The Marker 2024

THE

MARKER

OUR MISSION

Mark Day School discovers and nurtures what is finest in each child in a vibrant, inclusive learning community. Innovative and full of heart, Mark Day School strives to develop well-rounded critical thinkers in a challenging program that fosters academic excellence and responsible world citizenship.

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Mark Day School Community,

The Marker that awaits you in these pages is a reflection of the dynamic, student-centered, innovative school that our faculty and students build together each day. In fact, one need only examine the events occurring at school right now as a way to understand the vibrancy of this learning community. As I write to you, our 8th graders are off on their outdoor education journey to paddle the Colorado River together. Our 7th graders are launching Deep Dive week, exploring topics such as food insecurity in San Rafael, mathematics and music, video game design, Hamilton, and Marin open space in depth with their teachers serving as guides. This week we are hosting the World Scholars Cup, a global interdisciplinary academic program that combines team and individual scholars’ challenges, debate, and collaborative writing contests in an environment that is challenging, quirky, and joyful. It is our first time participating in the event, and our 6th and 7th graders have embraced it with great enthusiasm, putting in many hours of their own time to prepare and spending all day Sunday on campus for the first day of the competition. Tomorrow at our faculty meeting, various groups will be meeting in curricular teams to advance ongoing work on challenge through differentiation in mathematics, integration of new assessment tools in literacy acquisition in the lower grades, world language planning, and critical reading and writing skills in English. Our 3rd graders will be presenting tomorrow at Assembly on the lessons they learned on their outdoor education experience, practicing their public speaking as they have done in many forms over the years. Rising 8th graders are about to be connected with their Kindergarten buddies for next fall, and in a couple of weeks we will host our new parents and guardians who will be joining the Mark Day community with their children beginning in August. Spring—like every season at Mark Day—is a wonderfully busy and energizing time of year.

One of the activities that the Board of Trustees took up this year is the regular review of our mission statement. You may know that the school has had multiple mission statements in its 44-year history, with our most recent having been adopted in 2008, with relatively minor updates in 2014. An exciting part of the process has been meeting with the many constituencies of the school—current parents and guardians, the faculty and staff, students, alums and alum families, former trustees, and our current Board—to explore the mission statement as well as key elements of the school’s identity and aims. Particularly notable was the clear expression of what the community values so strongly: a challenging, growth-oriented approach to learning, a warm and joyful community that is truly full of heart, teachers who know each student in-depth, the sense of student-centered inquiry and exploration, high expectations for all, and a multi-faceted focus on metacognitive skills including social and emotional learning that unlocks high performance. Those are the qualities that we build on each day and each year, and it is so exciting to be a part of.

In the pages of The Marker that follow, you will get a chance to dive deeply into some of those elements of the school, and to learn about how several Mark Day graduates are taking their education out into the wider world. Their stories are most powerful of all, and it is so inspiring and heartening to see the ways that Mark Day grads continue to learn throughout their lives-and use that learning to help improve the communities in which they live.

Sincerely,

Joe Harvey Head of School

NEWS FROM CAMPUS

Mark Day School delegations travel to South Africa

In the summer of 2023, two delegations totaling 106 students, parents/ guardians, faculty/staff, and administrators visited our two partners in South Africa—Kliptown Youth Program (KYP) in Soweto and eSibonisweni in rural northeast South Africa in the KwaZulu province. With our partners, delegation members collaborated on art projects, played sports, painted houses in the Kliptown community, supported the tutoring program to help with homework, helped serve lunches, and conducted vision screenings with over 800 students at KYP and 600 students at eSibonisweni to identify which students need to see a doctor. They also visited the Aparteid Museum, Constitution Hill, Soweto, and the Hector Pietersen Museum to learn more about the history of South Africa.

Students in grades 3-8 embark on outdoor ed

The outdoor education program for 3rd through 8th graders gives students opportunities to explore the natural world, bond with their peers, and challenge themselves to step outside their comfort zones. This year, 3rd graders visited Walker Creek, 4th graders experienced the gold country firsthand as they learned about the Gold Rush, 5th graders camped and hiked in Mount Madonna County Park, 6th graders rock climbed in Pinnacles National Park, 7th graders backpacked in Yosemite, and 8th graders canoed down the Colorado River.

“ Outdoor ed is an opportunity for students to bond with their peers, challenge themselves in new ways, and embark on an outdoor adventure.

