St. Mark’s Episcopal School is a private Christian School located in Ft. Lauderdale. It caters PK3 through 8th Grade. St. Mark’s is situated on beautiful grounds on 1750 E. Oakland Park Blvd in Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334.
The word on the street (from the Mother’s in Parking lots) is this is an exceptional school. I have not come into contact with a single parent or teacher that doesn’t have a good word to say about St. Mark’s.
But with that said, it is always nice to see for yourself, so I attended one of their open houses. (I am looking for options for my young son).
The grounds of the school were well maintained and the children that I passed were full of smiles.
Upon the tour I spoke in detail with the teachers from the Kindergarten & 1st Grade and they too all seemed happy in their jobs. To me that is a key sign, happy kids and happy teachers.
The school seems to be very well rounded and follows the Christian beliefs without being stuffy or too overly religious.
St. Mark’s curriculum overview says that they follow a modified Montessori instructional program. That I was not aware of, but firmly believe in the Montessori method so that was a plus to hear that.
The student (a young man) who was our tour guide told me that the coach was the best and really enjoyed all the sports programs that the school offered. They had a large outside field and court and an impressive gymnasium which converted to adapt to all the sports.
The music room was glorious and so was the music teacher. Everyone takes Spanish, which is another star.
The school cafeteria menu included healthy options and a salad bar and I was told ice cream is allowed as a treat once a week.
The most impressive aspect of the school, was the technology. All classrooms are now equipped with Smart Boards. A Smart Board, looks like the old fashioned white board, but is fact computerized. The teacher demonstrated how she could write on the board with her “colored interactive markers”, then go straight to the Internet. She clicked on a storybook site and opened a talking animated read along story before our eyes. She then moved to Math, and picked a volunteer, who played a game on the board, by clicking on the answers (moving fish) for addition problems. It blew me away. What a great tool for the teachers and more importantly for the children.
Mac Lab
They had a Mac Lab, with 25 pristine large macs. They also have PC’s throughout the school and the students are educated on both. In the library they have “take out” Mac Books.
With the increasing advancements in technology it is important for education that the schools have the tools to keep up with the movement.