Dear St. Mark’s Community,

I am profoundly grateful to the many donors and volunteers who propelled our School forward in a historic fiscal year through generous gifts of time, talent and financial resources. After several years of disruption, dislocation and increased pressure on everyone across our community, the strengthening and stabilizing of the foundations of our daily experiences was paramount. I am grateful that the 2021-2022 school year was, in many important ways, as close to normal as possible. Thanks to the ongoing commitment, partnership and strength of community that we enjoy, our Marksmen and their teachers thrived, innovated, explored and contributed meaningfully. This year marked the largest St. Mark’s Fund total in school history, the largest total of new gifts and pledges in a single fiscal year and the largest total of gift collections in a single year. Your exceptional commitment and contributions to the School in myriad ways inspire all of us who care for and guide the boys each day.
 
There are several leaders on the faculty and staff, the Board of Trustees, the St. Mark’s Parents’ and Alumni Associations and more whose dedication to St. Mark’s was outstanding this past year. Our Board president, Kathy Crow, who completed her second-year leading the Board on June 30, 2022, provided invaluable leadership and service that empowered our entire school community to do their best work. Kathy has been an extraordinary partner and visionary for our School, guiding significant progress on Goals for St. Mark’s IV and, along with Jeff Hillier ’76 and Carl Sewell ’02, steering us ever closer to an athletic complex that will serve the St. Mark’s community for generations. We continue to be blessed with exceptional volunteer leaders like Kathy, who selflessly usher our School forward into the future. Allow me to express my profound gratitude to our 2021-2022 Parents’ Association President Megan Sun and Alumni Association President Sandy Campbell ’76 for their leadership and devotion to our teachers, our boys and our whole community. I also want to thank the members of our faculty and staff, division heads, department chairs, classroom teachers, coaches, advisors, facilities and security staff, administrators and support staff and so many more. Our team pulled together to deliver the highest-caliber Marksman experience as the full breadth of curricular and cocurricular programs resumed.
 
Of course, it was affirming and gratifying this year to see our boys thrive and contribute both on and off campus. In the classrooms and laboratories, on the playing fields, in the art studios and on the stage, the Class of 2022 lived out our mission each day and set an excellent example for boys across the School, constantly seeking to make a difference in the lives of others. As the Class of 2021 modeled before them, our seniors set a positive tone that reverberated across campus. It was only fitting that the Class of 2022 made the largest monetary contribution to the school of a senior class in St. Mark’s history. Part of their gift established the Class of 2022 Scholarship Fund that will help provide access for future generations of Marksmen. As we gathered for chapel services on campus for routine moments of restoration and community connection, it was truly gratifying to see the fully restored Roosevelt Family Organ returned to campus just in time for Baccalaureate service near the end of the year.
 
Lower School boys continued to focus on the foundational elements of St. Mark’s mission, learning the values of empathy, compassion and integrity. Middle and Upper School Marksmen had more than their fair share of opportunities to assume increased responsibility for the community at large and to care for others. And while student achievement was certainly outstanding during the past year, on a regional and national level, the most important lessons that our boys learned were that our core values have never been more important: demonstrating courage and honor, facing adversity head-on, delaying gratification, respecting others and exhibiting integrity, compassion and empathy each day. All of these key tenets make up the foundation of a St. Mark’s education. 
 
As we look out over the horizon toward the immense opportunities in store, I have great faith that your continued partnership and trust will continue to help us realize these exciting possibilities.
 
On behalf of all my colleagues, thank you for your unwavering support. Please know that your generosity of spirit and resources makes a difference in the lives of each and every Marksman.