By Julie He ‘23
Founded in 1865, St. Mark’s school boasts an impressive history as one of the oldest private boarding schools in New England. As a highly reputed institute, St. Mark’s aims to encourage students to develop their particular analytic and creative capabilities by both inspiring their academic and spiritual curiosity and kindling their passion for discovery. However, is the current administration doing its job, or is it time for change? In our current rapidly growing society, there have been many changes aimed to improve our world, so why shouldn’t St. Mark’s follow the trend? Therefore, I propose a series of developments that can be implemented at SM to foster growth and development. *Scroll to bottom for list*
First and foremost, St. Mark’s as a name is highly outdated and deserves revampment. St. Julie’s is not only chic and pleasing to the ear, but also remains inclusive and retains parts of the school’s history. According to scientific research from highly reputable sources, the proposed name will attract many more prospective students and donors as shown in the graph below.
In addition to the name change, St. Julie’s should also update its school colors from blue and white to pink and white. All buildings, equipment, flags, windows, walls, and more should transition to this bright and lovely color. The color blue can symbolize and portray coldness, aloofness, unfriendliness and sadness. These feelings do not accurately represent JM or its students and can give off a negative connotation of our jovial and connected campus atmosphere. Pink, on the other hand, is associated with positive thoughts of youth, good health, and loveliness. Pink symbolizes passion, kindness, and understanding; embodying all that is good in the world and the students of St. Julie’s. Which attributes more correctly describe our school: coldness and sadness, or passion and understanding? This will also help SJ stand out from all the other basic and lackadaisical schools who stick with boring blue and white. Based on the same highly scientific research, statistics show some of the benefits using pink will bring to SJ.
Transportation is often a complication at boarding schools, and St. Julie’s has a practical and fun solution to provide an efficient and safe way of travel. Students have often complained about the 10 min period in between classes due to not having enough passing time. St. Julie’s should install slides and trampolines to decrease the walking time. In case of fire, students will be able to evacuate faster and more efficiently. Students will also not have to climb 5 flights of stairs everyday and the leap will wake students up in the morning. Of course, elevators will still be available for people who are unable to use such devices. The journey between West and Main is often treacherous with dangers of drowning in West Lake, being attacked by a bear from the forest, or getting hit by a fast moving vehicle. To help prevent these problems, a zip line and ski lift should be installed. While being safe, this system will help with students running late in the morning and provide equity to west boarders who often complain about the main-campus boarder privileges. These systems provide a fast and fun way to travel, saving time and increasing student happiness.
Our classrooms and buildings also deserve renovation. Research demonstrates that students produce their best work when they are in a safe and comfortable setting. Instead of hard old chairs, we should replace them with more flexible and colorful furniture. For example, bean bags, swings, pillows are all good alternatives. Walls should be painted by students, completely whiteboards, or all glass to increase overall productivity. There should also be rooms that are with anti gravity, underwater, jungle themed, or beach themed classrooms. St. Julie’s will also revive the tradition of having dog-friendly hallways and classrooms where any dog (that is potty trained) is allowed to roam freely throughout the campus. Dogs can help lower the stress level of students and add to the school aesthetic. In addition to being practical, these equipments will also liven up the school and add spice to everyone’s lives. Not to mention, these renovations are very fun and enjoyable.
St. Julie’s should also make changes to its classes and curriculum to best fit the needs of students and the current world. More courses should be added to meet the demand of students. Some course propositions are The Art Of Procrastination; The Sociology of Taylor Swift: Race, Class, Gender, And Media; Sleeping 101; The Philosophy of Phallicism; and The Science of Maple Syrup. These courses allow students to further explore interests outside the core curriculum and develop life skills that will help them beyond the classroom. In consideration of the student's wellbeing and health, St. Julie’s would run from 10am to 5pm each day with only 2 hours of homework (or 30 min per course) allowed each night. The color blocks will also be re-designed so 80 min blocks are abolished as they are too long and humans were not evolved to sit and listen for such long periods. End of year and unit evaluations would be completed as student-chosen projects whether it be a test, presentation, creative project, or discussion. Teachers should be able to adeptly evaluate the students they have been teaching and interacting with for weeks using these methods. This will allow the student to showcase their knowledge without having to worry about time pressure and multiple choice statistics. This provides equity to students who do not perform as well under pressure but still understand the curriculum. Grades will also be replaced with the Saint Julie grading standard: F=fantastic, D=delightful, C= cool, B=bad, & A=awful. Detentions will be replaced with BC Calculus/Math classes and students will have to solve 10 problems successfully in order to get out of detention. This will lower percentage of rule-breaking by 99% according to recent statistics (done by students in detention so not sure on accuracy).
While the 10-5 schedule may seem to affect sports-life, SJ can add more indoor sports and a variety of sports to utilize the time wisely. Nighttime sports will also be added so students can use facilities after the sun goes down. Students will be able to petition to create their own sport group provided that it does not already exist. For example, sports that can be introduced to SJ are Competitive Napping, Squirrel Racing, Quidditch, Zorbing, and Varsity Yoga. These sports will allow all students to stay fit while enjoying a hobby of their choice.
The food at SM should also change to serve potatoes 24/7. Potatoes can be made in a variety of healthy ways that all students can enjoy. Furthermore, Ice cream and Cake will be served everyday to keep students cool. A pink lemonade fountain can be installed in the cafeteria, or the main quad to make sure students are hydrated. These food choices will keep students happy and healthy.
While SM has many celebrated traditions, SJ should provide more celebrations to be more diverse and inclusive. One that SJ can do that is inclusive and fun is the Homework Ritual. The homework ritual would be an annual day where students all tear up their homework and recycle them into more useful stuff. This is environmentally friendly for the Earth and mentally friendly for students. This will help the school students bond together as a community because of the shared burden of homework.
With all these new changes, St. Julie’s will ensure that the students at the school are happy and healthy. It will also become a more positive community which will attract many outsiders and prospective students. Therefore, I plead that St. Mark’s takes all of the suggestions seriously and implements some of them. With these changes, St. Mark’s will become an elite institution.
Complete List of Proposed Renovations
St. Marks->St. Julie’s
Blue->Pink
Trampolines and Slides to replace stairs
Ski Lift and Zipline from west to main
Bean Bags, pillows and swings classroom
Painted by students, whiteboards, or all glass walls
Anti gravity, underwater, jungle themed, or beach themed classrooms
Dogs be allowed to roam throughout campus
Course Propositions: The Art Of Procrastination; The Sociology of Taylor Swift: Race, Class, Gender, And Media; Sleeping 101; The Philosophy of Phallicism; and The Science of Maple Syrup
10am-5pm classes (no more 80min blocks)
Under 2hr HW per day
Students can choose whether to do a test, presentation, creative project, or discussion instead of mandatory standardized testing
Saint Julie grading standard: F=fantastic, D=delightful, C= cool, B=bad, & A=awful.
Detentions=Math Classes
Sports: Competitive Napping, Squirrel Racing, Quidditch, Zorbing, and Varsity Yoga
Potatoes and Ice cream food
Pink lemonade fountain
St. Mark’s Homework Ritual