Mark Day School
39 Trellis Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
415.472.8000

From Our Head of School

Welcome to Mark Day School! Innovative and full of heart, Mark Day School unites a strong, exciting, and enriched academic program with a kind and inclusive community. We pride ourselves on nurturing a love of learning, engagement in the community, and development of compassion and an ethical framework.

Here students learn and practice the intellectual, social, and emotional skills they will use to face the unique challenges and opportunities of their time. Our graduates stand out not just for their intellectual curiosity and pursuit of ideas, but for their joy in learning and deep sense of responsibility to put their knowledge to use in the community, to be active and engaged citizens.

From their first steps on campus, students grow in an atmosphere where learning is both joyful and challenging, where their teachers know them as individuals, where they belong. From our nationally recognized media and information literacy program, to the Guided Reading program in the Lower School, to our interdisciplinary, skill-based Upper School curriculum, we continually challenge students to forge their initial curiosity into something deeper. Our methods place the student at the center of the work, focusing on hands-on experience and students learning how to learn. The core curriculum includes the arts, physical education, and character development. At Mark Day School, it is fun to learn--and cool to be smart.

In today's interdependent world, intellectual skills are only the beginning; they must be accompanied by the ability to communicate, to create connections within and across different cultures. Our students begin learning Spanish and Mandarin in kindergarten. Further, Mark Day School is an established leader in creating and stewarding local and global partnerships; here students engage locally with the Canal Alliance and globally with partner schools in Beijing, Costa Rica, and South Africa. These partnerships reinforce our commitment to the development of ethical, compassionate, engaged citizens of our local and global community.

In standardized test scores, in our secondary school placement, and in the strong testimony from our alumni/ae on their preparation for life in and beyond high school, we see that Mark Day School makes a substantial difference in the lives and the achievements of its students.

Explore this website to learn more about our school--but don't stop there. Visit our campus and see the school and community in action. We look forward to seeing you!

Joe Harvey
Head of School

For more about Joe Harvey's background, click here.
To learn more about the history of Mark Day School, click here.