Our son has attended St. Marks from preschool through 8th grade, and we truly could not have asked for a better experience for him and our family. Over the years, we have watched him grow academically, socially, and emotionally in a supportive and caring environment. The teachers and staff have always gone above and beyond to make students feel valued, encouraged, and challenged to do their best. What stands out most is the strong sense of community and the genuine care the school has for each child's success and well-being. From the early preschool years to preparing for high school, the school has provided a strong educational foundation while also teaching important values like responsibility, kindness, and confidence. We are incredibly grateful for the friendships, memories, and guidance our son received throughout the years. Thank you to the entire St. Marks community for being such an important part of our son's journey. We will always look back on these years with appreciation and pride. read more

BEST DECISION EVER We transitioned from another school to SML and the best 2 years of Middle school for our daughter. From the tour given by Julie Gil, we knew it was the best fit for our family. We were welcomed by SML family/community and we cannot say enough praises. The students are the priorities not only by the staff but by the SML families. Such a wonderful group of people and school. The students are exposed to so many different things in the curriculum and extracurricular activities which prepare them for high school and life. We will miss St Mark's Lutheran read more

Great School Everything is top, the teachers, the principle, the families and the curriculum read more

Think twice about sending your child to a school that does little to nothing about the bullying that is going on there. Since the new administration took over a few yrs ago numerous students have been bullied with little to no consequences done to the students doing the bullying. This has resulted in students leaving the school due to the bullying. We have been associated with that school for over 40 yrs as our two daughters went there. We were a big proponent of that school but no more. There are policies and procedures that are supposed to be followed and in my opinion this was not done. So think again before you send your child to a school that does little to nothing about bullying. This review reflects our opinion of the unfortunate experiences at St. Mark's Lutheran School read more

My family had a wonderful experience during these past 18 years at SML. Our three kids grew up here, my oldest is now attending Berkeley , son is a senior at Damien and youngest is graduating 8th grade this year. SML has become a second home for my children . Teachers and staff truly care for each and every child. The school excels in every subject math, science, english, leadership, sports, extracurriculars, etc ... Our children were taught everything they need to build a strong successful future. Dr. Clark was a wonderful and unforgettable great principle and now, Principal Gerardo who took over is doing fantastic! I could not recommended this school enough. read more

I went to this school from preschool all the way to 7th grade. For years, it was fine -- I actually used to like it here. But everything completely changed once the new management came in. They took zero action when bullying got bad. I'm not talking about small stuff -- it got to the point where I had to leave the school because nothing was being done to protect me. What makes it worse is that this isn't just my story -- it's happened to multiple kids. The teachers try, but the administration doesn't care at all. They ignore serious problems and let the toxic environment keep growing. If you're thinking about sending your kid here, just know the truth: the kids can be cruel, the admin will look the other way, and the "safe, supportive" school they advertise is a total lie. read more

When my kids first started school (preschool/kindergarten) I did extensive research on all the schools n our area. I looked into the public schools and various private schools such as Whittier Christian, Broadoaks, Carden Academy, Christ Lutheran, and St. Mark's. After taking tours of all the school and seeing what they all had to offer, I'm glad I chose St. Mark's. My children spent over 10 years at St. Mark's (starting in preschool to 8th grade) and now that they are in college (USC and UC Irvine), I can say that St. Mark's had a huge impact on their educational success. St. Mark's is a WASC accredited school that offers a great curriculum with many special extra-curricular activities. They have a "relaxed" uniform policy which includes school-approved t-shirts, collar shirts, and dresses. Being a busy parent, I appreciated this type of uniform for my kids because they could play in it and I really appreciated not having to struggle with what to wear in the morning. It made getting ready easy. From the first day when we met Assistant Principal Betty Castaneda and Principal Barbara Clark, I can see how caring, responsive and committed the staff was to the school. Starting from their kindergarten year, when parents expressed their concerns about the math curriculum. The school made huge strides in advancing the math program to ensure their students' success. When parents asked for more language learning opportunities, the school listened and added French to their Spanish and Chinese language curriculum. In addition to their advanced curriculum, my children also had the opportunity to learn music, art, musical theatre, robotics, advanced science, bells, podcasting, theatre production and design, religion, and many different sports activities such as volleyball, basketball, cross country, and track and field. When my kids entered high school, they had no trouble with the transition and were placed in advanced/honors classes. St. Mark's had laid their foundation of active learning. They became leaders in their community because of the leadership they were taught at St. Mark's. I will forever be grateful for the wonderful experiences they had and the lasting friendships we all made with St. Mark's Families. Roar on! read more