CHAD FORRESTER MEDIA SPECIALIST & 7TH & 8TH OUTDOOR ED COORDINATOR

Athletics encourage teamwork, challenge, and school spirit

After-school sports for students in grades 4-8 were in full swing during the 2023-2024 school year. In the fall, students participated in volleyball, cross country, and flag football. In the winter, students played basketball, and in the spring, they participated in golf, track and field, and volleyball. Thanks to all who came out to support our teams!

K/8 buddies build special relationships

Kindergarten and 8th grade buddies first met in late spring of last year in advance of their year together. During this school year, they met at least once a month to read books, play on the playground, collaborate on art projects, and learn more about one another.

Spring Fundraiser: “SUPERHEROES!”

Not all heroes wear capes, but some do! The “SUPERHEROES!” spring fundraiser was an epic night in support of teaching and learning. More than 300 parents, guardians, faculty and staff attended the event at The Marin Center Exhibit Hall on March 2. The event was free to attend thanks to generous sponsorships. We net more than $100,000 through the online and live auctions and the Fund-a-Need (which grossed $120,000). Thank you to our heroic donors, bidders, and volunteers!

The community came together to celebrate

Halloween and Spirit Day

From Star Wars characters to superheros to witches to large blow-up animals, students across K-8 showed true Halloween spirit. After parading their costumes in front of the community at assembly, students gathered for one of Mark Day’s beloved traditions—Spirit Day. Student were divided into two teams, blue and gold, to compete in games like Skipping Skeletons and Zombie Spoon Relay. And of course, Darth Vader (also known as former Athletics Director and Upper School P.E. Teacher Ray Orwig) made his appearance on the balcony for his battle with Luke Skywalker (also known as Digital Media Specialist Chad Forrester ‘86).

The 44th annual all-school chess championship commenced in January—with a record-breaking number of participants!

During the last week in January, students across K-8 collected in the gym to play in the 44th annual Mark Day School chess championship, a 5-day tournament for students of all abilities, from beginner to advanced. We were excited to have a record-breaking number of student competitors at 206!

Congratulations on your retirement, Amy Zimmer!

Amy joined Mark Day in the fall of 2022, bringing her enthusiasm, energy, and community mindset to the upper division team. A passionate math educator, Amy has shared her love for math with everyone and has brought creative, challenging, and novel activities to her classroom to stoke her students’ curiosity, confidence, and skills with mathematical thinking. Amy also has been innovative in helping to advance student-centered challenge and

engagement in our upper-division math program. She helped pilot our use of vertical whiteboards for team problem-solving, a research-backed method to promote thinking from Peter Liljedahl’s book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics She has also led our school Mathletes team. Amy has been a dedicated mentor, a committed team player, and an optimistic and upbeat member of the Mark Day community. We will miss you, Amy!

Celebrating the Retirement of Geneva Conway

Geneva has been a part of Mark Day for almost our entire history as a school, and it is truly impossible to overstate the influence and impact she has had on her students, families, and colleagues. She has been a prime mover in shaping Mark Day School as we know it today. Geneva taught 3rd grade for 17 years, simultaneously serving as Lower Division Coordinator for a decade, and then moved to 1st grade, where she has collaborated seamlessly with her grade-level partner, Ms. Lisa Becker, as they strive constantly to improve their teaching and the quality of the first-grade program. Geneva also served as Head of Grades K-3 during the sabbatical of former head Damon Kerby.

Even in a faculty known for commitment and a palpable hunger for professional growth and development, Geneva stands out. She leads by example, always revealing her proactive ap-

39 years teaching at Mark Day School

47 total years in teaching

proach in seeking to improve. She teaches her students the power of “yet,” reminding them and all of us how powerful a growth mindset can be in creating and nurturing life-long learners. She describes Mark Day School as a learning community, intentionally including herself and her colleagues in that construction. She means it. Geneva truly knows each child and through her kindness and patience creates the safety that enables students to venture out of their comfort zones and take healthy risks. She prepares diligently for every school day, planning that is immediately evident in her classroom.

Geneva is eager to continue to teach at Mark Day as a substitute, and we are eager to take her up on that. We are profoundly gratitude to Geneva and are sending her off on new adventures with love and our very warmest wishes.

