The St. Mark Difference

What makes St. Mark special?

OUR PEOPLE
First and foremost, St. Mark families, faculty, and staff make us special! It is through a shared commitment to the mission of faith, gospel values, and academic excellence that we come together to serve our students, our parish, and our community. The dedicated and caring staff works closely with parents and students to foster a lifelong love of learning, and our close-knit, family-oriented atmosphere provides a warm and loving environment where lasting friendships are made, and students thrive.
 
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
St. Mark has been twice recognized as a National Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education and recently qualified for a rare third nomination. This distinction is held by only a few schools in the State of Texas. Students perform well above the national average on standardized testing, consistently scoring in the top 15% in the nation. They have also been widely recognized for their accomplishments across a variety of disciplines. Several graduates have gone on to be named Valedictorian and Salutatorian at the high school level. The faculty and staff have been honored on the local, regional and national levels for their excellence in teaching and for their innovative instructional programs. In 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022, a St. Mark teacher was named Diocesan Teacher of the Year by the Diocese of Dallas. In 2018, St. Mark was named one of the top three Catholic schools in the nation for technology integration by Today's Catholic Teacher magazine, receiving an "Innovations in Catholic Education" (ICE) Award.
 
SMARTLAB & LION LEARNING LAB
St. Mark is home to the SmartLab® and Lion Learning Lab, fully integrated, customized facilities where students explore many disciplines through hands-on experiences, applied technology and project-based learning. Applications in these labs serve to reinforce academics across many disciplines and to build next generation skills. Students experience firsthand a variety of disciplines including graphic design, robotics, Photoshop, medicine, digital animation, scientific data analysis, software engineering, music studio applications, circuitry, mechanics and structures, and more. They have the opportunity to rotate from project to project, and are encouraged to discover, explore, and apply a wide range of hands-on activities and technologies to their project work. Further, an appropriate level of challenge can be provided to each student, addressing all learning styles. From students who need extra support, to average learners, to students identified as gifted/talented, everyone can work at their own level and pace.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
St. Mark Catholic School offers students a wide variety of extra-curricular activities that provide them with the opportunity to engage in many different types of experiences and to try something new. Examples include academic competitions, athletics, art, band, orchestra, speech, drama, choir, robotics, chess, karate, scouting organizations, and more.

OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
The “Backyard,” St. Mark’s outdoor learning environment, offers a wide variety of opportunities for students to interact with nature including flower and vegetable gardens, a butterfly sanctuary, chalkboards, “joyful noise” music area, balance beam, ball toss, picnic tables, and an outdoor reading area.

OUR COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY SERVICE
At St. Mark, we serve. Special emphasis is placed on serving others within the school, the parish, and the community. From preschool to middle school students, from faculty and staff to parents, we heed God's call to serve one another in a variety of ways. Examples include blanket making for veterans, canned good and diaper drives benefiting local charities, Christmas cards for the military, and a campus clean-up.
 
OUR BALANCE BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION
At St. Mark, we teach the whole child -- mind, body, and spirit. Students are taught the traditional subjects of reading, writing, math, science, language arts, and social studies from preschool through eighth grade. In addition, cursive handwriting, music, art, foreign language, and physical education are still taught as part of the curriculum, which are increasingly disappearing from mainstream classrooms. This is further enhanced with the use of the latest technology including virtual/augmented reality, iPads and laptops, computer lab instruction, the SmartLab, and the incorporation of S.T.E.M. projects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) into the curriculum. Daily religious instruction reinforces our morals and values, and teaches our children to build character and to serve others.
 
COMMON SENSE DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP CERTIFIED SCHOOL
St. Mark Catholic School is one of only a few schools in the State of Texas to be recognized as a Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified School by Common Sense Media. To earn this distinction, St. Mark implemented a detailed program provided by Common Sense Media and achieved various benchmarks to meet the certification criteria. The purpose of this program is to equip students with the skills they need to be responsible online citizens. St. Mark has committed to teach our students to navigate the behavioral and social issues that stem from students' online lives. 

OUR SIZE
With three classes per grade level, St. Mark is one of the larger Catholic schools within the Diocese of Dallas, enabling us to offer a wide variety of classes, middle school electives, after-school Enrichment Clubs, extra-curricular activities, academic competitions, and athletic opportunities to our students, yet we are small enough to maintain a close, intimate community. St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Community is one of the largest parishes in the area (serving more than 10,000 families), and provides our school families with extensive resources and opportunities for involvement.

ST. JOHN PAUL II'S THEOLOGY OF THE BODY PROGRAM
St. Mark offers St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body program, which teaches that all mankind should treat their bodies with reverence and live in a way that is worthy of our great dignity as human beings. This program is incorporated into the fifth through eighth grade religion curriculums at an age-appropriate level.
 
ST. MARK COMMUNITY PRAYER TEAM
The mission of the Prayer Team is to provide ways that the St. Mark Community can come together to pray throughout the year including monthly Prayer Walks on campus and prayer intentions during school masses.
 
WATCH D.O.G.S. (DADS OF GREAT STUDENTS)
St. Mark offers the Watch D.O.G.S. program, a special opportunity for dads, grandfathers and uncles to get involved at school by helping in classrooms, assisting with a variety of school-day activities, and monitoring campus security.

 
Visit us and see for yourself what has made St. Mark special since 1982!