St. Mark's has been a wonderful experience for both of our daughters. The community has truly become like family to us. Our connection to SML actually began years ago with my younger siblings, who attended in the 1990s and graduated in 2001 and 2002. Both went on to earn their master's degrees and are now successful professionals which is a testament to the strong foundation they received at St. Mark's. Our own journey with SML began in 2017, when our eldest daughter entered 6th grade. From the very start, she felt welcomed and supported. The environment was so inclusive--she was greeted at the new student luncheon and offered extra help from her teachers to ensure she was caught up with the curriculum. We quickly noticed the academic rigor, as SML was a year ahead in math and emphasized skills like cursive writing that she hadn't learned at her previous public school. She especially enjoyed the "specials" such as chapel, art, P.E., and foreign language which are all taught by dedicated teachers and introduced as early as kindergarten. SML prepared her exceptionally well for high school, where she excelled in honors and AP classes and ultimately graduated with high honors from a private high school. Our youngest daughter joined SML in 4th grade in 2021 and often says she wishes she had started in preschool. She has loved her time at St. Mark's and is already sad to be saying goodbye when she graduates in 2026. Over the past five years, we've watched her truly flourish. She discovered her passion for sports, developed confidence, and has been an active member of Student Council and programs like LEAD, which emphasize servant leadership. The community of parents and families at SML is truly unmatched. We've found tremendous support and lasting friendships through Parent Prayer Group, Booster Club, and volunteer opportunities. Both of our daughters see St. Mark's as a second home, and we couldn't be more grateful for the education, values, and love they've received here. Choosing St. Mark's Lutheran School for our family has been one of the best decisions we've ever made. read more

A student was expelled on Monday Sept 8 for a complaint that a mother brought to the principal of a minor incident that did not happen on school grounds but 9 days prior to expulsion. The day the student was expelled they did nothing wrong. Principal said that the behavior " could potentially spill over to school grounds" This school does not follow policies and procedures. Principal based expulsion on the "here say" of a parent and did not interview her child to confirm anything. The principal would not provide documentation of the expulsion meeting and said that everything is "kept internal' She asked that the parents write a letter of withdrawal to release the school of liability. According to lawsuit A.H. vs Saint Francis Highschool private schools have to follow a fair procedure which includes the following; 1. Interview the accused and providing notice 2. Interview witnesses 3. Collect relevant documents 4. Have a hearing. The school did neither of these which is a violation of the law. The school, principal and teachers are currently being sued for wrongful expulsion of another student with more to come if other courageous parents step up. Also the school had a lock down dec 6 2024 due to active shooter in the area and they violated the law in which no students would be allowed on campus and all school doors need to be locked. Children were roaming on campus and doors were not locked. Also their isnt a full time security guard on the premises and the campus is easily accessible to ANYONE... the children are not safe. read more

I am so grateful for my years at St. Mark's because it truly set the foundation for my academic and personal growth. The curriculum challenged me in the best ways, helping me develop strong reading and writing skills that carried me through high school and into college, where I am now about to graduate. Looking back, even though the workload in the upper grades sometimes felt like a lot, I can now see how much it prepared me for the rigor of my future education. Beyond academics, the school offered so many well rounded opportunities and always encouraged us to explore our interests. I have such fond memories of the different field trips, the old drama program, the Halloween carnival, Fun and Fitness Day, and even reenacting the Battle of Bunker Hill with my classmates before we all headed off to different high schools. It is always a joy to return to campus over the years, see familiar faces, and be reminded of the warm community that shaped so much of who I am today. Every now and then I run into old classmates from my years there, whether we graduated together or not, and when we reminisce we often bring up how we would like to send our own future kids to St. Mark's one day. read more

