<p>Hey- does anyone have any information on St. Mark's? From what I read/ hear about it, it seems like a really good school. Good latin/Greek classes- diverse- small- nice campus. any inputs?</p>
<p>I have a child at St. Mark's now. It's a fantastic school. The teachers are great, the kids are friendly, the arts and theater facilities are better than anything I've seen at any other St. Grottlesex schools -- and even better than Andover's I thought -- and the setting in Southborough is magnificent. It's a cute little town and a really nice place to spend a few years. There are a few negatives:</p>
<p>-- the campus (particularly the athletic facilities) is a bit dowdy, and haven't kept up with rival Groton's. The facilities are acceptable, just not as gleamingly new as Groton's, and there are some notable lacks, like no indoor swimming facility. </p>
<p>-- the dorms could use some refreshing, and the dining room looks as if it hasn't been renovated since the Civil War. That's either charmingly old money/WASP-y, or just a little seedy, depending on your point of view.</p>
<p>-- the school seems to have spent too many years coasting on its historic reputation as one of the ultimate Boston Brahmin prep schools. It needs to update its (horrible) viewbook, and focus on getting out there and recruiting more diverse students instead of relying on its old demographic cohort of rich old Yankees</p>
<p>If you're an arts or theater-focused person, I would definitely choose St. Mark's over Groton, Middlesex, or St. George's. If I were a math fanatic, I would choose St. Mark's over those schools plus St. Paul's and Andover. I you're really jockey, go to St. Paul's or Groton. Good luck!</p>
<p>I really, really appreciate that post- if you have the chance, can you PM me with more first hand information about St. Marks? THANK YOU!!!! Keep posting, people!</p>
<p>Hi oldprep, thank you for the helpful post. Please tell us more about academics at St. Mark's. You mentioned that it is a good place for math fanatics. St. Mark's seems to have a fantastic classics program. Is it a good place for kids interested in world history, modern languages and international community service opportunities?</p>
<p>What about access to cultural events in Boston? What do you think of the boarding environment (supervision v. freedom) at St. Mark's compared to, say, Milton Academy?</p>
<p>I second that request! Also, what do you mean that the dorms are a little seedy? Are they just not modern, or is the building falling apart?</p>
<p>A classmate from years ago at my old school (one of the Phillips Academies) was a teacher at St. Mark's until recently. (He moved on to another prep school for personal reasons.) He just raved about the place, and contrasted it with the "Darwinian struggle" that characterized -- then and now -- the larger New England schools. The teachers seem to really care about the kids -- that's my impression, anyway, and my source argued that the approach of the faculty is more holistic. This manifests itself in interesting ways, which impact St. Mark's college admission statistics. Because St. Mark's apparently looks at the "whole kid" coming in, it has lower SSAT scores going in. And as any educator will tell you, lower SSAT scores going in means lower SAT scores going out. This of course negatively impacts college admissions thereafter. The result of this -- and this is an impression I have, I haven't really looked at this -- is that the graduates have a tougher time going Ivy afterwards, so St. Mark's doesn't have nearly the same percentage of Ivy admissions that Groton does, for example. You can look at this in a number of ways. My own view is that it takes a little bit of the heat off the students so that the option of struggling to go Ivy is there, while not so intense that it makes their lives so stressful that they don't enjoy the boarding school experience. But that's my personal view; I could imagine other parents see things differently. I figure if my child has what it takes, it's actually better to be in a school where the pressure is more low key, while the option remains open.</p>
<p>On the larger issue of campus infrastructure, the school has "good bones" but there's a general need of maintenance. You go to St. Paul's these days, or Groton, and the schools have put so much money into new facilities recently that they just "shine." St. Mark's has some really nice new facilities, like the Benson Art Center, I think it's called, but the gym facilities could use some updating, and the Armour Cage dates from 1914 and kind of looks it. It's not that the place is a ruin, it's just that it's not as hyper-modern as some of the other schools. </p>
<p>St. Mark's has a math institute and the kids seem to enjoy math there. I am not well situated to talk about the Classics program, as my child doesn't do Classics. The modern languages program impressed me as extremely solid. For instance, mid-upper level Spanish is taught as Latin American/Spanish history, forcing the children to take an academic subject in a foreign language. This is how language should be taught. </p>
<p>I will ask my child about the boarding environment the next time we talk. </p>
<p>Access to cultural events in Boston? I couldn't say -- I will ask my student. It's certainly a lot closer to Boston than the other members of the select sixteen, with the exceptions of Middlesex and Milton. </p>
<p>I couldn't tell you about international community service activities. We don't live in the US so this is not an issue I focus on.</p>
<p>oldprep, thanks for the thorough answers to my questions! I really appreciate your insightful comments in your first paragraph - "I figure if my child has what it takes, it's actually better to be in a school where the pressure is more low key, while the option remains open." My sentiments, exactly.</p>
<p>The immersion approach to modern language is impressive. That's how my child learns languages and he'd be keen to continue doing that.</p>
<p>We prefer charmingly old infrastructure, anyway. That is something we can check out on our trip to St. Mark's later this month.</p>
<p>We don't live in the U.S. either so it's helpful to hear first-hand impressions. Thanks again!</p>
<p>St. Mark's? No, thanks. I have a daughter who graduated from the place in 2003, and I was relieved when it was over. The admissions people were incredibly arrogant, the administration was distant and unapproachable, the teachers less than considerate, and the athletic program awful. The school suffers from "Grotonitis" - extreme and irrational Groton School envy - and is unlikely to recover. By way of contrast, I have a son who graduated from Kent School this year, which has a similar profile as St. Mark's; his experience, and ours as parents, was better by an order of magnitude, and there simply was no comparison between their respective educational experiences. I happily write donation checks to Kent School; I'll never do so for St. Mark's.</p>
