St. Mark’s Prepares for the Opening of New Dorm Facility

Yoonjeong (Gina) Yang’ 24

The long-awaited new St. Mark’s residence hall is on track to open its doors for the first time after the Thanksgiving break. The facility opening was initially fixed for mid-October but was subject to postponement, much to the disappointment of an expectant community. However, given that fundamental safety and security infrastructure would not be in place on time, rescheduling was unavoidable to ensure that all students and faculty see the new residence hall at its best from the start. The new building will honor the "school under one roof" idea conceived by St. Mark's founder, Joseph Burnett, ensuring significantly increased campus capacity for pupils and teachers alike. In addition, the new dormitory is symbolic of healing, reunion, and reconnection within the wider community, representing a tangible return to normalcy after the disruption of Covid-19. 

Planning Board and Conservation Commission approval to construct the 90,000 square feet three-story residence hall was granted to St. Mark's last fall. Standard building components, like structural steel, metal roof trusses, and timber framing, have been integrated with more sustainable materials to meet St. Mark's ongoing commitment to responsible environmental stewardship. The new dormitory will soon welcome approximately 150 students, accommodated in a mix of single and double rooms, and provide a base for 12 faculty departments. Beyond its core residential function, the building will also feature an extensive lounge equipped for a substantial student body, full kitchen and cooking facilities, a laundry room on each floor, and seven group study rooms; three on both the second and third floors and one on the first.

St. Mark's has also moved to allay any logistical concerns related to moving across from the existing facility to the main campus. To streamline the entire process, the services of a specialist moving company have been secured, whereby all students who pre-pack their belongings before departure will have their boxes tagged, removed, and delivered to their new rooms to coincide with their return after Thanksgiving. All personal effects will await students in their new dorms, closing the circle on a seamless transition. The new dawn of a freshly-invigorated, more closely-bonded community beckons for the St. Mark's community with the impending advent of this extraordinary new space for life and learning.

Cultural Carnival

Sophie Chiang ‘23

You might be thinking, isn’t the cultural festival not until next year? Well, it is! But what’s coming up in December is an exciting event new to St. Mark’s this year, and it’s our school’s Cultural Carnival.

The Cultural Carnival is a blend of games, music, and food from a variety of different cultures, all brought together by a sense of community. Unlike the Cultural Festival, the Cultural Carvinal has a focus on games. Each student-led table will represent a different cultural game, including Mahjong, Mancala, Loteria, Gonggi, Game 3-2, Parcheesi, and Do Di Zhu. Every table will have someone walk you through the rules of the game, and there will also be cards at each table describing the game’s history, rules, and other fascinating facts. Ingrid Yeung ‘23 is most excited to be teaching people about Do Di Zhu, a strategic Chinese card game. For some, the highlight will be the Pinata filled with candy! Louise He ‘23, a pathways prefect, is most grateful for all the help from the students who are volunteering at the tables. She can’t wait to see their planning come to life. 

The popular game Mancala. 

Although these games are the stars of the show, rest assured that there will still be delicious food. Cultural food such as Sfogliatella, Pastelitos, Tostones, Samosa, and Flan will be served at each table for you to snack on as you listen to the student-curated playlist full of fan-favorites from BLACKPINK to Sebastian Yatra to Kali Uchis. You can request your own favorite songs here! Cultural Carnival Music Request Form 

The Pathways Program credits Darius Wagner ‘23, a pathways prefect ‘21-22, for this brilliant idea. Show up to the Cultural Carnival in December for a chance to celebrate the diversity that cultivates the vibrant community on campus– and not just for the food.

The Clubs Return!

Steven Yang ‘23

Clubs are essential to student life at St. Mark’s. Whether it’s political, academic, artistic, or just for fun, there are clubs for a variety of interests. And if they don’t exist now, it’s very simple to start one! Students can simply contact Ms. Kosow, the Director of Student Life, in order to found a club. There are few requirements for starting a club; just find a faculty advisor and fill out a short proposal!

Now a month into the school year, there are returning clubs as well as new ones that have started the year off strong. Club leaders were able to advertise their club as well as secure crucial sign-ups at the annual Club Fair in Taft Hall in early October. From Chess Club to SM Finance, leaders prepared posters and activities for the St. Mark’s community to learn about their club!