940 students taught across career

67,700 approximate teaching hours in the classroom

TEACHER FEATURE

Tatian Greenleaf

Design, Tinkering & Technology Integrator

Now in his 22nd year at Mark Day School, Tatian first began his work at Mark Day School as the Technology Assistant in 2001. Since, he’s held many positions and helped develop Mark Day’s Creativity Lab and Media, Technology, and Innovation program. Let’s learn more about Mr. Greenleaf—both on campus and beyond.

What are the different positions you’ve held at Mark Day since you started?

My first position was Technology Assistant. My role was to support students, parents, faculty, staff, and admin with IT needs. That part of my job remains even though much of my role has evolved. In 2014, former Lower School Head Thad Reichley and I piloted a design and tinkering class called IDEA Lab with 3rd graders. For the past seven years, I’ve held the title of Design, Tinkering and Technology Integrator. My role involves working with students across all grades, nurturing and supporting their love for creating, inventing, repairing, and coding. I also aim to impart knowledge and provide practice with various software tools, along with instilling digital citizenship concepts.

What’s kept you at Mark Day for so many years?

It’s a fantastic place to work, and I am continually impressed by the dedication our teachers have to their profession and to their students. It’s a kind place where people care for each other even outside of our professional demands. When our family needed a little support, the admin team organized meals for us. The FA has a Family Sunshine Committee that helps families in similar ways. I’m so appreciative of that! Both of my kids have benefitted from a Mark Day education. Hope (‘21) is now in the Creative Writing program in the Marin School of the Arts at Novato High. Abby (‘24, all too soon!) is an 8th grader and loves science, especially entomology. Watching them grow up here and getting to teach them on occasion has been a treat. Growing up, I attended seven schools through high school (the Berkeley school system was financially strained during the ‘80s) and I rarely had the sense that my teachers knew me well. I appreciate that the teachers at Mark Day get to know their students through things like mentors and Outdoor Ed.

What is your favorite part about teaching 3rd & 4th graders?

Third and fourth graders are at a great age where they are curious about the world, capable of many things, and eager to learn

something new. They also don’t generally have the hangs-up that some of us adults have about failing. So they can create code or build something inventive and if their test doesn’t work, they are quick to iterate and find new methods to proceed and succeed.

What is your favorite 3rd or 4th grade project, lesson, unit, or activity?

I really enjoy teaching Scratch, which is a programming language developed at MIT. It’s block-based coding and age-appropriate but flexible and powerful enough to scale to meet students at almost any age. It’s part of an arc of coding that begins in kindergarten with BeeBots and continues through our VEX Robotics project in sixth grade. Students in third grade learn to animate their name before moving on to making their own games and a creative project called “Hack your Window” where they use a photo of a frame, window or doorway to bring their code to life. I love the creativity that Scratch affords where students can draw their own sprites, record their voices, and animate their characters.

What is something the Mark Day community might not know about you?

I grew up in Albany and Berkeley, went to college at UC Irvine (go Anteaters!) for a degree in Sociology, and now live in Novato. I have two rescue dogs and two brand new kittens. I’ve traveled to Bali with my dad, who leads trips for medical professionals to study the healing trance culture. I’m hoping to return to Bali next year with my dad, my wife and our kids.

What are your favorite things to do outside of school?

Aside from coding mobile apps, I love to write poetry and take photographs, especially macro or nature photos. I find all of those activities meditative although coding complex algorithms can be stressful at times. My favorite sport is soccer and I’m currently coaching my daughter’s team. And if I have a long weekend, you’ll probably find me cooking Thai curry from scratch.

Our New Partnership: Ren-Ai in Taipei

Mark Day School’s global partnerships are an integral part of our cross-cultural literacy program—one that has and continues to define who we are as a community.

When we travel to our partners and when our partners come to Mark Day, we are building something deeper than a single visit. Our partnerships are embedded in our academic program. They are sustained between visits and over the years, with integrated learning and shared experiences that foster cross-cultural connection, increase critical thinking and creativity, and inculcate the habits of perspective-taking and considering multiple points of view. Every student, whether they participate in a delegation or not, experiences the joy and reciprocity of our global partnerships.

Even during the height of the Covid pandemic, we were able to keep the connection alive with our partners--ask music teacher Brian Wilkerson about having Thando Bezana of the Kliptown Youth Program (KYP) Zoom into the music room to collaboratively teach drumming and gumboot dancing to Mark Day students! And as global travel has returned over the past few years, we have been reintroducing in-person exchanges. Last spring, we worked with KYP leadership to host a full delegation of students and teachers from KYP to our campus. And over the summer of 2023, we sent our largest delegations in school history—over 100 Mark Day students, families, faculty, and staff—to visit both KYP and eSibonisweni and we are already planning our next trip for summer 2025.

