St. Marks School – October 2016

st-marks-imsa-studentSt. Mark’s School is fortunate to participate in the Illinois Math and Science Academy’s (IMSA) Fusion program. IMSA is a residential high school in Aurora that is ranked one of the top 10 high schools in the nation for math and science. IMSA Fusion is their outreach program for middle school students.

This year St. Mark’s students will study units on Medieval Science and Secret Communications. The Medieval period was ripe with scientific inventions. Secret Communications will focus on codes and encryption. The IMSA Fusion curriculum is designed to be inquiry based and problem centered. One of its goals is to teach students how to think.

St. Mark’s Halloween Harvest Festival, Oct. 28!

Come one, come all in your spookiest best to the St. Mark’s Halloween Harvest Festival on Fri. Oct. 28 from 5:30-8:30 pm at the school. Food, fun, games, fire escape rides, and trunk or treating are just some of the scary-good things at the Festival. Hope to see you there!

St. Mark’s Students serve Mass at the rededication Mass at St. Mark’s Cathedral.

St. Mark’s was proud to have eight students help serve Mass at the rededication of  the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass held on August 26 was also a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Archbishop John Lancaster Spalding, first bishop of the Peoria Diocese.

 

 

The Latest from St. Mark’s School

On March 28, St. Mark’s School will be having its 16th annual auction at the Itoo Hall. This year’s theme is “There’s No Place Like St. Mark’s.” Doors will open at 5 p.m. with a silent auction.

Dinner is at 6 p.m. and the live auction starts at 7 p.m. with great items, including a condo in Florida, dinner with the priests, a hot air balloon ride, and Cubs and Cardinals overnight stay packages.

There will also be a Dessert Dash, 50/50 raffle, and dancing. Tickets will be available later in the month. Please contact Andrea atkups4@comcast.net for more information or tickets.

We would love to see you at the auction, which is our biggest fund raiser of the year.

The first couple months of 2015 have been busy ones at St. Mark’s with basketball, Scholastic Bowl, cheerleading competition, Souper Trivia, and rehearsals for our school musical, High School Musical, to be held April 24 – 25.

We also had a busy Catholic School Week, the last week of January. Activities included a visit from a Catholic bishop from Kenya, a food drive benefiting the West/Mark Food Pantry, a visit to Heddington Oaks where our 4th graders visited the residents and assisted with Mass, and Family Holy Hour.

St. Mark’s School and Bradley University: A Winning Combination

St. Mark’s School and Bradley University: A Winning Combination

St. Mark’s School and Bradley University continue to grow their relationship with several partnerships over the past months. Our school was the primary community clinical site for the Bradley nursing program. Nursing students provided health care to students and staff. They also held a Pediatric Health and Safety Fair with 17 interactive booths.

Staff development, an important theme at St. Mark’s, was furthered by a 6-week Assertive Discipline training taught by Dr. Jana Hunzicker and Jane Cushing from Bradley. This inservice focused on the importance of structure, consistency, and building relationships with students and their families. Teachers were able to share classroom situations and receive ideas about how to improve the learning environment.

Bradley hosted the St. Mark’s Literacy Fiesta at Westlake Hall. Students rotated through educational and fun stations working collaboratively with Bradley education students.

Come Have a Super Time at Souper Trivia!

St. Mark’s will hold our annual competition of wits, Souper Trivia, on Friday, January 16. Come by the school and enjoy soup, snacks, and adult beverages as we have a fun time answering questions from a host of interesting categories. We’ll form teams that night, or bring a team of people and give it your best to win the coveted Souper Trivia Championship Trophy. Doors will open at 5:30 pm.

The Latest from St. Mark School

St. Mark - Hispanic HeritageHispanic Heritage Festival at St. Mark’s!

Come join us for a celebration of Mexican culture and fun at our Hispanic Heritage Festival on Sunday, December 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s School. Food, music, and other activities will commemorate Hispanic traditions, including the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which occurs a couple of days before the Festival. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the Americas. St. Mark’s School families and students are hosting this festival, and we invite you to attend!

Proud Grandparents Visit St. Mark’s School!St. Mark - Grandparents Day

On October 22, St. Mark’s students hosted Grandparent/Special Person Day at the school. One hundred fifty grandparents and others joined

their students for a delicious lunch. They also heard remarks from our pastor Msgr. Brian Brownsey and our principal Dr. Noreen

Dillon. The student choir performed and many of the students received early
Christmas gifts of St. Mark’s Spirit Gear. Grandparents, alums and other
friends of St. Mark’s School will soon be receiving a new newsletter.
Please email Amanda George at ageorge@saint-mark.net if you’d like to be on the mailing list.

The Latest from St. Mark School

The storied St. Mark Stunt Show returns on Nov. 14 & 15! Come see our show of skits centered around the theme of “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

Performances are on Fri. 11/14 at 7 p.m. and Sat. 11/15 at 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Dinner is also available at Saturday’s evening performance with the doors opening at 5 p.m.

Tickets to the show are only $5 for adults and children, $20 for a family, and $1 for seniors. Tickets for the dinner show are $10 a person with kids under five eating for free.

The talented women of St. Mark have put together a show that will have you laughing and singing along! Don’t miss it!

On October 2nd the Maggie Bertram Foundation presented Saint Mark School School with a check for $1,000 to further the Art and Music programs. Maggie was tragically killed in a car accident in 2012.

Supporting the Arts through the foundation allows Maggie’s love of the fine art to live on and grow in the Peoria area. Maggie was an accomplished dancer, artist, and musician.

This grant will allow our excellent art and music programs to explore innovative projects with our students.

