St. Mark School Recognition

St. Mark Lutheran School has been recognized by the HoustonWest Chamber of Commerce.

St. Mark was nominated for this award by The Arbor School.

Congratulations, St. Mark School!

Staffing Changes

Several weeks ago, we informed you that Mrs. Jentry Workman and Mrs. Rita Schaller would not be returning to St. Mark Lutheran School for the 2010-11 school year. During these past few weeks, we have been actively seeking Mrs. Workman’s replacement. I am pleased to announce that we have offered the Grade 7-8 Language Arts teaching position to Mrs. Katie Murray (this is a different Mrs. Murray than the one we had for Grade 5-6 English), and she has accepted our offer of contract. Mrs. Murray is an individual with two years of middle school Language Arts experience. She has also served as a youth director and a special education teacher. Mrs. Murray graduated from Texas Lutheran University with a degree in Theology and a minor in English Studies. She is married and is the mother of 4 children. She is a very flexible and enthusiastic individual who believes that each student has a wealth of God-given potential that deserves to be recognized and challenged inside and beyond the classroom. We look forward to her joining the St. Mark staff.

In regard to Mrs. Schaller’s position, we will not fill that position until we have the enrollment to justify a second Kindergarten class.

A second Grade 1 class will be provided for the 2010-11 school year. The second Grade 1 teaching position has been posted. As a result of that posting, Ms. Elizabeth Imrie has been offered and accepted the position of the second Grade 1 teacher. This is an excellent move for St. Mark since Ms. Imrie has over 10 years of teaching Grade 1, and this is her preferred grade level to teach. We look forward to her joining with Ms. Hahn to provide us with two excellent Grade 1 teachers.

With Ms. Imrie moving to teaching Grade 1, we will now have a Grade 5 teaching vacancy. At this time, we are interviewing for this position. We ask for your prayers as we continue to seek those individuals that God will provide to fill this position.

Mrs. Cohrs has also indicated that she will be resigning from the Assistant Principal/Early Childhood Director position at the end of the 2009-10 school year. It is her desire to return to full-time classroom teaching where she feels she can better use her God-given gifts and talents. At this time, we intend to offer a teaching contract to Mrs. Cohrs for the 2010-11 school year. The grade level that she would teach is yet to be determined as teaching positions are posted. The vacancy created by Mrs. Cohrs will be filled; however, the job description for this position will be modified. We are waiting the approval of this job description by the Board of Directors and anticipate posting the new position as open within the next two weeks.

As you have noticed, there are several staffing changes for the next school year. The Lord continues to bring excellent individuals to us for consideration. We ask for your prayers as we seek God’s Will in all these staffing matters that He will guide us in all these decisions.

God bless richly!!
Mr. Mock

School Climate Survey

Would you please do St. Mark Lutheran School a favor???

I have a favor to ask of all the parents of St. Mark Lutheran School. Would you please complete a School Climate Survey that will be emailed to you on April 3? It will not take long to complete the survey.

We value your input, compliments, and constructive criticism. I believe St. Mark is already an excellent school, but we would like it to grow in its excellence. You can be instrumental in helping us continue to grow in excellence by completing the survey and providing your valuable input. The information gleaned from the survey will be studied and used to help us shape the ministry of the school to better serve the students and parents of St. Mark. We did listen to your input last year. Your input last year resulted in several changes, and some additional changes that were suggested are in the process of being accomplished. Some of those areas addressed were Spanish instruction in Grades 1-8 and Study Hall availability and supervision. Progress was also made in focusing more on differentiated instruction especially in the lower grades. This was also addressed in the middle school grades as we now offer advanced courses in Science, Math, and English. Areas that are still being addressed that were of major concern were enrichment and remedial programs.

“Thank you” in advance for completing this survey as we work together to help St. Mark Lutheran School become an even better school.

God bless richly!!
Mr. Mock

Important Information from Principal Mock

Dear Parents,

I feel that is important at this time to communicate with you in regard to issues relating

• to staffing for the 2010-11school year,
• to invite and encourage you to complete our Annual School Climate Survey, and
• to invite you to volunteer to assist with the reaccreditation of St. Mark Lutheran School.

I realize that is a rather long letter, but I feel that it is very important that you are informed. I would appreciate your willingness to read about each of these important items.

In addition, if you are willing to serve on any of these committees, please contact Mr. Mock.

Thank you in advance for your help in all of these matters. As we work together, the students of St. Mark will certainly be blessed.

God bless richly!!!
Mr. Mock

Lutheran School Accreditation

I am asking for help from the parents of St. Mark in regard to National Lutheran School Accreditation. St. Mark Lutheran School is accredited through National Lutheran School Accreditation. Our accreditation covers a period of 7 years. We are currently in year 6 and will need to be reaccredited by the spring of 2011. This process involves a considerable amount of work for the teachers and parents. There are 11 Standards on which we evaluate ourselves and also be evaluated by an outside group of individuals selected by the National Lutheran School Accreditation committee. As the teachers complete each of these standards, we invite parents to provide their input in regard to specific standards. It would be ideal if we had at least two parents that would help evaluate each of the specific standards. This would involve from 2-3 meetings. The first meeting would involve meeting with the teachers and becoming familiar with what that group of teachers provided in regard to a specific standard. A second meeting would involve providing parent input. A third meeting might be held to finalize the report on the standard. These meetings would be held between April 15 and the end of the school year. The eleven standards are as follows:

1. Mission and Vision
2. Relationships
3. Leadership
4. Personnel
5. Curriculum
6. Instruction
7. Student Services
8. Health and Safety
9. Facilities
10. Finance
11. Evaluation

God bless richly!!
Mr. Mock

Josh Jackson -- Latin Dancer!

Ever wonder if Josh Jackson, Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry, can dance? Watch below and decide for yourself!
Go Josh!!

School Open House

St. Mark Lutheran School will host an Open House on Sunday, January 24 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Campus tours, classroom visits, meet and greet the teachers, and experience all that the school has to offer. Empty seats at are missed opportunities for more children to learn about Jesus Christ. We would like to fill those seats with children that are seeking a Christian education! If you know of anyone who might be interested in having their child attend St. Mark, please invite them to theOpen House. What a simple and exciting way for you to be involved in sharing the Good News with a child and making a tremendous impact in their life. Sunday, January 24, 2010 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. More Information