Overview
The Lower School's Academics Help Students Develop Strong Study and Life Skills
As a college preparatory, independent day school for boys in grades 1 through 12, the academic program in the Lower School at St. Mark's School of Texas teaches students to work well, both independently and as members of a group. Courses are offered in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, foreign language, and the performing and fine arts. First grade students begin working with computers, and move to taking classes in the computer lab in second grade. Students begin studying Spanish in first grade. Beginning in fourth grade, humanities classes combine language arts, social studies, and study skills. The Lower School faculty meets each week to discuss programs, and the Head of Lower School coordinates and facilitates communication between the school and parents.
Middle School Programs Reinforce Fundamentals and Introduce Advanced Studies
The scholastic programs in the Middle School at St. Mark's are arranged to offer a planned sequence of courses teaching basic skills. Courses in humanities, mathematics, foreign language, and science are designed to be taken in sequence, although some students may be placed at different levels in mathematics or foreign language sequences. Fine arts courses and daily physical education courses are required at every level. Instructors in the Middle School academic program focus on teaching strong study skills while reinforcing the fundamentals students have already learned in the Lower School.
Upper School Provides Students with the Tools Necessary to Achieve Future Success
When a student enters Upper School, he carefully plans out his entire course of study, and this "Upper School Scheduling Plan" is kept by his Adviser and reviewed each spring during registration. Although course work choices are made early, the plan can be altered later. Graduation requirements for St. Mark's are more extensive than the traditional required curriculum for college admission, and boys are encouraged to aspire to the most challenging study plan they feel they can undertake successfully. An Upper School program includes required and elective courses, physical education, community service, and optional extracurricular activities.
St. Mark's Students Learn Musical Skills to Develop Individual Styles of Artistic Expression
Music is an important part of the curriculum for all grades at St. Mark's. Lower School students in grades 1 through 3 practice singing, listening, performing, moving, creating, and evaluating various styles of music performances. In grade 4, boys can choose among classes in select choir, school strings, and creative music. In the Middle School music program, students can choose areas of special interest to continue exploring fine music, such as band, orchestra, or choir. All courses aim to advance the growth of students' initiative, self-confidence, self-discipline, and teamwork, while encouraging emotional release through ordered experiences. Upper School students continue to develop skills in band, orchestra, and chorus, while expanding scholarly inquiry into the history, theory, and style of various artistic expressions. The band, orchestra, and chorus perform in concert several times during the year.
Visual, Dramatic, and Industrial Arts Programs Encourage Self-Expression
All Lower School students take classes in creative arts, where they learn the basic elements of creating visual arts and developing an appreciation for art. Marksmen in the Middle School go on to choose creative arts and beginning photography classes. In the Upper School, students expand their visual arts talents to work in painting, sculpture, ceramics, digital art, or photography.
Middle and Upper School students may choose to enroll in industrial arts courses where they will learn to work with wood, plastics, and metal.
In addition to the visual arts, all schools have regular curriculum choices in drama and film studies. Lower School students focus on bodies of literature as the source for dramatic activities, and students learn to gain appreciation for the work of classmates and professionals. Middle School Marksmen can choose to continue in drama and film studies, including improvisations, pantomimes, scenes, and plays. Upper School students are involved in all areas of a drama production, beginning with screenwriting, and moving through production of a film to post-production skills.
Award-Winning Community Service Program Provides Service Opportunities in a Coeducational Context
The St. Mark's Upper School works with its sibling school, Hockaday, to sponsor an award-wining joint Community Service Program that provides a rich variety of service opportunities for students to get involved after school hours in caring for others. The program assists the efforts of more than eighty Dallas-area homeless shelters, environmental agencies, tutorial programs, mentoring programs, and senior citizens centers, among other social services organizations. The Community Service Program allows boys the opportunity to interact with girls in activities that are not purely social, as well as allowing them to practice leadership and cooperation in a real-world setting by helping the community at large. Both St. Mark's and Hockaday seek to develop in students the commitment to community involvement, a concern for people coping with hardship, and a sense of environmental responsibility. Administrators believe that helping students to develop this sense of service will help raise social awareness, build conscience, increase maturity, broaden outlooks, and teach sound leadership values and skills.
