.380.8667.

Special Permissions Require Advance Notice and an Email

If you are requesting "special permission" to miss a School commitment, we ask that you give us advance notice (a few days, please!) to complete the process. Email all special permissions to deanofstudents@stmarksschool.org or to Associate Dean Margaret Caron. Thank you for your help with these deadlines.

Roommate Agreements

Boarding students will be completing and signing roommate agreements during house meetings in the coming week. Students are encouraged to think about communication, sleep habits, cleanliness, hosting guests, and borrowing/sharing items. Students will be working on communicating their needs and demonstrating self-advocacy. 

Sleep and Student Wellness

We are committed to helping St. Mark’s students learn how to manage their time and build healthy sleep habits, which will allow them to rest and rejuvenate in order to be best prepared to learn. Sleep is vital to knowledge acquisition and to making good choices. We schedule required study halls for all boarding students Sunday—Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and have expectations about when students should be in their rooms and preparing for sleep. In order to best support your student, we require the following:

• III Form students to be in their own rooms at 10:00 p.m. with their lights out at 10:30 p.m.
• IV and V Form students to be in their own rooms at 10:30 p.m. with their lights out generally at 11:00 p.m. 
• VI Form students do not have an “official” lights out time, but we ask VI Formers to be in their own rooms at 11:00 p.m. We find that by the VI Form year, most students are asleep by midnight.

We encourage families of day students to develop a study and “lights out” routine as a way of supporting your student’s time management and sleep practice. Please talk with your student about their sleep patterns and their homework load. If you discover your student could use support maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, encourage them to seek support from their advisor, house faculty, Health Services, the Academic Support Office, and/or any other trusted adult.

Colds and Flu

As is typical for the third week of school, our Health Services nurses have been caring for an influx of students with colds. Every year as students come back together at any school, the adjustment to new sleeping, eating, and activity schedules creates stress, which contributes to a dip in immunity. This is especially true for teenagers who live in close contact with each other. It is easy for viral illnesses to spread quickly. 

We continue to encourage students to maintain healthy habits, especially good handwashing, and to come to Health Services when they feel ill. Our nurses regularly rapid test anyone who exhibits symptoms that could be consistent with COVID 19 (nasal congestion, sore throat, fever, etc). If your day student is ill, please call Health Services at 508.361.0467 to report any absences from School. 

Weekend Activities

Want to know what's happening this weekend? For on-campus events and trips to off-campus locations, check out the Weekend Activities Google Doc.

College Counseling Preparation

Class of 2024 Parents and Guardians Zoom Meeting on September 27

The College Counseling Team invites you to a Zoom Meeting on Wednesday, September 27 from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. EDT. What does the fall look like for VI Formers at St. Mark's? & What exactly happens in VI Form Saturday class?

SMARTTRACK for All Parents and Guardians

St. Mark's will once again partner with SMARTTRACK, a College Funding program. SMARTTRACK's program can help any family that needs help paying for college, even those that may not qualify for need-based financial aid but will still find financing college burdensome. The program includes online resources as well as a complimentary personal college funding evaluation with a SMARTTRACK team member. You can learn more and schedule your free consultation by clicking on this link. The program is available to all St. Mark's families; it is never too early to start planning for college financing.

Save the Date!

Please plan to join us for an introductory SMARTTRACK webinar, What Parents Need to Know Now about Paying Less for College, on Thursday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Save the date now! We'll send webinar access information closer to October 5.

Admission Office Updates

New Financial Aid Application Platform

New this year, St. Mark's financial aid office has shifted to the Clarity financial aid application platform. Families who currently receive financial aid should have received an announcement email with more details from "stmarksschool@schooladminonline.com" with the subject line "St. Mark's Financial Aid Office Annual Application Reminder." If you have questions, please contact the financial aid office.

Chaplains' Corner

Parent Volunteers Needed!

St. Mark’s School is hosting ESOL (English as a Second Language) classes on its campus in Southborough for recent immigrants to the Metrowest area, and we are eagerly looking for volunteers to help teach! The classes are led by Pro Gente Connections, an organization in Framingham that has long experience with this work. They have a curriculum and will train all volunteers; no teaching experience is necessary. Please consider helping out our new neighbors in this way!

St. Mark’s students will be teaching as part of the St. Mark’s Saturdays Program, but additional volunteers are needed to keep the classes going on the Saturdays that our students can’t be there: September 23, October 7, November 4 and November 18, from 8:30-11:30 a.m. (You are welcome to stay for lunch in the St. Mark’s dining hall afterwards, if you like).

Please contact Raquel Riberti of Pro Gente Connections at 413.636.9245 if you can help out. There is a long list of students eager for these classes, and volunteer teachers are badly needed.

Many thanks,

(The Rev.) Barbara Talcott

Chaplain, St. Mark’s School

Community & Equity Affairs

Introducing the 2023-2024 C&E Pathways Prefects

Director of Community and Equity Affairs Rick DaSilva is pleased to introduce this year's St. Mark's Pathways Prefects: Lori Cui '25, Angelica Duarte '25, Brendan Kelly '24, and Anaya Strong '24, who answered the question: "Why is C&E at St. Mark’s important to you, and what work are you most excited about this year?" Check out their answers below.

Athletic Report

ISL Competitions This Weekend

We are excited to get the 2023 fall athletic season underway! This weekend, we are hosting our first slate of ISL competitions vs. Middlesex with all games starting at 2:30 p.m. Varsity football will open the season at Thayer Academy, scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff. For games at St. Mark's, take a look at the field map below labeled with field names and which teams play on each field. As always, please follow our social media for the most up-to-date information regarding SM athletics! SMAthletics on Instagram and SMSSports on X (formerly Twitter).

Departure from Away Games with Parents and Guardians

It is OK for students to go home with a parent or guardian from an away game. In order to do so, the student must have a completed (and approved!) Orah pass and check out with their coach face-to-face prior to departing.

Team Schedules

All team schedules can be found on our website: https://www.stmarksschool.org/athletics/teams

Upcoming Events for Parents

Reminder: Boston Regional Reception, September 28

Gather with St. Mark's alumni and current parents, and connect with Head of School John C. Warren ’74 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston on Thursday, September 28, at 6:30 p.m. Register here.

Reminder: Register for Family Weekend, October 13–14

Parents and guardians, please join us for Family Weekend! Register and view the schedule here.

Around the Quad

St. Mark’s School

25 Marlboro Road

Southborough, MA 01772

508.786.6000

Campus Photos

News & Publications

School Store

Parent Portal

Parents Association