My son did not have a great experience at the SMS revisit day and will be attending Williston instead. But maybe I will be back in a few years when my daughter is applying for class of 2029.
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Hi everyone! Iām new to the forum but have been following this site for few months now. My daughter will attend St.Markās school in September, 9th grade as a border. We live in East Coast but about 5 hours south of the school. I hope to get connected with other parents.
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We live within a half hour of SMS and my son is entering as a 10th grade boarder. If you have any questions about the area we are fairly local and know a lot about it (I have a brother who lives with his family in Southborough). We are really looking forward to connecting with other families as well!
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Thank you so much! How lucky you live that close to the school. It means most if not all weekends he will be home. We will definitely keep in touchā¦I know a little bit of Massachusetts but it was my first time to be in Southborough and we didnāt spend much time either. I hope when we come back again soon we will be able to spend more time and get to know well the town.
Hi there!
I have a question has anyone here already checked the Getting ready section on Health and Insurance forms? I see this Health Forms Packet - New Students but there is no link to access this form. I donāt know if it is the same to all or just on my side. Thanks in advance
Canāt remember where I saw it, but there was an earlier communication with an overall timeline and the health forms would come out some time in May. Iām guessing weāll get that soon. I do remember a July 1 deadline and kids will need a TB test as well. I think theyāre pacing us - so much starting paperwork 
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Thank you for your reply. I was following the checklist and it says in May. I wanted to know what they want on their form so when I take her for the appointment I know what to ask as I am doing one next week for her summer camp. They take two weeks to fill these forms here. Last year I had to pay money to do the sports checkup somewhere else as the time they told me it would be ready to pick it up was further away out of the day I wanted, but I think we still have time for the July 1st deadline.
Hi! I do remember to see the rooms in a new building and the beds looked like they were already raised up ā¦I am just curious are bed risers needed? If so which one are people using? I was looking around and saw there are ones that are 4 inches, 8 inches and 20 inchesā¦
It seems like there are quite a few Class of '26 and '27 parents here. Now, 1-2 years after, I wonder how your experience has been with the school?
Iād love to hear any feedbacks/anecdotes from your and/or your student!
Thanks!
I have to reply to this one. I am speaking for myself and what I can say is that we picked the perfect fit school for our child. Class of 2027 and our daughter is really thriving here. I canāt speak highly enough of the incredible faculty, staff and the supportive school community. So far we have a great experience. The school is everything and more for what we envisioned for our daughter.
It was not all roses at first as we thought our daughter was well prepared from her middle school (she is not a repeater) but the curriculum here is extremely rigorous so she was struggling a bit at first but they have a very supportive environment and the teachers are great and always readily available to help. The community is friendly and kids are very helpful to each other and I havenāt seen any pressure or competition so far. It is a very tight-knit community and they have shown me how supportive they can be as they have just unexpectedly lost the dean of students and how they are handling this is beyond my words.
They do not offer AP classes but the kids are allowed to sit for those exams if they want but they donāt encourage them to do so. Those who sit for the exams from the classes that are offered at school can do the exam very well so you can tell all classes are rigorous.
My daughter is not athletic so I canāt speak on that side but she has been playing many sports so far in the JV teams. She is enjoying every moment.
And it feels very safe as I opted not to enroll her in another school that is one of the GLADCHEM for many reasons and one of my concerns was the distance from the classroom/library/dining hall to the dorm. At St. Mark during her freshman year the dorm was like a three minute walk to her classroom and now she walks down the stairs and the dining hall and most of her classes are in the same building. That is the true meaning of the school under one roof. We live 5 hours south of St Markās and it gets cold here too but over there it is very cold, so having everything nearby really helps the kids to enjoy more.
Also I could be wrong on this one as it was the information from my daughter. She told me that only one student didnāt return back to school because she was sick. She was an international student and during the freshman year she was going back and forth to her home country for treatments. She is not aware of any other student apart from another one who left the school right away when they started because of mental health issues. So you can tell the trust the parents have and the understanding the quality of education their kids are receiving and the less pressure environment the kids are growing up in.
Last but not least the head of school is new. He started in July and is from Deerfield Academy. The other one retired.
So it depends what you are looking for but for us we are grateful. This is the best school for her.
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Thank you for the feedback. Just out of curiosity - which GLACHEMMS school did you give up for SM, and why was it not a good fit? Thanks!
Hi I just got accepted to SMS. This school is the only one that I got accepted so I decided to go here. Iām attending SMS as a fourth form student, and I have a few questions about school life. Do you know how much Korean or Chinese international students are there for current third form students? Also, is the art program (especially music) okay?
Whats up! Welcome to the pride! Current third former here and future classmate of yours. Iām happy to answer any questions that you may have. Regarding your questions, roughly 15% of the third form class is a Korean or Chinese international students, with another 10% being Korean or Chinese domestic students. The art program is really good. As part of the St.Marks curriculum you have to take a full year course in Arts to graduate. Music is apart of this requirement, a nice thing is that the music classes are a part of the weekly schedule. We have numerous student who have gotten awards in music. Additionally our music ensembles get the chance to play internationally. Such as our orchestra and choir, who are in Europe currently. Please do not hesitate if you have any other questions.
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omg it is so nice to meet you! I have a few more questions. I want to know more about the school atmosphere (like is it difficult to make friends as a new fourth former), if boarding students could deliver food, is there kitchen in the dorm that I could cook food when I want, and if the dorm faculties take your phone after lights out. Thank you so much!
Nice to meet you as well! Their will be roughly 25 new fourth formers and I am assuming that on the first day all 25 of them will be trying to make friends. Their will also be form bonding the first two days, so you will have plenty of options to connect with new students. Additionally the third form as a whole we are a very welcoming group and I am certain that students will welcome you with open hands into their friend groups. Also in a small school setting it is very easy to make friends with older students and younger students so you will likely have many friends. All I can say is donāt sweat, I can assure that you will have made friends by the end of your first day! Boarding students can deliver food, only for dinner to insure safety throughout the day. I am a day student, so I do not know much about the cooking. From what I know there is a kitchen but their are rules behind cooking and when to cook which they will tell you on your revisit day. This is so the school does not burn on fire, lol. The faculty do not take your phone after light out. They do take your phone during study hall as you are a new student. As the year progresses they will be more lenient.
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thank you so much!! See you next year at schoolš«¶
oh I have one more question. I heard that St. Markās require students to take religion class, but does it have a heavy workload and is it hard to get a good grade? Is it a pass/fail thing or does it have a grade system as other academics?
It is a grade system as other academics. For the most part from what Iāve heard it is pretty manageable. From what I heard as long as you pay attention you should be apple to get a good grade in the classes.
Hi! I just got into SMS asw, and I was just wondering how much homework you get per day usually? And how much time you have usually after accounting for homework and things of that nature when you can just like do whatever you want?
Whatās up, welcome to the pride! Homework is pretty manageable, you will be able to finish it in study hall most nights. Depending on your course rigor you could have more or less homework each night. You have time to hang out with your friends who are in the same dorm as you during study hall. But all of this depends on you as an individual and your study habits as well as your discipline. Happy to answer any other questions that you may have.
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