Getting Ready

Newly enrolled families will receive an email notification when their student’s St. Mark’s email credentials are available in the Enrollment Portal.

Next Steps for Families

• Log in to the Enrollment Portal
• Locate your student’s email credentials
• Share this information with your student using a secure method

Student Action Required
Students must follow the instructions provided below to activate their St. Mark’s email account.

Email Activation Instructions

Once students activate and log in to their St. Mark’s email account, they will see information on how to access Blackbaud.

What is Blackbaud?

Blackbaud is St. Mark’s online system for student and family information. During the academic year, students and families will use Blackbaud to:

• View class schedules
• Access report cards
• Track attendance

Instructions for activating Blackbaud accounts for students can be found below. Parents will not be given their Blackbaud accounts until the beginning of the academic year in September. 

Blackbaud Instructions

The Academics Office is excited to welcome new students and families to St. Mark’s this fall. In the coming months, academic leaders will work to place each student in courses that best support their growth and success.

How Placement Decisions Are Made
To ensure thoughtful and appropriate course placement, we consider multiple factors, including:

• Academic History and Interest Form
• School transcripts
• Teacher recommendations

In some cases, students may also be asked to complete a placement test.

Student Action Required
Directions for how to access the 2026-2027 Academic Information & History Form will be sent to students' St. Mark's email.. This form is a key part of developing each student’s course schedule and must be completed by May 8.

Academic Information

Upload a photo for your student ID and select your t-shirt size for Orientation in the Enrollment Portal by April 30. 

Enrollment Portal

International students should schedule their visa interviews as soon as possible. Until further notice, your I-20 will be sent to you via email, in early June. Please let us know what date your visa interview is scheduled for so that we can determine when we will be able to send your I-20. It is imperitive that you do not forward the document to anyone as it then becomes invalid. Please remember that the name on your I-20 must match the name on your passport. If you provided a different name on your application, and the name on your enrollment contract does not match the name on your passport, or you believe other information on the I-20 is in error please contact us at admission@stmarksschool.org so that we can issue your I-20 with the correct information.

NOTE: We are in close contact with SEVP and we will let you know as soon as possible if any of this information changes.

If you are an international student already on an I-20 and attending a school in the United States, it is the responsibility of your current school to transfer your I-20 to St. Mark’s. For transfer purposes, our SEVIS id# is BOS214F00314000. 

For the 2026–2027 year, all health information, health forms, and health insurance information will be available, completed, and returned online. The Health Portal, available through SNAP Health Center, our health software provider, will contain all this information. We will no longer be able to receive health forms by email.

New families will receive the invitation the week of June 1.

The email for access to the Health Portal will come from  noreply@studentehr.com, with the subject reading "IMPORTANT Information from St. Mark’s School Health Services - Notification." 

All health and insurance forms need to be completed and submitted by July 1, 2026.

Health Forms & Insurance Information

A student’s advisor is a vital source of support throughout their St. Mark’s experience and serves as a key resource and point of contact for families. To help us match new students with advisors, we need to learn more about you. Students and parents, please complete the surveys linked below by July 8 to help us in the advisor placement process. Students need to use their St. Mark’s email address to access the survey.

Student Advisory Survey

Parent/Guardian Advisory Survey

If you have any questions about the advisory program, please contact Dr. Robert Fish, Assistant Head of School and Dean of Students, robertfish@stmarksschool.org.

St. Mark’s is a community in which young people and adults learn, work, and play closely together. For boarding students, the experience offers countless opportunities to grow by learning from peers with diverse backgrounds and practicing lifelong skills. Living with a roommate and sharing bathrooms and common spaces with housemates helps students develop patience, acceptance, self-discipline, self-advocacy, communication, and compromise.

Each House (dorm) is overseen by a House Head, who usually lives in the House and works closely with the Student Life Office and the Director of Residential Life, partnering with advisors to oversee students, student leaders, and faculty who live there. 

Students will be assigned to Houses (dorms) and matched with a roommate in the same Form (grade). To match roommates, we request that incoming students (not their parents or guardians) complete the questionnaire below by July 8. Students must be logged into their St. Mark’s email account to access this form.

This questionnaire requires students to consider their habits for living, learning, sleeping, and communicating. Students will receive their House and roommate assignments when they arrive on campus.

