St. Mark's School - Review #1

The school's layout makes for quite a unique and homey atmosphere. All classes are located in the main building, and the building itself is centered around Forbes, the student center. The main building also houses admissions, the dining halls, the library, and two upper form boys and two upper form girls dorms. You can not go a day without seeing your teachers or classmates, and this creates a really welcoming environment.

I learned to become a more independent person, and make decisions on my own. I do not think that I would have learned this valuable life lesson had I not chosen to go to St. Mark's.

The only thing that I would change about my experience is that I would have come to St. Mark's earlier. If i could come to St. Mark's for freshman year instead of arriving in junior year, I would. My best piece of advice is to get involved. Leadership opportunities, clubs, volunteering, athletics, arts, anything you have or haven't tried before: Go for it. You have nothing to lose.

What I enjoyed most was the bonding I experienced with my classmates over the time I spent at St. Mark's. I know that the friends I made there will be friends I will have forever, and that I will stay in contact with for a long time.

Get Smoothies after dinner in the Lions Den. Check out the rink, and the Corner Crew: our relentless and amazing student fan section. Go Sawyer, the best upper form boys dorm there is!

The academics at St. Mark's are certainly challenging and rigorous, but by no means unmanageable. Teacher are always willing to help as long, and you should always feel comfortable reaching out to them. Whether in math, science, history, or English teachers are always willing to give up their free periods of evenings to help students grasp concepts or revise papers. Most of the teachers live on campus, or within less than a 4 minute walk from the main building, which helps as well.

Athletics at St. Mark's were competitive and highly supported by the school community. Particularly at our hockey games, we would frequently receive compliments on the passion that our fans displayed, and that they were the best fans any of the opposing teams had ever played against. Also, Groton Night, which occurs the last Friday of the fall sports season, before we play our games against Groton, our longstanding rivals. It is a huge pep rally where teams perform skits, and the whole school gathers for a bonfire where we burn a Zebra, which is The Groton School's Mascot.

The Art teachers at St Mark's are all very knowledgeable in their fields, and most have plenty of experience or multiple degrees in their area of expertise. They are happy to work with veterans, but you can tell that they truly enjoy introducing students to their work and their passion, and this passion is quickly relayed to the students.

There is a great diversity of student programs and volunteer opportunities at St. Mark's, almost too many to list. From the Boys and Girls club to tutoring at school to language and international clubs, there is no shortage of things to do, the key is to just get involved.

Dorm life is awesome. being surrounded on a nightly basis by 20-30 of your classmates, teammates, and friends is something you wouldn't get to experience at a normal high school. You form closer bonds with your friends, get to know them on a whole new level, and outside of study times you can hang out in one another's rooms, watch movies, and just unwind after the day.

The Dining Hall and it's staff is great, very proffesional, and there is always a wide variety of food and snacks to choose from. You will never go hungry at St. Mark's, and if you want a late night snack, there are pizza parlors and chinese restaurants nearby to order a late night snack from.

Southborough is a great town to have nearby, with a diner for breakfast on weekends, a hairdresser, a pizza parlor, two banks, a convenience store, and a florist for dances and prom, there is all you would really need less than a 5 minute walk down the road.

I enjoyed most the tight nit community that out school's layout fosters. It was great showing up on campus and immediately being brought into the community. everyone is willing to accept new friends into their circles, and it is a great place to call home for however many years you attend.