Club meetings got underway in mid-October as clubs like Students for Sustainability (S4S) and You Belong With Us (the Taylor Swift club) had their first meetings. These established club structures and provided great opportunities for members to ask questions and brainstorm activities together.

Speaking of club activities, several have already hosted Weekend Activities early in the year. By scheduling activities on weekends, clubs are able to use part of the weekend activities budget on their meetings. This included buying pizza and cinnamon twists for You Belong With Us’ listening party of the new album Midnights, to the Volleyball Club setting up volleyball nets with food for students to enjoy on the VI Form Quad!

The truth is, clubs are an integral part of the St. Mark’s student experience. From nature walks with the Wildlife Club to karaokes with You Belong With Us, there’s plenty to do with clubs at St. Mark’s. So keep an eye on your email and go to meetings, they’ll make fun and special experiences that you won’t soon forget.

Split Lunch Once Again

By Jasmine Liu’26 and Vanessa Leung’25

Imagine yourself sitting in the middle of your class, listening to your peers during class discussions. However, your stomach has a mind of its own, and your eyes occasionally drift off to the clock in the corner of the room, counting down the minutes until lunch. Once the minute hand hits the twenty-minute mark, your teacher wraps up the class and everybody scrambles to put away their textbooks and notes. Eager to get to lunch, you spring out of your seat and stride towards the dining hall.

Alas, upon approaching the dining hall, you spot the horde of students standing in an endless line, growing longer every second! Your heart drops, and your stomach grumbles,but you push the thoughts down and hop in the line. You try to be patient as you slowly inch your way to the kitchen, but then panic sets in when you remember that you have less than thirty-five minutes to get your food, eat, and get to class.

The scenario above may seem familiar to many. In fact, this is a common phenomenon at St. Mark’s. Everyday, all students have lunch within the same thirty to thirty-five minute time period. As a result, there is always an endless line to the servery, and many students end up having only five to ten minutes to eat before their next class begins.

This issue caused many complaints from members of the St. Mark’s community. Some even raise safety concerns: with people and backpacks crowding the main hallway, students might trip and fall. Therefore, the interim assistant head of school, Ms. Morgan, and other faculty members, are working with the FLIK staff to arrange the dining hall times and accommodate for split lunch. Starting from October 13th, St. Mark’s School has been implementing this meal schedule every day.

This is not the first time that St. Mark’s uses the split lunch schedule. Last year, after deciding to reopen St. Mark’s for in-person learning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the school took away the X-Block time and created a split lunch schedule to discourage crowding and virus-spreading. 

This year, after a whole school year of wearing masks and split lunches, St. Mark’s School decided to resume the pre-pandemic schedule by reinstalling X-Blocks and seated meals by advisory. However, the school failed to consider one aspect: the expanding student body. Now that more students share the same dining hall, it has become increasingly difficult to get lunch in the same short half hour period with the excess crowding and longer lines. Subsequently, the split lunch schedule was installed back into place. 

According to the split lunch schedule, half of the classes are split into Class A, the other half into Class B. Students in Class A have class first from 11:00 a.m - 12:20 noon and then eat in Lunch B afterwards from 12:25 - 12:55. Meanwhile, Class B students eat in Lunch A first from 11:00-11:30 then proceed to class from 11:35 - 12:55. 

While there are not any significant advantages or disadvantages towards split lunch lunches, people have formed opinions and thoughts about the lunch schedule change. 

One student noted that she likes split lunch because students “don’t have to wait as long, and the dining hall isn’t as crowded.” Another student gave the same remarks saying that they “like split lunch because the line isn’t as long.” Yet fewer people per lunch block also means fewer friends to sit with at lunch. Other students commented that they sometimes “cannot have lunch with [their] friends” and that “there is barely anyone in Lunch B and the food is mostly finished by then.” Some also consider 11 am to be too early of a time to eat lunch. 

However, the feedback to the return of the split lunch schedule is quite positive overall. While the new split lunch schedule may have its fair share of cons, so far, it is generally proved to be a better alternative to the crowded and long lines from the previous lunch schedule. Thanks to Ms. Morgan and the FLIK staff, it seems that for now, we can finally put some of the overcrowding and lunch rush issues behind us; hopefully, split lunch is here to stay.