Our partnership with Er Xiao, a K-6 primary school in Beijing, was established in 2007 to expand our global partnership program and also enhance the Mandarin program. Since then, we have sent more than 50 students and 25 teachers to Er Xiao and welcomed more than 200

Er Xiao students and 50 teachers to Mark Day. We greatly value and appreciate our partnership with Er Xiao--a feeling reciprocated by our partners at the school. We continue to look for openings to plan future in-person visits. “We are still very committed to the partnership with Er Xiao,” says Fernanda Pernambuco, Director of Partnerships, Equity & Inclusion. “For the time being, the in-person visit and homestay part of the program is on hold; we continue to be in communication with school leadership and look forward to continuing to find ways to learn from one another.”

Thanks to the leadership of Mandarin teacher Joyce Chen and Fernanda Pernambuco, in early 2023 the school began exploring the possibility of beginning a new partnership in Asia. During the research phase, Ren-Ai, a K-6 public school in Taipei, Taiwan emerged as an exciting possibility. They had previously partnered with Chinese American International School, a Mandarin immersion school in San Francisco, for 10 years and had considerable experience building a long-term, reciprocal partnership that also involved homestays. Over the summer, Joyce was able to visit Ren-Ai in person while visiting family in Taipei. “They were eager to partner with us,” says Joyce.

The conversation continued into the fall—and so did mutual excitement about this new relationship. “It’s an exciting new step for the Mandarin program,” says Fernanda.

A group of Mark Day School 8th graders taking Mandarin visited Ren-Ai for the first time over spring break, accompanied by Joyce, Fernan-

da, English teacher Dana Kirk, and visual arts teacher Karen Klier. Each student stayed with a Ren-Ai family for the full week, attending classes with their buddies, participating in special cultural activities like martial arts and brush painting, and sightseeing. Joyce says, “It is good for our kids to immerse themselves into Chinese culture and practice their Mandarin in real life. Students benefit not just from a language viewpoint, but they also gain perspective on different parts of the world.” Immediately on the heels of our delegation to Ren-Ai, we welcomed a group of Ren-Ai 5th graders and faculty members to Mark Day, where they also participated

in homestays, on-campus learning with students of all grades, and field trips outside of school.

“It’s incredible that in the first year of our partnership with Ren-Ai, we already get to experience both sending students there and getting to know them here as well,” says Fernanda. “This means our whole community can benefit from our new partnership, as we do with our other partnerships. We are looking forward to continuing to build a long-term relationship with Ren-Ai.”

WELCOMING

BACK

KYP

There is just no substitute for being together

Our reciprocal partnership model is founded on the deep learning that occurs when we work alongside our partners. The delegations to South Africa this summer enabled more than 100 Mark Day students and families to build direct relationships with peers and teachers there, and this spring we were thrilled to welcome another delegation of students and teachers from one of our two partners in South Africa, the Kliptown Youth Program (KYP). Our partners are not “guests,” but instead members of our shared community, and their stay with us deepened the learning of every student. The distinction matters, as it connotes the shared ownership and trust that are crucial elements of our reciprocal partnership.

During their two-week stay, the KYP delegation taught and learned in our classrooms, shared stories, participated in lessons and activities with all constituents from our community, and developed deeper friendships.

Among the delegation were a few notable individuals, both new and returning. Thando Bezana returned as an Artist-in-Residence to work with students in the music room, teaching drumming and gumboot dancing and infusing cultural elements into their

lessons. He worked closely with students in 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades on their study of apartheid and the drive toward equity and justice in South Africa--in part so our students can better reflect on our nation’s commitment to liberty and justice for all. Teboraga (Tebo) Maluleka is a middle school teacher and a senior tutor at KYP. She spent much of her time in 1st grade and 5th grade classrooms, learning about teaching at Mark Day School. She was trained in Bridges in Mathematics alongside Mark Day teachers during the faculty professional development day on March 11. She also observed how SEL Toolbox Tools were implemented in classes and how to support students who are learning to read. Both Thando and Tebo stayed at Mark Day for a total of 5 weeks. Remarkably, we also welcomed as part of the delegation Ms. Antoinette Sithole, who lived through apartheid in Soweto and joined the Soweto Youth Uprising and protested against exclusively teaching Afrikaans instead of English to black children in school. Antoinette is a prominent figure during the Mark Day delegation trips to South Africa, telling her story outside the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, which preserves the memory of students who fought against apartheid in Soweto, including her brother Hector who was tragically killed.

