When the decision came as to where to send our children to school we decided on St. Mark’s. We felt strongly about supporting our neighborhood school and having our kids schoolmates also be their neighborhood playmates.

St. Mark’s has provided our children with a solid education, instilled in them a love of God and a respect for others, while challenging them to reach their full potential. They have enjoyed many extra curricular activities: sports, foreign languages, First Lego League, school musicals, and more! Our children have grown academically as well as in their faith.

Most importantly, our children love the school! Their teachers are supportive and encouraging. They understand children and are committed to helping them to succeed..
I love to see the past graduates of the school still coming back to visit with their teachers…once a Marksmen, always a Marksmen! Our children are blessed to be a part of the St. Mark’s School family!

Anonymous

Our family LOVES Saint Mark School……with one recent graduate from SMS and 3 currently attending we cannot think of a better school for our children! We have been at SMS for 11 years! The instruction throughout the school is outstanding and with our recent addition with Dr Noreen Dillon as principal our school is rapidly moving as a number one choice for parochial schools in the Peoria area. Our religious curriculum is one I believe that stands out from any other in the area as well. Teachers here are encouraging to the students in utilizing their unique talents and strengths. There is a very active parent/family involvement at SMS, we are a small school with a family oriented atmosphere! Overall, Saint Mark is a great school and we are please to be a part of such a wonderful family there.

Cachet Rodriguez

Choose? Select? I don’t recollect a selection process. St Mark has been the only viable option for me for as long as I can remember. Why? Fundamentally, St Mark’s parish and school is home just as the West Bluff has always been home. Why have we chosen to stay home when others have left the old neighborhood? Because your home is where you are sheltered, fed and loved. St. Mark parish and school have provided shelter, food and love to three generations of my family and four generations of my wife’s.

I am confident my children are sheltered at St. Mark school. Sheltered physically and spiritually in the care of the teachers, staff, volunteers, administration and priests of St. Mark. Sheltered in the sturdy old building which has welcomed over a million students since its founding. Sheltered in an environment where Christ is Loved, Excellence is expected and Character counts.

I know my children are being fed at St. Mark. Fed physically because of the favorite lunch menu items which are anticipated each week. These discussions inevitably lead us to discuss the favorite menu items from our time in grade school. Fed spiritually when I attend all school Mass and watch them participate and sing along and when I get to discuss their faith formation curricula with them over homework or reviewing graded schoolwork. Fed intellectually when I check their homework throughout the week and see their natural curiosity stimulated by the work they are doing in class.

My children are loved at St. Mark. I see this in the friendships which are blooming with classmates. I see this in the care that the older students show for the younger ones. I see it in the way the teachers interact with all of their students. I see it and hear it in the homilies of our priests at Mass and in the genuine care and affection they express for our children. I know my children are loved at St. Mark because we have chosen to make the sacrifices necessary to provide them with this conduit of God’s grace which is St. Mark school and parish.

Tom and Peggy Dwyer