COVID, Flu, and Mask-wearing

By Coco Xia’24

Since the beginning of the new school year, there has been a mysterious virus going around the community, spreading to both the student and faculty bodies. Given that the flu season has arrived and that COVID still hasn’t completely died out, the sickness problem became more serious and complicated than expected.

COVID, flu, and the common cold are all contagious diseases, meaning that they can spread from one person to another through daily activities such as talking and physical contact. As a result, starting from September, a variety of illnesses has been spreading out with major symptoms being dry coughs, runny nose, and sore throat. With the overwhelming workload and consequential fatigue, our bodies are more susceptible to diseases as many students had to visit Health Services to get medicines and needed rest. 

Moreover, cases of COVID-19 still haven't completely died out. Since the start of the school year, there have been a trickling number of students who got COVID and had to isolate themselves for 5 days either at home or in the Annex. It was the second time of getting COVID for many of those students, and many had tiredness and fatigue as their major symptoms accompanied by dry coughs, postnasal drip, and sore throat. 

Due to all the sicknesses that have been spreading, it is completely normal to choose to wear a mask. Students’ decision to wear a mask is totally reasonable and up to the students themselves, for masks can effectively protect our bodies against a variety of contagious diseases including common cold, the flu, and of course, COVID-19. In addition, it is a good idea to get the COVID booster shot as well as the flu vaccine so that our bodies are better prepared for possible illnesses. And lastly, as the New England weather will get cold and harsh soon, it is recommended that students living outside the main building add layers when they go outside. With the new dorm waiting to be completed by November, hopefully there is a shorter walking distance from dormitories to classrooms every day. 

Meal Conflicts and Changes

By Mandy Hui’23

Seated meals have been a long-standing tradition at St. Mark’s, where students dine twice a week in designated groups for lunch– once with their advisory group and once with a community group that includes randomly assigned students from all four grades. We also have seated meals for dinner before evening chapel with advisory groups, which occurs once a month. During these meals, groups are assigned a table either in the main dining hall, small dining hall, Hinkle room, or outside in the hallway. Students and faculty help by setting up the table together and handing each other plates, utensils, napkins, and drinks. One student is usually selected to collect the food in the servery, bringing it back to their table and allowing the table to serve themselves. These meals are family-style, providing a way for the community to bond and get closer together. However, due to Covid at the beginning of 2020, this tradition came to a halt. Now, the current seniors, class of 2023, are the only individuals who have experienced seated meals. 

A few weeks ago, St. Mark’s decided to bring back the seated meal traditions since Covid cases have been minimal and stagnant at the institution, with no signs of any significant spikes in the future. Therefore, community seated meals were on Monday, and advisory seated meals were now on Thursday. To slowly reintroduce these meals, the school decided to have them only in advisory groups to get students more comfortable and used to the new routine with peers they are acquainted with it. However, on Mondays, there is already a period for advisory groups to meet, causing students to complain about the repetitiveness of having both that meeting block and a lunch meal together. Students were also conflicted about the idea of community seated meals, with some enjoying the time to get to know new people and others preferring regular meals with friends. 

Along with this, the school removed staggered lunches on the other days of the week. This decision inadvertently led to a large issue: long lines. Since everybody began to dine simultaneously, the lunch lines consistently ended at outer Forbes. This caused students to line up for 20 out of 30 minutes for lunch block and then rush to finish their food before hastily running to class to prevent receiving a tardy. Many students became aggravated with the rush, frustrated that they needed to sacrifice their lunch to be on time for classes. 

To fix these problems, St. Mark’s revamped the lunch schedules. After less than three weeks of the newly implemented seated meal plans, the school decided to eliminate Monday seated meals and only have Thursday seated meals weekly for advisory. In addition to this, staggered lunch was brought back for the other days to prevent the overcrowded lines. However, to accommodate the return of staggered lunches, breakfast now closes at 8:30 am instead of the usual 9:00 am. This stops students from getting breakfast later when they have a free period, and it also prevents them from getting the all-students-favorite egg and cheese sandwich after chapel. Whether students love the new plan or not, sacrifices must be made.