Connecting History

On Wednesday, March 27, Antoinette Sithole joined Dr. Melba Beals, a member of the Little Rock Nine, in conversation. The Little Rock Nine is a group of African American students who were involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. San Francisco resident and author of Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Desegregate Little Rock’s Central High School, Dr. Beals braved daily threats and harassment from white students and those who opposed desegregation in order to help change history. Dr. Beals was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1958 and the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 1999. Dr. Beals joined the conversation virtually and she and Ms. Sithole reflected on their experiences at the forefront of combating racism. Students in grades 5-8, faculty and staff, parents and guardians, and alumni attended this remarkable event. We are grateful to have had this opportunity to bring together these two incredible women who took such great risks to stand up for what was right and transform the path of history.

Health & Wellness AT MARK DAY SCHOOL

Social and emotional learning is about much, much more than building a strong community; when students learn how to recognize and manage their own emotions, they persist through obstacles and perform at a higher level. Building SEL skills, then, is a necessary ingredient in equipping our students to meet challenges. The SEL program at Mark Day School has been an important part of our school for more than a decade. In addition to having strong leadership from the school counseling team of Heather Rael, Danielle Javadi, and Renee Surcouf, every teacher and administrator is trained in SEL, enabling us to have SEL permeate school life. Students across K-8 have both formal and informal SEL classes, as well as moments throughout the day when they are called upon to apply the skills they have acquired.

Independent studies have shown that SEL benefits students in many ways. In Edutopia’s “Social and Emotional Learning Research Review,” Vanessa Vega states, “Self-regulation, the ability to control and manage thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, has been linked to academic achievement in numerous studies. Students who are more selfaware and confident about their learning capacities try harder and persist in the face of challenges (Aronson, 2022; cited in Durlak et al., 2011; Dweck, Walton, & Cohen, 2014).” She also cites a 2017 research review that found that “SEL programs can promote academic

success and increase positive behavior, while reducing misconduct, substance abuse, and emotional distress for elementary school students.” There is evidence that SEL skills will also serve our students long into the future. In a The Wall Street Journal article titled “What Good Leadership Looks Like Now vs. Pre-Covid,” organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry lists managing ambiguity, having interpersonal savvy, and instilling trust as three critical competencies for leaders of the best-managed enterprises. And Dr. Jim Loehr, a performance psychologist and founder of the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, calls attention to a pattern among business leaders of identifying treatment of others—for example, when they prioritized kindness and trust—as what they are most proud of.

While the SEL program at Mark Day School has long been woven across all grades K-8, the more specific Health and Wellness program, which encompasses puberty education, sex education, digital well-being, and drug education, has typically had a smaller footprint. Based on their experiences over the past several years, Heather and Danielle wanted to expand the program this year, renaming and recategorizing it across grade levels in developmentally appropriate ways. “We are finding that kids are generally developing earlier and

need information about health and wellness at a younger age than ever before,” says Danielle, who focuses on students in grades K-4. “We are seeing the need to adjust and accommodate for kids and parents, who also are seeking more resources.” In the Lower Division, this expansion has meant that SEL lessons increasingly include digital well-being elements, such as an SEL lesson on listening that now also calls attention to how digital devices often get in the way of whole-body listening, or a lesson about friendship that has been expanded to include discussions about online inclusivity. “We ask students to consider how something they write or say will ‘land’ online—which includes via text—or in person,” Danielle explains.

Mark Day intentionally and regularly reviews and works to improve curriculum and teaching practices to take full advantage of research and innovation; the health and wellness program is no exception, specifically when it comes to integrating more lessons on digital well-being. Assistant Head of School and Director of Educational Design and Innovation Bonnie Nishihara has also established and is leading a group of “integrators”--including the Media, Technology, and Innovation team, our SEL leaders Danielle, Renee, and Heather, our Director of the Learning Commons Anna Gonzalez, Eco-literacy lead Remy Mansfield, and Director of Partnerships, Equity and Inclusion Fernanda Pernambuco--to bring increased depth to the integration of media and information literacy through intentional collaborations with faculty.