Housing & Roommate Questionnaire
Questions about housing and residential life can be directed to Ms. Margaret Caron, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life, margaretcaron@stmarksschool.org.

We are pleased to share that course recommendations are now available for viewing in Blackbaud. Here is how to find them:

Step 1: Navigate to Blackbaud

Step 2: Students sign in using their St. Mark's email address.

Step 3: Click "Course Requests” on the toolbar under "My Day."

Step 4: Review courses listed under "My Requests" on the right-hand side of the page.

Please note that these recommendations may not exactly match those your student would have received from their local or current school. This is typically due to differences in program and progression. Based on experience with many students' academic transitions over previous years, our placements are made with an eye to ensuring a healthy and productive transition for new students. Additionally, our III Form students are placed into several common core classes: Human Geographies, III Form English, Biology, and Foundations of Learning/Foundations of Wellbeing. These foundational courses are intentionally unleveled, and teachers are committed to differentiating instruction in the classroom to ensure that each student's learning needs are identified, supported, and fulfilled. 

As you review your student's placements, please note that some course assignments may change as we continue to build the master schedule and balance enrollment across sections. In some cases, a student may be placed in a specific course that ultimately changes due to scheduling constraints, especially in the case of elective courses (e.g., Art, Religion & Philosophy, and Computer Science). For example, a placement currently listed as Ceramics could become Studio I. We encourage families to view these placements primarily as assignments within a department or discipline (e.g., "Art") rather than as a guarantee of a particular course offering.

*Please note that Foundations of Learning, Foundations of Wellness, and the V Form College seminar meet once per week for one semester. These classes do NOT count toward course load requirements.

Later in the summer, once scheduling is complete, we will confirm your course list for the year, including electives. Timing for this communication varies somewhat from year to year; typically, we can communicate this information during the first week of August, leaving ample time for book purchases before the school year begins. 

If you have questions about a placement, please feel free to reach out to Associate Dean of Academics Casey Bates (CaseyBates@stmarksschool.org). 

New Student Arrival Times & Dates

New Students please arrive on Friday, August 28, during the following check-in windows:

• New Boarding Students between 10:00 and 11:30 a.m.

• New Day Students between 11:30 a.m. and noon

Parent programming will run until 5:00 p.m. on Friday and will include an opportunity to meet your student’s advisor.

Please note that all students are expected to arrive during their designated check-in times. We are unable to accommodate early arrivals.

Orientation for new students will take place Saturday, August 29, through Sunday, August 30. More information and a detailed schedule of events will be available over the summer. 

For Day Students, Orientation programming will take place on campus Saturday, August 29, from 9:45 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, August 30, from 9:45 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Breakfast will be available in the Dining Hall for all students beginning at 9:00 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

Returning Student Arrival Times and Dates

Boarding Prefects and Peer Discussion Leaders ONLY
Thursday, August 27, 2026, between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.

All Other Returning Students (including Day Students)
Sunday, August 30, 2026, between 3:00 and 4:30 p.m.

Please note that all students are expected to arrive during the times listed above, and we are unable to accommodate early arrivals.

Orientation and Arrival Information

Each summer, the English department requires students in each Form to read an assigned book:

III Form: The first four Books of Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey
IV Form: Jumpha Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies
V Form: Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
VI Form: Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five

Starting this year, all boarding students must have an emergency contact who lives within 225 miles of the school and is willing and able to come to campus within six hours to care for your student in the event of an emergency. Families that live within this radius can serve as emergency contacts for their students. Families that do not have a relative or family friend within this radius who can serve in this role may use a reliable firm, such as Student Health Advocates, which can provide this service. (Please note that St. Mark’s is not associated with Student Health Advocates.)

St. Mark’s is using Guardian Verify to help manage emergency contact information for all students next year, ensuring that all local guardians meet the School's requirements. On July 15, parents and guardians of all boarding students will receive an email from support@guardianverify.com with a linked form to share your local guardian or let us know if your student needs one. If you are using SHA as your student's guardian, you can select that option, and the process will be complete.

If you choose to use an individual local guardian, once you enter their information, they will receive a separate message from St. Mark’s with a link to a form to verify their information and accept the School's requirements. The process takes only a few minutes and will help us ensure your student has a reliable local contact in case of an emergency during the year. 

Please note important information about our athletics and co-curricular requirements, as well as the registration process for the upcoming school year.

