Blog

For Garden Teacher and Tinkerer David St. Martin, ecoliteracy is not just part of the curriculum—it’s a passion that he loves to share with students. Learning about and caring for our natural world has been a means of connecting with students on a deeper level.

For decades, we have recognized that foundational skills and competencies in traditional disciplines alone are not enough to educate today's students to thrive in the current century. We developed four cross-disciplinary literacies that are interwoven across grades and subjects to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to navigate through life.

Over the past decade, we have developed a close relationship with leaders at Dominican University’s Teacher Education program and have collaborated in multiple ways. One of the most impactful is hosting lesson studies several times per year at Mark Day School.

For grades 3-8, outdoor education gives students the opportunity to explore the natural world during unique and rewarding field experiences. Throughout the pandemic and as we see many aspects of pre-pandemic life return more recently, we have always been committed to making these experiences possible.

From the school’s founding in 1980, philanthropy has been part of the fabric of Mark Day School. Philanthropy is an important element of every great school and provides the opportunity to grow, expand, and improve—in ways that impact us in the short- and long-term.