Class Attendance...or Lack Thereof

By Rachel Ding’ 26 and Anouk Shin ’26

Skipping classes is an issue all schools face in the academic year, and St. Mark’s is no exception. In the complex world of BlackBaud attendance summaries, excused and unexcused absences, tardies, and detentions, “skipping class” remains a relatively general term to the St. Mark’s students we interviewed– simply not attending a majority or all of a class, intentional or not. There are endless reasons and excuses for skipping class, but here are just a familiar few we found. 

Most students at St Mark’s do not completely skip class—for some, skipping class results from external circumstances. For one an anonymous student, skipping class was missing 30 minutes of one of their classes and being 15 minutes late to Saturday Class (the class left their usual meeting location without them). This student did not deliberately forget their class to wander in their dorm or outside campus, but was still considered to have “skipped class.”  Several more interviews revealed that many students skip class due to waking up too late, a consequence of sleeping far later than they should due to staying up late with homework and other activities. Other common causes were sicknesses (most notably COVID) and travel. 

While many skip classes with ulterior motives, a small population of students act with the intention of missing various commitments, including but not exclusive to classes. Some upperclassmen question the importance of attending all-school events such as Chapel, Gray Colloquium, or School Meetings. A select few upperclassmen consider these commitments necessary to participate in when the content affects them personally—such as supporting a friend’s Chapel Talk or giving a presentation in the Center. This begs the question: do these commitments serve a purpose beyond a simple check mark for attendance? If students would rather sacrifice two hours of their Saturday evening or Sunday morning at detention than show up to these events held at such high standards of importance, should they be required? Can and should these events be tailored to engage every attendee at all-school commitments better? 

As these questions circulate, peer pressure seems to follow suit. When one member of a friend group loses interest in attending such events, their behavior often bleeds into the action of their peers. Peer pressure is particularly prevalent in dorm life—when roommates who spend much time together often decide to skip commitments as a pair. 

Whether school commitments are skipped with intentionally or not, sleep deprivation, sickness, low interest, and peer pressure play into class attendance… or lack thereof.

Athletic Awards

By Mandy Hui ‘23

The fall sports season came to an end. As St. Mark’s prepared for the winter season, the annual Fall Athletic Awards ceremony took place on November 17, 2022, in the Putnam Family Arts Center’s Class of ‘45 Hall. This ceremony recognized and highlighted the determined athletes and teams this fall in football, cross country, field hockey, and soccer. Every sport’s Junior Varsity and Varsity team awarded a few individual prizes, including the Most Improved Player and ETA award. 

The ceremony commenced with an introduction from St. Mark’s director of athletics, Ms. Ames, who thanked all the coaches and St. Mark’s two athletic trainers, Ms. Maddock and Ms. Cromwell, for an amazing fall season. Following her, this year’s four athletic council officers, Carlisle Brush ‘23, AJ Gorman ‘23, Ali Grenon ‘23, and Si Jones ‘23, introduced each sports team. The head coach for the teams gave a short presentation about the season and their appreciation for the team members, especially congratulating the seniors, the class of 2023. Here are this year’s awardees (credit to St. Mark’s website):

Boys' Cross Country

Varsity: 9-9-0, JV: 8-8

Most Valuable Runner (MVR): A.J. Gorman '23

Most Improved Runner (MIR): Henry Wang '25

Coaches Award: Bennett Jones '23

Enthusiasm, Teamwork, and Attitude (ETA) Award: Cooper Wang '25

All-ISL: A.J. Gorman '23

ISL Honorable Mention: Hayden Gobron '25, Bennett Jones '23

Girls' Cross Country

Varsity: 4-10, JV: 3-6-1

MVR: Judy Xie '23

MIR: Jasmine Zhang '26

Coaches Award: Ivy Li '23

ETA: Karry Kim '25

Field Hockey

Varsity: 6-9-2, JV: 1-10

Most Valuable Player (MVP): Molly Lefebvre '23

Most Improved Player (MIP): Avery Leonard '24

Hall Prize*: Molly Lefebvre '23

ETA: Joya Xu '25

All-ISL: Molly Lefebvre '23

ISL Honorable Mention: Riley Perkins '24

*The Hall Prize is awarded in memory of Brinley M. Hall, Class of 1930, to that member of the girls' varsity field hockey team whose contribution is characterized as strong of will, positive by nature, a reasoner, and cooperative.

