Leadership

 "We educate students for lives of leadership and service."

At St. Mark's we believe that every student has the opportunity and responsibility to act as a leader in the community.  As a result, a critical part of the educational process at St. Mark's includes developing a fluency with the 7 C's of Leadership. 

7 C’s of Leadership
Character
Charisma
Citizenship
Commitment
Competency
Communication
Courage

Formal Leadership Positions
St. Mark’s looks to all students for leadership. Each spring, student leaders are elected and appointed to specific positions for the following year. The large majority of these leaders will be V and VI Formers, on whom the School will rely not only for the various functions they perform, but more importantly for the tone they set and for the communication they facilitate between the student body and the faculty.  New student lead­ers are trained in the spring and sign a Statement of Commitment, which puts in writing the unwrit­ten values of St. Mark’s School for the purpose of maintaining the productivity and the integrity of the leaders. Student leader training for monitors, prefects, peer coun­selors, and peer discussion leaders continues during the pre-season period in September, when these leaders return to campus early to learn the leadership, intervention, and counseling skills they will utilize during the year.

Monitors
The eight VI Formers are the primary leaders, representatives, and role models for the foremost student body. They run weekly School meetings; participate in the Student Discipline Committee and liase to the Student Activities Committee; help to organize and supervise the work program; and meet weekly with the deans and the Head of School to maintain student-faculty communication and to contribute to School poli­cies and programs.

Student Voice Committee
Two elected representatives from each form together with the Moni­tors meet with the faculty advisor of the SVC to discuss school-wide issues. In addition, member of the SVC will discuss form-level issues with their respective Form Advisors.

Student Discipline Committee
One VI Former, one VI Form alternate, one V Former, one IV Former, and two monitors serve along with two faculty representa­tives on the Student Discipline Committee.

Student Activities Committee
Two representatives from each form, two VI Form co-chairs, and a monitor liason meet with the Director of Student Activities to organize events, both on and off campus, that provide recreation for students and promote the develop­ment of community spirit.

Class Agents
If it chooses to provide the School with a Class Gift, the VI Form may elect Class Agents to organize and oversee the process of fundraising and Gift selection.

House Prefects
VI Form students (and V Form students, in the case of the underform dorms) are chosen by the dorm heads to help them with the running of the houses, including the day student “house,” Burnett. In the boarding houses, these prefects attend to dormitory routine and work closely with dorm faculty around issues of residential life.

Peer Counselors
VI Form students are trained and supervised by the School Coun­selors and serve as a confidential counseling resource for students.

Peer Discussion Leaders
V Form students are trained and supervised by the School Counsel­ors to lead bimonthly discussion groups with III Formers.

Interfaith Chapel Council, Wardens, Acolytes, and Readers
These groups of students assist in the organization and operation of chapel services. Membership in and leadership of the Interfaith Chapel Council is determined by the chaplains, with the goal of serving the diverse spiritual needs of the St. Mark’s students.

Tech Prefects
These students across all forms provide technical support for their peers in the dorms. In addition, they can participate in project-specific work such as providing assistance with the new student orientation program at the begin­ning of each year. They also meet with the Technology Department several times during the year to provide feedback and suggestions on how to improve technology for the School.

Admission Prefects
This group of VI Formers works with the Admission Office to coordinate the tour guide program and to help with follow-up contact. They also help with the organiza­tion of on-campus Admission Office events.

Alumni/ae Ambassadors
V and VI Form students act as the primary student links to our alumni/ae community and are responsible for a number of outreach efforts. They attend phonathons, receptions, and other events to which alumni/ae are invited.

All St. Marker’s, whether or not they hold an official position in the School, are regarded as student leaders. As members of the student body, students are role models and representatives of the School and are expected to assume the responsibilities inherent in these roles.

At St. Mark’s we believe that Leadership is Service and Service is Leadership

Age Quod Agis!