I used to go to this school for 3 years before I switched schools, Why did I switch schools? Because the students there are SO mean, last year in 2024-2025 was my last year at this school, and I just wish I could give this school -10000000 stars, I'll tell you my experience at that school, so my first 2 years everything was fine, but then I started getting SEVERELY bullied, so I'm transgender and a part of the LGBTQ Community, And I got bullied for being gay, because the students there are SO homophobic and won't accept people like me, I remember last year, there was this kid in my class who had to be in crutches, he let everyone in our class sign his foot cast EXCEPT FOR ME, because he said he doesn't want gay people signing his foot cast, not only did I get bullied for being transgender, I also got bullied for a bunch of different things, they also bullied me for being different from everyone, so basically, they were discriminating against me for those reasons, and the rest of the reasons they bullied me were a bit personal for me, the bullying gave me suicidal thoughts and I'll probably have suicidal thoughts for the rest of my life, the school is the reason why I hate my life, and also, God and Jesus doesn't even exist so why are they praising for something made up by some random idiot every Sunday? I hate this school, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, Parents, if you're reading this and your kid is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or anything, please don't make them go to this school, they will get SEVERELY bullied and discriminated against, and they will probably get suicidal thoughts, Please don't go to this school read more

Please read this review from an alumni that went to this school for 6+ years This place is a scam. Just ask yourself this question before sending your kids here. Why should I pay for tuition, are the facts they are providing better than public schools. The answer is no, end of the day 2+2 =4. This school will show favoritism to kids if their parents donate to the school. I've seen from experience. (If someone wants to know how this school shows favoritism, just write a review and I'll explain) Read a previous review about bullying. Public schools also won't do anything about it so why pay tuition. Some classes are a waste of funding, when I attended st marks English and literature were 2 separate classes in junior high. Waste of school funding in my opinion. 1 teacher can teach both like in every other grade. Also, I remember that my literature teacher, who was probably a drama reject in high school and probably got her degree from University of Phoenix or Devry decided to add drama as 10% towards ur grade like wtf. She was probably bullied when she was in school so I guess it was just her way so she can sit on her fat ass and bully her students to doing stupid improv assignments. I would understand if 10% of your grade is for presentation or something.Let's be real here, drama won't get you anywhere in life. Library is a waste of a class. Pretty sure there's already assigned reading, most of the kids probably won't even read the book they check out in library class. I really hope this school stops putting kids on blast with the principal,A, and B honor roll. The class size is about 60 per grade so everybody knows everybody, if you have a list of honor rolls ur basically putting all the kids below a 3.0 on blast. End of the day students/parents should only worry about their own/kids gpa. Computers class is not a waste but do we really need iMac. PC is cheaper and actually more practical in the real world. If you have an office job I'm pretty sure all your computers are pc running windows. Religion class might be a waste but it's a private school so no way around that one. If your kids has special needs I would not send them here. This school does not have the resources for that. End of the day if you can afford to send your kids here, you probably live in an area with a good school district. Your tax dollars are already paying for public school so you might as well send them there. You are actually taking funding away from public schools by not sending your kids there and those are the people that actually need funding. Do your part and help others while saving money on tuition. read more

We currently have a son in the eighth grade attending SML as well as another son who graduated SML in 2020. Overall, both our son's experiences have been very positive while attending this school. This includes both academic and extracurricular school activities. The teachers and office staff are both friendly, very good at what they do, and often go the extra mile to insure that the students as well as the parents, are satisfied and get the best overall experience possible. I suppose like all schools, SML can be criticized by a few for some of what they do or don't do. But a good litmus test for how we rate this school is to simply ask, "would you enroll your children at SML if you had a chance to start their school careers over again. The simple answer is, "yes, we would gladly enroll them at SML and be know that we made the correct decision for our two sons." read more