<p>Just curious, if St. Mark's was so bad, why did your daughter stay there?</p>
<p>Hmm.. that's an interesting perspective on St. Mark's, Ed Haskell. What were the students like? Did your daughter like the school, or did you both feel the same way?</p>
<p>Initially, St. Mark's was my kid's 1st choice. Our tour, unfortunately, was with another applicant and a stranger assigned to him. It was odd, uncomfortable and impersonal. Our tour guide was dismissive, hurrying us along, saying that she was late for lunch. As for the maintenance issues; the main common room was disgustingly dirty, complete with a couple of kids making out. We were told that there was a 4-year plan to renovate thspace, my kid would be long gone by then. At least put down new carpeting. Then, the interview - dry, boring and uninspiring. The interviewer seemed not to know anything about the current events my kid discussed. Talk about a bubble. On the way out, we looked at the distribution of grades, in some classes, it seemed that no kids had received "A" 's for the last couple of years, why not? Is no-one up to the work? What does this say about the teachers? My kid applied, was accepted, went elsewhere and is happy. Very Happy.</p>
<p>Thank you all... anyone else? This was not the St. Mark's I had in mind, lol!</p>
<p>Really interesting comments. I have a kid at St. Mark's and I spent Saturday there with a number of 1980s graduates of different elite boarding schools and a more recent Groton alum as well. We were super impressed with the classes and the teaching. The math, religion, and Spanish teachers couldn't have been better -- indeed, they were way better than the educators who taught me. The music program was fabulous. The choir was truly exceptional. There was also something going on that was hard for us to put our finger on. The facilities were a mixed bag. The arts/music facilities were first rate (and brand new last year); the main building is a bit seedy. The dining hall was somewhat decrepit; not horrible but more like something from twenty years ago than from today. The consensus in our group was that the school seems to have gone through a period of bad management five or ten years ago which put it behind it's peer institution (Groton, of course) but that under the leadership of a dynamic group of trustees it has pulled itself out of what was a gentle decline and is now poised to come back strong. Ed's comments about an arrogant administration hit home for me about my own boarding school experience in the seventies; that's nothing new at all. More generally, I think what benefited the school out of its period of decline relative to Groton was that it became a pretty tight, cohesive community. I've been very impressed by the way the kids have reached out to my child. In that respect it seems a very welcoming place. The scuttlebutt I heard was that compared to Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, and of course Groton it's a much friendlier place. But that's just some peoples' opinions. And of course, St. Mark's is quite traditionalist, and that might be a problem for some people. On the issue of the sports program, I've been pretty happy but I searched out a school with small teams because I thought that gave my child more chances to participate in them, as opposed to being on third JV at Andover. It's worth noting that according to Boston Magazine's September 2006 school ratings, St. Mark's fields 23 varsity teams (with only 341 students) to Andover's 33 varsity teams with three times the student body. What this means is that the quality of play is less, but the experience of play (for the less-than-all-star-athlete) is more. On AP courses (again, according to Boston Magazine) Andover has 29 APs to St. Mark's 24. That's amazing. Where Andover beats St. Mark's is electives and extra-curriculars, but that's to be expected, I think, given that Andover is three times St. Mark's size. The bottom line, however, is of course that St. Mark's is neither Andover nor Groton. It's a small school which seems to focus on bringing out the best in kids who are not quite as cut-throat as some of the other kids who go to the currently "hotter" schools. It's rather old-fashioned. It's not for everybody. But it's my impression (and the impression of some of the other parents I was with) that it's a school that is coming out of a period of relative weakness, after a pretty glorious past as one of the greatest schools in New England for more than a century, and is a school to be carefully considered, if one can accept the limitations inherent in a small Episcopal school in a quiet rural suburb of Boston. I'd love to hear the views of current students there. It's a pity that none of them are posting on this forum.</p>
<p>Thank you very, very much! St. Mark's seems like an unique school. any more inputs?</p>
<p>St. Mark's was 1st on our daughter's list until we had our tour and interview at St. Mark's last month. We were very disappointed with the hockey arena and some of the other facilities. Also, all the teachers we met seemed to be very young (early 20's) and unexperienced (they were just out of college and it was their 1st or 2nd year teaching!). </p>
<p>I'd like to hear more from Ed Haskell (above) about why he and his family liked Kent better than St. Mark's. Mr. Haskell, could you please elaborate?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>That's Eddie Haskell to you.</p>
<p>(A free one year subscription to the Bunkel Index to the first poster who correctly identifies the great actor who played the inimitable Eddie Haskell on LITB)</p>
<p>In the original TV series, Edward Clark Haskell was played by Ken Osmond. In the movie (1997), Ken played Eddie Haskell, Sr. and Adam Zolotin played Eddie Haskell.</p>
<p>Correct. However you've provided too much information by referencing that excorable movie, and therefore forfeit your subscription.</p>
<p>Aw, shucks!</p>
<p>Last year SMS admitted too many(36%) students. They said it was record high application and they did not expect high turn out after revist. However,
almost half of the admitted students registered. That is why they admitted
a lot less students this year. They said this year's acceptance rate is
24% and the number of application broke the last year's record.</p>
<p>I like to add a couple of positive points to SMSDAD. My dad investigated SMS
quite a bit as well. He found out that SMS has a major building renovation plan, and they recently reinforced the college counselling office by adding
more counsellor. Many people say that the new head of the school will bring
back SMS to the premere position that SMS used to have a while ago.</p>