We are very grateful to Maggie’s family and the foundation and are honored to receive this grant in her memory.

St. Mark Church

“Built in 1891 in the neo-gothic style, this church features elegant stained glass windows and are modeled sanctuary featuring the original marble alter. St.Mark has maintained a strongpresence in the neighborhoodsince its founding.”

St. Mark Church 2

 

St. Mark Church 1

St. Mark School in October

St. Mark School would like to invite you and your children to our fantastic Halloween Harvest Festival on October 24, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the school! Dress up in your best costume and enjoy games, fire escape rides, eats, and trick or treating.

We are also excited about our Grandparents Day on October 22. Our students get to invite their grandparents or other special person to enjoy lunch and see their classrooms. Super cool SMS Spirit Gear will also be on sale.

Our school year is now fully underway and besides the outstanding academics and faith formation that our students receive everyday, they also have many extracurricular opportunities. Chinese, soccer, IMSA Fusion, cheerleading, and our SMART program are just a few of the activities already underway.

We welcomed 20 plus new families whose children are enrolled at SMS and many continuing families at our Back to School Night on August. It is wonderful to see new and familiar faces. St. Mark School is flourishing on the hilltop!

St. Mark’s School Updates

This past summer was a busy time at St. Mark School. We hosted Totus Tuus, a fun religious education program, Camp S’Mores, a three-week academic enrichment camp, and basketball camps for boys and girls. We also continue to make improvements to our school building and got a new roof this summer and brand new desks for almost all the classrooms. Students, staff and priests participated in the West Peoria Fourth of July Parade, where our awesome float took first place in the juvenile division!

St Mark's Trophy

As great as summer was, the 2014-15 year will be even better. To our talented and experienced faculty, we welcome four energetic new teachers and one aide. Karen Campbell will be the new PreK teacher assisted by new aide Rita Merkle. Alyssa McClenthen is the new second grade teacher, Jennifer Campbell will be the new third grade teacher, and Ashleigh Koch will be instructing all of our students in music. All of our new teachers are recent Bradley University graduates!

We are also excited about our new writing curriculum, Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study Writing Program, which will teach students opinion, informative, and narrative writing across the curriculum. To this program, we add expanded hours to our school library for a wonderful enhancement of our language arts.

We invite you to stop by St. Mark School to see all the exciting changes taking place.

The Latest from St. Mark’s School

St. Mark’s School is now enrolling new students in Pre-K through 8th grade. We have full day and half day Pre-K programs for three and four-year olds, and provide before care and after care. We offer a challenging, comprehensive curriculum that recognizes the unique talents of each child! Come see for yourself all the wonderful opportunities St. Mark’s School has to offer your children!

Character Counts at St. Mark’s School
St. Mark’s contributes to the development of the entire child by offering an array of extracurricular activities that build teamwork, confidence, leadership skills and perseverance.

One example is First Lego League. A robotics program for 9-16 year olds, FLL is designed to get children excited about technology! This year our FLL team competed in the State Tournament and took home first place in project! Contact the school office to learn more about all the opportunities St. Mark’s School has to offer your children · 676.7131 Like us on facebook! Follow us on twitter smspeoria!

St. Mark's Character Counts

St. Mark’s School Round-up & Open Enrollment

st-marksSt. Mark’s School Round-up March 14, 8-9 a.m.

If your child is turning 5 on or before Sept. 1, they are eligible to enter kindergarten. The Round-Up is a great chance to meet the kindergarten teacher, visit in the classroom, and register for the 2014-’15 school year. Coffee, juice, and donuts will be served. Contact the school office to make your reservation today!

Open Enrollment

St. Mark’s School is currently accepting new students for the 2014-2015 school year. There are many benefits to joining our school community!

St. Mark’s School First Lego League team competed in the Illinois Central First League Championship Tournament in Champaign on Jan. 18. They won first place in the Presentation Category. Congratulations Marksmen!

During Catholic Schools Week St. Mark’s Student Council organized a food drive to benefit the West Mark Food Pantry. Students filled five Haddad’s shopping carts with non-perishable food items ranging from pasta, cereal, baby food, canned meats and sweet treats!

Contact the school office for more information.

St. Mark’s School 711 N. Underhill Peoria IL 61606 •  676.7131 • saint-mark.net

Latest from St. Mark’s School

Pre-K Open House

Wednesday, February 26 from 5-7 p.m. Bring your 3-4 year olds and meet our Pre-K teachers, see the classroom and learn more about our early education program. Your children will love St. Mark’s School!

Open Enrollment

St. Mark’s School is currently accepting new students for the 2014-2015 school year. There are many benefits to joining our school community!

Contact the school office for more information.

St. Mark’s School 711 N. Underhill Peoria IL 61606 •  676.7131 • saint-mark.net

Events at St. Mark’s

Celebrate Catholic Schools Week

Join St. Mark’s school for our open house Sunday, January 26 from 10 to 11 a.m.

Visit our school, meet our principal and teachers and enjoy refreshments.

We look forward to meeting you!

711 N. Underhill, Peoria
676.7131 | saint-mark.net

Events at St. Mark’s

Santa Breakfast and Cookie Walk

Presented by St. Mark’s Boy Scout Troop and our Parish and School Association

Please join us for a breakfast buffet, cookie walk and have your picture taken with a very special guest, Santa.

  • December 8 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  • St. Mark’s school gym

Celebrate Catholic Schools Week

Join St. Mark’s school for our open house Sunday, January 26 from 10 to 11 a.m.

We look forward to meeting you!

  • Visit our school, meet our principal and teachers and enjoy refreshments.
  • 711 N. Underhill, Peoria
  • Questions? Call the office at 676.7131