Words cannot describe how blessed we feel to find this school. We were skeptical about religious private schools when we were nervously shopping for preschools as overprotective first time parents who took years to conceive. We toured about a dozen preschools since our firstborn was still in my belly, ranging from downtown LA where we worked to the east side. We decided on St Mark's because it is the only school that didn't give me the gut feeling that they just want to make money. It was also the only school we toured where the preschool kids looked so happy. I recalled a couple of kids even tried to hug my very pregnant belly when they saw me seating in the back observing the class. This was pre-covid time of course. First of all, this is NOT a for profit private school. They really care about the quality of education and the overall well being of children. Based on personal experience, the educators here always try to do what's best for the kids instead of what's best for themselves or the parents (even if it means risking offending the parents). I have many personal stories I can share where the preschool teachers have forever earned my respect in situations where they risked their own interest to do what's best for my kid. Simply put, they don't kiss your ass and give you lip service to interfere with what's in your kids' best interest. Yes, they truly care about your kids and what they will become in life later on. Second, leadership leadership leadership! The school (both the elementary school and preschool) are led by great leaders. I'm not a natural leader myself, so I respect those who can lead. The people in charge here are also receptive to listen to feedbacks, unlike what I have heard from parents from public schools. There is a very low turnover rate from what I have observed. Pretty much most here have worked at St Mark's long term (many for decades). It is also not uncommon to hear from current teachers and staff that their own kids have graduated from St Mark's. This should tell you a lot about the leadership and environment here. PRESCHOOL: I was skeptical at how academic it is, as I was looking at play-based and outdoor preschools. I almost decided not to send my kid here because I worried about burdening my then two years old with excessive learning. I'm glad I didn't give up my spot. The staff here makes learning fun at a a young age to stimulate their curious minds. My then toddler quickly learned the alphabets, numbers, colors, days of the week, months of the year on songs from singing. By the time he was 4 and after two years of St Mark's he had became a little learning machine who is excited about learning and thinks learning is fun. Not to mention they only hire good people. Most if not all teachers/aides here have worked long term (some for decades) and have sent their own kids here. This should tell you a lot about the organization if staff remain the same over the years and people come back to work after their own kids graduated from St Mark's. Note that covid has made it a little more difficult for preschoolers for a wide variety of reasons. So if your kid is starting preschool during covid time (which my youngest is), do expect longer adjustment period. This will be true no matter where you go. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Two words, respect and leadership. My oldest who is 6 came home telling me just this week that he was excited to start his leadership class. He said the leadership class will teach him to become leaders, learn to help others and be kind. He is only 6, and they got him and his friends excited about learning to become leaders! How amazing is that. Not to mention my kid is an introvert. If you want your kids to become well rounded individuals who will always try to do the right thing, respect others, enjoy learning, and have a desire to lead, this is the place for you. If you prefer to shelter your kids, this may not be the place for your family. But if you care about your kids becoming decent human beings, you can't go wrong coming here. I've also read the negative reviews posted below. It's unfortunate, but I have personally experienced a totally different experience. I have personally interacted with the teachers/staff being criticized in the negative posts over the past few years, and I respectfully disagree with the posters. I respect everyone here at St Marks including all the teachers, aides and even the preschool cook. They are pretty strict about who they let in (hiring wise) and it's really a family environment where everyone supports one another. I would recommend this school to anyone who values respect and decency. read more

St Marks Lutheran Elementary School - 3 year old playground - Elementary Schools Near Me - Hacienda Heights, California

My grandson has been going here even through Covid. He is very bright and would have been deprived of further educational growth if it were not for St. Marks. There Covid precautions have been spot on. These preschool children have not experienced school with the masks so for them it is what normal is. Blessing to all the staff. read more

St Marks Lutheran Elementary School - Cinco de Mayo 2021 preschool - Elementary Schools Near Me - Hacienda Heights, California

if I could give it a negative 1 I would When the teachers weren't busy making you upset, they were busy not caring at all. It was a gamble every year--would you get the nicest, most passionate teacher or would you get the actual rudest person to be conceived??? Some of these people literally made you feel unworthy of respect as a person. And the worst part is when they put on a nice front in front of the parents, they become the best actors on Earth. Nuh uh this school is not it if you want to enjoy your preschool/elementary/junior high experience. You don't want these people shaping your first ideas about the school system read more

Bad experience. This school only focuses on making money from business. It needs to pay more than 200 bucks for admission and two months of tuition. WTF, I've heard of this kind of school for the first time. My daughter attended preschool in this school at the age of 3, from August 2021 to January 2022. In January 2022, many classes in the preschool of this school were infected with covid-19, and my daughter's class was also one of them. So I told my daughter to stay at home for a month without class, but the school still asked us to pay tuition. We didn't pay, the school let others into my daughter's class, and didn't refund the tuition we paid in advance. Second, hygiene is not well done. There are many mosquitoes in this school. When my daughter came home from class, she often found a lot of swelling stung on her legs. Third, there is a boy's named Michael in the class who often bullies children weaker than him. My daughter is taller and sits away from him. She is not bullied much. But I often heard from her that he would bully other children ,But the teacher didn't care much about it. read more

My daughter attends their summer camp and it is fantastic. You can drop off at 6:30am. They do school work for the first half of the day and then playground time the second half. They go on 2-3 field trips a week: roller skating, bowling, John's Incredible, laser tag, Knott's, etc. The staff is attentive and friendly. The grounds are pristine. My daughter looks forward to it every summer and I love having reliable childcare that is more than just a mob of kids running around. read more

