<p>Erkybk, he’s not the new science department head. I don’t know what his official title at St. Mark’s will be, but my Concord Academy parent & student friends are convinced he’ll be at St. Mark’s next year. </p>
<p>He teaches Chemistry, which is interesting, given the strength of St. Mark’s Chemistry program.</p>
<p>I know he is not the new science department head. He will be assistant Head(That is what I heard). What I said is that a new science dept. chair is coming from Texas and she is a former Choate teacher. She teaches Bilogoy. We are taling about two different science teacher. One(he) is coming from concord and the other(she) is coming from Texas(former Choate teacher).</p>
<p>Only 10%??? that’s not high…at all…</p>
<p>I said that It’s higher than 10%. I count the students who I konw. The perceontage of Ivy matriculation of the most of top BS is between 10 to 20% except Exeter, Andover and SPS
(they are a bit higher than 20%). Some data show higher percentage, which is based on the number of admissions. But good students get admission from more than 2 schools. So it is fair to calculate based on the actiual number of enrollment.</p>
<p>Yeah, we should always look at matriculation list instead of acceptances. But why are we obsessed with Ivy+MIT? Aren’t we supposed to use matriculationstats.com’s great methodology?</p>
<p>Paper folding in MIT’s Infinite Corridor: [Toiling</a> with toilet paper in MIT’s Infinite Corridor - Cambridge - Your Town - Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/cambridge/2011/04/toiling_with_toilet_paper_in_m.html]Toiling”>http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/cambridge/2011/04/toiling_with_toilet_paper_in_m.html)</p>
<p>Photos: [Toiling</a> with toilet paper - Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/yourtown/cambridge/gallery/toiling_with_toilet_paper/#/position-1]Toiling”>http://www.boston.com/yourtown/cambridge/gallery/toiling_with_toilet_paper/#/position-1)</p>
<p>Video: [YouTube</a> - TPFolding 4 3 11](<a href=“TPFolding 4 3 11 - YouTube”>TPFolding 4 3 11 - YouTube)</p>
<p>Okay - that was totally awesome!</p>
<p>What staff member is going to Exeter? My ds visited SMS and really liked it, but ultimately decided not to apply as the sports culture seemed to dominate over academics. I really liked the staff we met there and the tight knit feel of the community.</p>
<p>Matthew Hartnett, Classics. I started this thread last year, so he is currently an Exeter staff member.</p>
<p>Oh- just realized this is an old thread. Thanks, Periwinkle!</p>
<p>You’re welcome!</p>
<p>My daughter hasn’t found the sports culture to be overwhelming at St. Mark’s. While there are some strong teams, many students are involved in the arts, (visual arts, theater, music).</p>
<p>Periwinkle or anyone from SMS, how has the matriculation or early acceptance been this year so far? I noticed from just looking and searching on the net that there are looking for more teachers. Has there been more teachers leaving? There was mention of this earlier in this thread.</p>
<p>My S revisited SMS yesterday. He and his dad had visited SMS for the interview before but it was my first visit. It was definitely a day filled with mixed emotions for him as he had to face the disappointment of not getting into his first choice school so his day started off with an attitude. I had to remind him to keep an open mind and to enjoy the experience. After attending class with another SMS student, we met up with him again and he reported that the math class he attended was ‘too easy’. I informed him that they will place him in the appropriate math levels before schools starts and he does not have to worry. He felt better after that.</p>
<p>Although the revisit day was brief, it seem to have made an impression on him. During the student-teacher panel period a few talented kids sang and performed for us. One particular young man played the piano so beautifully even my S was impressed. Doesn’t happen often. As we were walking out of the auditorium he whispered to me that he is going to pick up piano again. This is from someone who hasn’t touched the piano for 3-4 years. Today after school, he immediately headed to the piano and is now literally struggling through Star Wars as I type but he has been going at it for almost an hour now. If a few hours at SMS has this effect on my son, boy I can’t wait for a whole year’s worth of this stuff!</p>
<p>The day ended pretty good for him as he commented that it really doesn’t matter where you go, it is up to you to make it a challenging or an easy experience by choosing your courses. So, I think he is warming up to the idea. </p>
<p>My S will most likely go there for grade 10. My only personal comment is that the school seems kinda old and run down. To my husband it seemed fine. My other concern was the matriculation. The school compares in SSAT and SAT to Middlesex and Concord but does not seem to have the same matriculation stats. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Ognopgod, both St. Mark’s and Concord Academy had matriculation lists available at revisits. When comparing the two printed lists from revisits, note that Concord Academy’s list spans five years (2006-10), and St. Mark’s lists only the matriculations for the Class of 2010. I don’t have the Middlesex list on hand. The list I found on the web lists results for five years.</p>
<p>I looked on the website for the teachers they’re seeking. A chemistry teacher is retiring. I think the maternity leave biology teacher would be self-explanatory. The drama teacher is taking a year’s sabbatical. The school is adding Chinese next year–I don’t know if they’ve hired the teacher for Chinese yet. </p>
<p>I’m just a parent, so I don’t know how this year’s matriculation or early acceptance is going. I think colleges notified students in the regular admissions round last week, so the school probably doesn’t know where the students will decide to go next year yet.</p>
<p>Ognopgod, remember, matriculation stats reflect the whole class. If you S does very well at SMS relative to his classmates there, he will be fine for college aspirations. If he’s middle of the pack, SMS probably doesn’t do as well as middle of the pack at some of the other talked about schools on CC.</p>