All students are required to engage in afternoon activities each season, with specific interscholastic team expectations by Form:

• III Form students are required to participate on an interscholastic team during all three seasons (fall, winter, and spring).

• IV and V Form students must participate on an interscholastic team for at least two of the three seasons.

• VI Form students must participate on an interscholastic team for at least one season.

During any season when a student is not competing on an interscholastic team, they must participate in a school-sponsored activity. Options include:

• Wellness classes such as fitness, yoga, or strength and conditioning (IV, V, and VI Forms only)

• School Play (fall and winter)

• Robotics (winter)

• Team Manager (IV, V, and VI Forms only)

• Athletic Commitment Accommodations (ACAs) are available to IV, V, and VI Form students for specific St. Mark’s programs or for activities not offered at the School, with documented, long-standing participation. ACAs do not replace an interscholastic season and must involve a recognized activity led by a qualified adult instructor. According to ISL by-laws, a student is not permitted to have an ACA to practice, play, or train for a St. Mark’s sport during the off-season.

Levels of team participation include:

• Thirds: Emphasizes participation, skill development, and enjoyment

• Junior Varsity (JV): Focuses on competition and skill development

• Varsity: Highly competitive with an emphasis on team success

Please complete the 2026–2027 Athletics Sign-Up Form and review the options carefully when registering your student for each season.

Fall, winter, and spring sport selections will be confirmed during new student registration in August. Changes and questions can be addressed at that time.

We look forward to an exciting year of athletics and wellness at St. Mark’s. Should you have any questions, please contact Lauren Ames, Director of Athletics, at laurenames@stmarksschool.org.

Accessing Course Lists

You can access your course list by logging into Blackbaud. From there:

1. Go to "My Day" and select "Course Requests" from the menu.

2. On the right-hand side, you will see "My Requests."

3. Courses on your schedule will say "enrolled" under the course title.

Note:

1. Please ignore the left-hand side. This is simply a list of courses that were available prior to course requests in the spring and scheduling this summer. You will not be able to change any enrollments at this time.

2. On the right-hand side, you will only be able to see the course title of each enrolled course. Information regarding specific blocks and assigned teachers will be released on August 17.

Please contact Casey Bates (CaseyBates@stmarksschool.org) if you have any questions regarding your schedule.

Beginning with the 2026–2027 academic year, St. Mark’s will use a new online bookstore hosted by Barnes & Noble College (BNC) for textbook and course material purchases. Students and families will order all required course materials through the online bookstore.

The bookstore is intended primarily for textbooks and other curricular materials. Students should continue to purchase general school supplies, such as pens, notebooks, and binders, from their preferred retailer.

To ensure textbooks arrive before the start of classes, all required materials should be ordered before students arrive on campus by August 17, 2026. We strongly encourage families to place their orders between August 3 and August 9, when BNC is offering free shipping on orders over $99.

Step-by-Step Book Ordering Instructions:

1. Visit the Online Bookstore at bnck-12.com/stmarksschool.

2. To place your order, click on the Parent/Guardian link and enter the student’s St. Mark’s Student ID number as your access code when prompted.

   • Finding Your Student ID: Returning students can find their student ID number below their name on their St. Mark’s ID card. Students who do not yet have an ID card can find their student ID number in Blackbaud. After logging in, click your name in the upper-right corner, select Profile, and look under General Information on the left side of the screen.

   • Creating a Student Account: Students purchasing digital content must create an account in the BNC Online Bookstore. Instructions for purchasing digital content and creating an account are provided on the BNC website.
      

3. Select your courses (be sure to reference your enrolled courses in Blackbaud).

4. View your course materials and select your preferred format. Note: Some courses do not require purchased texts; for those, texts will be provided directly by the teacher.

5. Check out!

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Guaranteed Buyback: Save up to 70% off when you select titles marked Guaranteed Buyback.

• Free Shipping Window: Place your order between August 3 and August 9, 2026 to receive free shipping on orders of $99 or more.

• Shipping to Campus: Boarding students may opt to ship books directly to the school at:
  [Student Name]
  St. Mark’s School
  25 Marlboro Road, Southborough, MA 01772
  International students should have books and materials shipped directly to campus to ensure they arrive before classes start.

• Customer Support: Visit the Barnes & Noble College FAQ page for answers to frequently asked questions and access to customer service.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to Ms. Bates (CaseyBates@stmarksschool.org) if you have any questions regarding your schedule.