Update review. All things happened these days is a very big mental trauma for our kid. Her personality has completely changed, and it takes a long time and efforts to recover. She can clearly recall things happened by telling us the days, occasions and the people involved. We really don't want any kids to suffer from the same thing like us. As they told us, the teacher we met had 15 years of experience, but is this what she gained throughout these years? She can't even deal with a 4-year-old kid and let her cry all day? She can't even communicate effectively with the parent? Everybody's kid should be cherished, how can you treat a kid differently just because she comes from a different family? A 4-year-old kid can be taught how to have manner and respect people . But If her teacher, who has worked in the childcare field for more than 15 years but still do not respect people and has no manner herself, how can you expect to have the capability and patience to guide your kid? We don't need any leadership class for my four years old. All we want are just respecting us and sparing a minute telling us how she is doing for the day. We are not asking for anyone to kiss our ass or giving us any lips service, but at least we need to have the basic respectful communication instead of showing negative emotion and attitude or even neglecting us.According to my kid, all she received from the teacher was no attention, no comforting, and only orders, scolding, and stares filled with hostility. According to the rules the teacher implemented, she was not allowed to cry, to talk, even not to walk around classroom when a 4 year old kid was attending a school for the first time and had been staying home for over a year due to Covid. Are you asking her to adapt to a whole new set of rules within a few days? Crying all day , without one sip of water or food for her , What's worse is the teacher feeling this is very annoying. She would rather let the kid cry all day and complain to parents than spending some time to calm my kid down. She even uses the word "crazy "to describe my kid when I picked her up! She complained to us that my kid liked to wander around. Given that she was sitting in the last row, she literally received no attention. She was also trying to explore a new place. Fine! After noticing this thing, we kept teaching and training our kid at home. But only after 2 days, 2days! She started to ignore us and our kid. So mean. She teach a kid to follow rules and have manners is By yelling at her and insulting her "you have no manner at all" in front of every one of the classes instead of giving her useful instructions? What she did would only make a kid feel embarrassed and confused. Our daughter used to be a very outgoing and confident kid, but now she is scared of everything. She is scared of people, new places, even dark that had never happened before attending St. Mark. She can't even sleep by herself now. Every night going to bed she starts crying and keeps saying she is very scared. She would suddenly scream "NO! NO! NO!" while she was sleeping. We really can't imagine if something worse might have happened to her at school . All we received from the teacher only be filled with emotional charges against my daughter without any useful information and suggestions. We were so confused and anxious because we never got to know what's going on there. Also, I read the newest post above related to my experience. I am very glad that he has a very good experience there. I also believe that St. Mark is a very decent school except the teacher my daughter met. I swear to god that I am telling the all the truth about what happened to us, I swear to god! I wish the school can confront the problem and fix it. However, if they are mad at the my kids or yelling at her to make her do things right when they are only 4 years old, of course I will rather shelter the kid at home than sending her to suffer from such unprofessional and ruthless teacher . Being strict does not necessary need to scold, being mad at the kids all the time won't make them have better manners. As a teacher, you can always bring out the fact and reason to teach the kids what to do instead of ignoring their parents and yelling at their kids to make them feel so disappointed and leave the school sadly. If we could choose again, we wish things like that would never happen to us ,we really wish we could have met a decent teacher, and our kid can go to school normally instead of using our time to write reviews just to express how painful we are now . we also met the director and superintendent yesterday. they did have very good leadership, and they did listen patiently what happened to us. Thank you for their time. Also, we want to express our gratitude to other teachers and faculties that have spent their time and patience with our kid , even though my kid would never be the same as before. read more

Both of my daughters attend SML. My wife and I couldn't be happier with the level of educational standards SML has. The staff goes above and beyond. My daughters were both apart of the Pre-school/Kindergarten program and now one has moved on to 1st Grade. The Preschool/Kindergarten staff has been nothing short of amazing. We have watched both of my girls go leaps and bounds. We started my oldest at 4 and her first school experience with was Ms. Claudia and Mrs. Shanae. The patience that was implemented helped my oldest adjust and grow tremendously. She has such a love of school because of the staff at SML. Thank you to the team at SML for all that you do for our kids! read more

