<p>I wondered if anyone here could confirm for me that St. Mark's requires 9th graders to do an interscholastic team sport all three seasons? That's what it seems to say on the website, but I want to be sure before I cross it off our list. I can't imagine there are many schools that don't have an intramural/club option for the kids (or alternatives like dance or yoga), but at any rate if this is correct, then it's definitely not the school for my daughter.</p>
<p>Yes, and it’s not that uncommon for smaller schools. However, no proficiency is expected or required. Have you seen some of these thirds teams play? 
Honestly, your D may come across a sport with which she falls in love. I wouldn’t necessarily rule SMS out because of this.</p>
<p>The best thing to do would be to email the director of admissions, and/or the athletic director. </p>
<p>In the past, I know some students have been able to appeal for athletic exemptions. I don’t know if they would permit that for freshmen. There are thirds teams for most sports, at which level students can learn a new sport, or just have fun.</p>
<p>Remember, prep schools don’t have P.E.; they meet the requirement through sports. Many players are not stars. On the other hand, some children do find that they enjoy sports more than they thought they would. Physical activity is also a good outlet for stress.</p>
<p>I think all students, even freshmen, can substitute drama for one term (but again, contact the admissions dept for up to date information.)</p>
<p>There are a number of prep schools that have PE classes or offerings like yoga that satisfy the athletic requirements (examples: St Pauls School, Concord Academy, Lawrence Academy). Even St Marks has them; they’re just not available to freshmen. But I agree that you shouldn’t necessarily rule it out because of this.</p>
<p>You might want to try contacting @goforprep whose son is a sophomore at St. Mark’s and loving it.</p>
<p>Photodad: there are other offerings, but they’re not called “physical education,” unlike a public school. I think there have been, in the past, dance, yoga, maybe conditioning. The point is, most students have to do something physical. There is an active drama program; students who take part in plays are not competing in that season. In past years, some students have taken ACES for other projects, such as studying for the chemistry olympiad. The policy is not draconian. It can be intimidating for teenagers to ask adults for exemptions. Approval is by no means assured. (Again, ask the admissions people.)</p>
<p>This is a great question to ask any school on a visit, and interview. At most small schools, sports will be required. There are many students in every season who have not played any of the sports before. Crew is a sport which gains passionate adherents. Due to size, most students have never done anything similar before. It is a beautiful sport, and great physical exercise.</p>
<p>Neither of my children are star athletes. Both have played more sports than I would have predicted when they were in the 8th grade.</p>
<p>She understands that sports are required at all schools, but there’s a wide variance in what the sport requirements are. St. Mark’s is the first school I’ve come across that requires three seasons of an interscholastic sport. I appreciate the point about kids trying new sports, and she’s excited to do that. But it so happens that all the sports she already plays or would be interested in trying are winter/spring sports. She absolutely hates soccer and field hockey and would likely be miserable if she had to actually be on a competetive team and play two games a week. I guess that’s one of the problems with a smaller school like St. Mark’s - there just aren’t typically going to be as many different options.</p>
<p>@Periwinkle - There are prep schools that have physical education classes and call them that. Examples are Milton and Concord. They seem to be more common at prep schools that don’t require students to be on interscholastic sports teams.</p>
<p>But I agree with your general premise. Prep school sports can be great for students who don’t think of themselves as athletes going in. One of my kids grew greatly as an athlete while on a JV team all years of high school (at a school without thirds teams) and went on to be competitive in a different sport at the club level in college. Sports teams are also a great way to make friends with kids you might not normally hang out with.</p>
<p>@soxmom - There are smaller schools (like Concord) that don’t require interscholastic sports and which have a variety of alternatives. St. Mark’s is a small school in a serious sports league (ISL), so they pretty much have to require team sports to field enough teams for the league.</p>
<p>As a member of the ISL, St. Mark’s is bound by the rules of the league. Typically waivers are available for one season for high level athletic or artistic pursuits not offered by the school. You will run into this issue at any of the ISL schools (Belmont Hill, Brooks, BB&N, Governor’s, Groton Lawrence Academy, Middlesex, Milton, Nobles, Rivers, Roxbury Latin, St. George’s, St. Marks, St. Paul’s, St. Sebastian’s, Thayer).</p>
<p>To be clear, I wasn’t asking about the ability to get a waiver to avoid having to participate in a school athletic or artistic activity at all. My point was that, as I read it, St. Mark’s requires (for 9th graders) three seasons of an interscholastic team, and that requirement cannot be satisfied by participation in an intramural sport or any artistic endeavors. That is not generally true of all the ISL schools. For instance, at Brooks, a 9th grader only has to do one season of an interscholastic sport, and the other two seasons can be dance, drama, or community service. And I think most, if not all, of those schools have intramural options, as opposed to just interscholastic.</p>
<p>Soxmom, if she hates fall sports, then she should try out for the fall play. I know freshmen who took part in drama rather than sports. </p>
<p>Exeter has PE classes as an alternative to being on a team (with a very wide menu of options within those classes), and also allows participation in the theater production (including tech crew!) to count as the PE requirement. </p>
<p>Thanks, @Periwinkle, that’s exactly the information I was trying to get at. It looked to me from the school handbook that freshmen could not do drama instead of an interscholastic team. </p>
<p>I apologize if you already answered this, but would she consider an all-girls school? If so, I think you might find the athletic requirements could be fulfilled in a variety of ways, many of which do not include the traditional team sports. Since you are looking at St. Marks, maybe go see Dana Hall when you are in the area…</p>