St. Mark'S Catholic Preschool And Nursery

The line up for drop off is unnecessary and ridiculous, the director Melanie was helpful in the beginning of signing up our child for school. Once we made the deposit, and I called and emailed numerous times for questions, she never responded back to me. Then on the first day of school I ask the teachers to apply sunscreen to my child along with turning in the over the counter signed paper with directions for applying sunscreen. Melanie finally decided to give me a call as it was only a burden on her end to have the teachers apply sunscreen. She proceeded to try and give me pointers on caring for my child. She finally allowed the teachers to apply sunscreen only after we said we would escalate it to the priest. There are two teachers to the class, only 5 hours per day with the kids. Wish we had a better experience but the lack of communication and Melanie trying to teach us how to care for our child was the final straw.

I was so happy once my son was enrolled in St. Mark’s Catholic Preschool. It was his first time ever in any type of school/daycare setting. I wanted him to grow up around the Catholic religion environment. Now if a child is very active, I would think twice before enrolling them into this program. My son started in September 2024, he was 2 years old, turning 3 years old in October 2024. The school really seems to want every student to come already taught and not need to be taught how to act in a classroom setting. Everyday at pick up his teacher, Ms. Reyes, would bring him out and would tell me “he did good today” or “he did okay today”. She would give me pros and cons of how his day went. It wasn’t until his new assistant started, Mrs.Zak, that we started to notice every time Ms.Reyes was out and it was only Mrs.Zak, we would get told how terrible my son did during the day. Mrs.Zak also suggested to my son’s father that our son should be evaluated by his physician for any underlying reasons he may be acting out and having compulsions. This was around February 2025. Mind you we never got “bad”reports from our son until after that incident with Mrs.Zak. Shortly after that, we were being scheduled for meetings, over the phone and in person, to discuss my son. She did one conference in person, letting us know that our son goes up the slide instead of climbing down and things he does not fully to the fullest in the classroom (things that to us and his pediatrician after we had him evaluated sounded normal for a 3 year old boy). He picks up rocks from the playground, he doesn’t sit for a long time at circle time, he plays bumper cars in line. What kind of 3 year old doesn’t sit still for a long time?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Do they expect every child to act like a zombie.? Mrs.Melanie also said my son is always very happy, knows everything he’s being taught, etc. He doesn’t meet the requirements of making a classroom easy for them so they just decided to drop him. We also asked for any kind of proof or footage to be seen from the classroom on our end, to see what our child is as being accused of especially since we had decided to try group therapy (against his pediatrician’s recommendations as well but to try and see if it would help him settle in class). My son, very innocently, would ask to see Ms.Reyes every day and wants to go to school to see his friends. He was very eager and excited to attend every single day. I decided to look at the reviews for the school. I saw that another mother went through a similar experience like I did with my son. There’s also a ratio of 2 teachers per classroom. We pay money for our children to go to this preschool to be taught, not to just give up on every single child who doesn’t fit the easy route. My son wasn’t also given warnings. We were never told if he continues doing this he will get kicked out. We were just finally told he had two weeks left in this school and that’s it at the first in person meeting. I didn’t even feel comfortable with him finishing out the reminder of his two week and we pulled him out sooner. I was concerned about possible retaliation towards him as it seemed he wasn’t wanted as it was. I wonder how many other children have been kicked out of this school because of these types of issues. I’m pretty sure there are more families out there but only two so far have spoken up. They stressed me out as a parent thinking I failed my child, when in reality it was them. They don’t have the patience and compassion to be working with children. Please do your research before sending your child here. Thank you God, for this blessing in disguise. My child won’t be somewhere he isn’t wanted or welcomed.

My children had an amazing experience here. I’m so thankful for the teachers and directors. My youngest had a very difficult time adjusting to school and they were so kind and communicative. My kids learned so much but more importantly I knew they were safe and happy. They did such an amazing job of instilling a love for God and so many organizational skills and habits. I am truly thankful and wish they had a kindergarten I would have stayed longer if I could have. I will continue to recommend this to all my friends if little children.

I was heartbroken when St. Mark’s Pre-School decided to cease service and teaching to my two year old daughter. This was her first time in a school setting ever. The reasons I was given were that she was unable to stay in line without holding a teachers hand and did not stay sitting down the entire time during circle time. For these instances, my daughter required too much one on one time. The director Melanie was also mortified that my two year old seemed disoriented at her first fire drill. She’s TWO. I was never notified of these actions until I reached out for a parent teacher conference on Friday, October 13th and by Monday, October 23rd she was unable to come back to school. My meetings with Melanie were mainly over the phone, one in person, and neither one of her teachers attended. I never heard any of the feedback from the teachers themselves. My husband and I explained we would practice walking in a line as well as imitate circle time for when we read books at home and we were willing to help in anyway we could to which Melanie responded, “you can’t bring school home and you can’t bring home to school”. She did not care that we were willing to help. No documentation from my daughter’s actions were provided, no true explanation, no warnings that she was going to be ceased service. They completely gave up on my daughter and did not give her time to adjust as she only started school on Friday, August 25th, just turned two in July, and only attended school three days a week. She went to school for 24 and a half days total. That’s how long they gave her to adjust. I’d also like to add there were only 9 children in her classroom and 2 teachers. We are extremely disappointed and I will not recommend St. Mark’s to anyone moving forward.

St. Mark's has an excellent preschool program. My grandson is currently in his third year at St. Mark's. He always looks forward to going to school. The teachers welcome the students every morning enthusiastically. The school is committed to preparing the children for Kindergarten. With half a year to go my grandson is well prepared for Kinder. He knows the primary colors, shapes, letter names/sounds, small words and can count up to 20. All aspects of the school are well organized and run smoothly.