Best school in the area. Both my children attended since preschool. One child is currently in high school and is heads above her peers in her new private school. I can't say enough about this amazing school. it really is like a family. Dr Clark has done an amazing job molding this school into a successful and loving learning environment. read more

This school is simply wonderful. The school community is supportive to all family members. The faculty and teachers are approachable and solution focused. If issues arise there's always help to be given and solutions that work. This is what they are teaching my 3 children. I could not ask for anything greater. My children have attended preschool to elementary. The academics are above and beyond average. I'm always impressed at the new things my kids are learning at each age/grade. I do not feel that my children are behind at all given the current circumstances and the never ending pandemic. My family is so grateful for St Marks and their amazing teachers. read more

Let me start by saying, we were deceived with the name and the "blue ribbon" status of this school. We wanted our child to attend this school, thinking, it's the best in the area. We waited on the waiting list for more than a year just to get him into preschool... finally we get a spot, yayyyy... we made it, but I wish now that they've never called us to that they have an opening for us. My son was 3.5 years at that time, he was placed in a class of 24 students with 2 teachers. Yup, 24 kids!!! Let me start by saying first and for most, they have the meanest director (Ms. Monez -not sure of spelling) you can ever think of. I understand that you need to have a strong personality, and show firmness, but what we saw was rudeness too. My son was horrified to see her... at the Halloween party at school, he was standing behind me all time, didn't want to get near her even though she had candy to handle him (we bought tickets for that to support the school, don't think they are giving it for free). So that's the start.... Back to the class and the teacher. His teacher was Ms. Valerie, she was trying to be nice with us, but I don't think she was able to manage the 12 kids she had! I know my son might have been more energetic than other kids, but I know for sure he is smarter than most kids in that class! My son was excited to go to school at the beginning but then started to hate going there. He'll be crying going into the school... we still sent him! Every now and then I hear from him that he had a time out... the I get reports... then the teacher starts complaining to me about him every time I go to pick him up!!!! It's like, what's going on... then we discovered that my son was getting bullied by another kid, who stole his water bottle, make fun of him, drink from his water, take every toy my son wants to play with and so forth... my son didn't know how to defend himself, he'll scream instead out of frustration, so the teacher puts him in time-out!!!! What does the teacher and the school do about the bulking, NOTHING!!! Yup, nothing.. they tell us they are aware of it and they are working on it, how? I'm not sure. So what do we do, we took my son out of school immediately... it has been a year and half, and guess what... my son still remembers Ms. Valerie, and every now and then he'll mention her and say "that teacher didn't care about me, that teacher was mean to me"... yup. Thank you St. Marks for engraving that in my son's memory forever, we try to tell him... no, she was nice, she cares about you... just to forget the mean memories, but he is not convinced.... to be honest, I, as a parent, witnessed how uncaring Ms. Valeri can be... my son hates Halloween Becuase he's afraid of costumes and face covers in specific. If he can not see someone's face, then he can not reads their smile and see the caring eyes. They had the Halloween parade. Parents were waiting outside for kids to walk, when I can hear my son is crying in the classroom.. I walk to the room to see him standing, ALONE, crying his heart out of being scared from all the costumes... and what is Ms. Valerie doing, nothing... looking at him from far, with her careless eyes, while getting the table ready for the kids to eat after the parade. I gave my son a hug, tried to calm him down... then the other teacher comes to help calm him down ( I forgot her name, she's the other one with Valerie, always was nice/er to my son). So bottom line, it's not worth it... we came out being harmed from this experience... never going back again to that school even if it is the last school on Earth! read more

My three kids have all attended St. Mark's preschool and are all now in the elementary/middle school. They were given an excellent foundation because of the preschool. They were always patient with the 3 different personalities each of my kids have. One of my daughter's needed extra special attention when she started and her preschool teachers never once gave up on her. I'm grateful for the extra effort that Ms. Melissa, Ms. Ronda, Ms. Claudia and Ms. Shanae spent on her to help her become one of the smartest kids in her grade level since she entered Kindergarten. They love going to school. They excel in all of their subjects. They would not get this experience from any other school in the area. read more