Football

Varsity: 1-7

MVP: Tru Styles '23

MIP: Ben Howard '25

Smith Football Prize*: Buck Lewis '23

ETA: Hudson Heinemann '25

All-ISL: Si Jones '23, Tru Styles '23, Liam Groh '23

ISL Honorable Mention: Jared Vilcina Brown '25, Buck Lewis '23, Sir William Morman '24

*The Smith Football Prize is given to the player (excluding the captain) who best exemplifies the spirit and sportsmanship which brings back the memories of Archie Smith and the 1934 team.

Boys' Soccer

Varsity: 6-9-3, JV: 6-8-1, Thirds: 1-8-1

MVP: Alden Mehta '23

MIP: Ben Markle '24

Coaches Award: Gabe Lopes '25

ETA JV: Harley Sun '23

ETA Thirds: Daniel Song '25

All-ISL: Alden Mehta '23

ISL Honorable Mention: Ryan Taylor '23

Girls' Soccer

Varsity: 3-12-2, JV: 1-10-2

MVP: Remy English '23

MIP: Abby Stone '26

Coaches Award: Lily Apstein '26

ETA JV: Ife Lawore '25

All-ISL: Ella Austin '26

ISL Honorable Mention: Remy English '23

The Wiedergott Award, which is given to the fall team that has the best winning percentage, was awarded to three teams this year: boys’ varsity cross country, boys’ junior varsity cross country, and boys’ junior varsity soccer. The Wiedergott Plate, which is given to the most improved team in the ISL, was awarded to boys’ varsity soccer. This fall season was definitely challenging but most importantly fun. Now, we are getting warmed up for the winter season. Go Lions!

St. Mark’s Welcomes Penn Fellows

Jonathan Hernandez ‘24

For generations students have come to St. Mark’s to learn how to do and be their best. This fall, St. Mark’s is welcoming two students who are learning to teach their best. Brittney Brown, and Shrenik Agrawal joined the St. Mark’s community through the Penn Fellowship Program. 

The Fellowship Program, facilitated by the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, is a two-year fellowship program. Members of the program participate in teaching at partner schools, such as St. Mark’s, and online courses. The program allows aspiring teachers to receive a Master of Science in Education while gaining teaching experience at a wide array of partner schools. 

Brittney Brown, also known as Miss B around Campus, joined the St. Mark’s community from Georgia Tech this June, where she majored in Aerospace Engineering. Miss B noted that she enjoyed the opportunities grain teaching experience, especially at a boarding school like St. Mark’s. She explains that “I'm really excited to see not only my personal growth and education but also how students learn, the growth of my students and my players.” While here, she is teaching Geometry in the Math Department and currently helping coach Junior-Varsity Field Hockey in the fall. 

Miss B can often be found in the STEM faculty room or walking her student-popular dog Goose. In addition to athletics, Miss B is also interested in helping with Saturday Courses and the Robotics Team in the Winter. She is currently on duty in Gaccon, where she lives in one of the faculty apartments, where she loves to bake treats such as cheesecake and brownies. In addition, she has noted that she prefers the St. Mark’s community to call her Miss B.

Mr. Agrawal, noted that he had a long-standing desire to teach since high school. He explained that the Penn Fellowship has given him “a really good opportunity to learn and learn how to teach and work with small class sizes.” Mr. Agrawal explained that in teaching in a small school, teachers were able to have more time to connect more closely with each person. He explains that “teaching is about, first and foremost, strong social connections. That is the foundation on which any content that you're working with, stands on because you need that trust between teacher and student.” In being at St. Mark’s, Mr. Agrawal also noted that he hopes to be involved in promoting Community and Equity at St. Mark’s. 

Along with teaching, Mr. Agrawal plans on coaching Junior-Varsity Squash in the winter and Tennis in the Spring. When not teaching, he can be found running on the West Campus Cross Country Trail. He explained how the trail was truly a sight to see. 

This academic year, there were many faculty and staff to join the St. Mark’s community in most, if not all departments. Make sure to welcome each one by getting to know them, including Miss B and Mr. Agrawal!