St. Marks Lutheran School is quite possibly the best private school in the region. The environment combined with the dedication of the teachers at promoting student success is unparalleled. I was once a student at this lovely middle school, a total of eleven years from preschool to eighth grade. It was an enjoyable and memorable part of my life, an experience that I have not taken for granted. My experience at St. Marks continues to be the foundation for not only my achievements in academia but also for the professional world. The teachers are among the best and are highly involved with the student's academic as well as social lives. The field trips are second to none and are a great experience for all the students. The after school programs, such as an etiquette course back in my day, are excellent at preparing the students for their future endeavors. I continue to use the skills I learned at St. Marks in my internships and work and they are quite helpful even today as I embark on my journey to become an attorney. The school principal, Barbara Clark, is not only a great leader, but an illustrious individual. It is already difficult to manage a fine institution such as St. Marks, but even more challenging to recognize (and call by name) every single student in the school. She is capable of uniting the whole school closer together as one family. During Wednesday chapel services, Ms. Clark and Reverend Demers brings the whole school closer to the Christian faith, a clear sign of leadership and integrity. Some of the reviewers are complaining about the donations, the tuition, the reserved parking spaces for donors, and the annual Silent Auction. Let me remind you that this is a private school, a private institution that does not receive federal money to run its facilities. This school runs purely on donations and tuition, what do you expect when you enrolled your child here? The teachers are great, the principal is a true leader, and the students love the school. I would recommend anyone, whose children wants the same pleasurable experience I did, to enroll at this fine institution. read more

Less than one! When a now 7 year old says when she passes this school, "that's the mean place with the mean teacher." If someone ask more details, that's where I did "baby work", "the kids made fun of me, because I did baby work." (No homework given, was not doing class work, standard ciriculum) For some to regard this "funny", there is surely no compassion, nor love, and no understanding of a child's heart during these formative years..especially to have to pay for this treatment! I find the "funny" comments insensitive, but thank God it is still a free country! read more

My daughter has been at St Mark's for eight years, counting kindergarten and loves it. The quality of education is outstanding, with a great principal and staff. The school sets their standards and expectations high and that is what I want for my daughter. Thanks St Mark's! read more

The best school in the neighborhood! My two kids go here in this private school and it it worth every penny.

Love this school! My grandson is now in 2nd grade and is learning and happy! Teachers and staff are great. Do they have fundraisers? Absolutely ALL private/parochial schools do. read more

Our son just finished his first year at St. Mark's. We chose to move our son to St. Mark's for 6th Grade due to the school's reputation for solid academics and strong sense of community, and we could not be more pleased with our decision. Middle School can be a tough transition for a new student, but the teachers and students have gone out of their way to make our son feel welcome. We have found the core classes and extra curricular activities to be first rate. Our son has been challenged, but not overwhelmed. The teachers really seem to enjoy what they do, and do an excellent job of providing feedback through materials that are sent home and the school's new website. Having come from the public school system, we have quickly realized the advantages that St. Mark's offers in terms of the classroom environment, technology and campus facilities. We are very happy to be part of the St. Mark's family. read more

My twins attended St. Mark's from first through eighth grade, graduating this past May. St. Mark's is a wonderful school with an outstanding principal who not only acts as an administrator, but who also teaches eighth grade American History. Ms. Clark makes history come to life for her students and travels with them on a ten day action-packed East Coast trip to culminate their year together. As a chaperone on this year's trip, I can tell you it was an incredible experience for the students as well as the parents! Like Ms. Clark, the other teachers at St. Mark's are dedicated and caring. They nurture students and continually challenge them. They are also involved in providing many extracurricular activities such as sports, musicals, robotics, Math Counts, spelling bees, book clubs, literature contests, Reading Counts, bells, choir, band, Podcast and cooking classes to name just a few. Through these extracurricular activities, the teachers and students get to know one another from the perspective of a shared interest, creating a great sense of camaraderie. Evident from the previous list, St. Mark's really caters to a wide range of interests and offers exceptional assemblies, weekly chapel, field trips and special events in addition to a solid academic curriculum. There is wonderful parental support through the Booster Club which coordinates room parents, runs the Fall Carnival, the Silent Auction, Fun & Fitness Day, the Teacher and Staff Tea, a weekly prayer group as well as monthly meetings. All parents are part of the Booster Club with an initial $150 donation which is refunded back to them once they have volunteered for 15 hours during the school year. The staff and administration work cohesively with parents and students to provide a stable and fun learning environment where the students look forward to attending school. My husband and I feel very fortunate to have found such a great place to educate our boys. Although we are now alumni, we know we will forever be members of the St. Mark's Family. read more