As with the integration of more digital well-being skills in the lower grades, moving puberty education down to 4th grade in recent years is another example of the Health and Wellness curriculum responding to the evolving needs of students. Heather and Danielle lead a parent/ guardian coffee to share resources and preview what students will be learning in class. Students participate in a series of concentrated classes where they learn about the definition of puberty, body changes, body management, and self-care. “This class is taught coed because it’s best practice,” says Heather. “Students need to develop empathy for what others are going through and also understand that their peers are going through similar changes at different times. A big emphasis is on normalizing puberty and the changes that students are or will

experience.” Fourth graders also apply what they’ve already learned in SEL to online behavior. They are encouraged to consider how much time they spend on devices, how they feel after they turn off the screen, and whether that time was well spent. “We recognize that students are introduced to electronics at different ages,” says Danielle. “Regardless of the rules at home, we want to help teach awareness around screen time and how interactions like apologies and unkind words land online versus in person.” In 5th grade, students continue the conversation about digital well-being. They also deepen their understanding of puberty and healthy relationships through the Health Connected Curriculum. The nine lessons are co-taught between Heather and the homeroom teachers, who are also trained to teach the Health Connected Curriculum. The syllabus is sent home to parents and guardians so they are equipped to continue the conversation at home.

As we admit several students in 6th grade, Heather places an emphasis on getting everyone on the same page. “With more new students than in any other grade, we don’t immediately know what students have learned to date,” says Heather. “So we start the year together both reviewing and diving deeper into these important topics.” Heather and homeroom teachers use the digital well-being curriculum from Common Sense Media. Students talk about habits and how they are formed, particularly around the use of technology. Again acting in response to research and our experience, we are in the process of adding lessons led by Zach Laurie of Roots to Branches about healthy decision making, how our brains work, and healthy habits. They also continue to use the Health Connected Curriculum. Sixth graders participate in monthly Open Sessions, which is an evidence-based practice that allows students to anonymously raise questions or concerns and receive empathy, advice, and support from their peers.

By the Upper Division, students already have a solid foundation of knowledge about puberty and digital well-being and are able to dive deeper into those topics as well as sex and drug education. Mr. Laurie teaches 7th graders and 8th graders about healthy decision making, how our brains respond to various stimuli, and how habits are formed in our neural pathways.

He teaches students about how to form healthy habits, how to change existing habits, and how drug and alcohol use impair healthy habits for stress management and life decision-making.

“In seventh grade, students are starting to get into relationships that are a little more serious,” Heather explains. “So we start talking about healthy relationships and consent.” Students also further explore the risks and challenges posed by social media. Mr. Laurie visits campus for three classes about how drugs interact with our brains. Students learn that their brains are still forming and susceptible to the ill effects of drug usage. Mr. Laurie also talks about healthy coping mechanisms when stress arises. Finally, seventh graders learn more about gender identity using materials developed by Gender Spectrum. They participate in monthly Open Sessions that provide numerous opportunities to ask questions on any of these topics anonymously.

In 8th grade, students learn more about mental health from Heather during a comprehensive six-class Health Connected Curriculum on stigma, depression, anxiety, neurodiversity, ADHD, how to take care of one’s own mental health, and what to do if they are concerned about a

friend. Zach Laurie returns for several drug education classes, which involve more discussion about how drugs interact with the brain and also covers specific kinds of drugs they may encounter and how to make safe and healthy choices when they do. Eighth graders also take a series of nine sex education classes about anatomy, contraception, STIs, consent, and healthy relationships. “We want them to have this information before heading to high school,” says Heather. “It’s a developmentally appropriate comprehensive coverage and they can ask questions that are on their minds.” Additionally, students participate in Open Session monthly.

Heather and Danielle, in partnership with homeroom teachers in the upper grades, look forward to expanding and deepening this curriculum even further. “We want our students to have accurate information and to normalize the idea of taking care of your body and your mind,” says Heather. “We want students to feel seen. It’s not just about academics—in fact, research shows that students won’t be able to focus on their academic classes if they are worried about other things.”

Parent/Guardian Health &

Wellness Education

2023-2024

Balancing Sleep and Screens: Cultivating Teen-Wellbeing Through Healthy Sleep and Media Habits

September 12

Guest speakers Merve Lapus and Denise Pope led an interactive and engaging webinar focused on the research surrounding sleep and its profound impact on overall well-being for teens. Attendees learned about the far-reaching consequences of sleep deprivation, the impact of media use on sleep and mental health, and concrete strategies to help their teen get the rest they so desperately need. Comprehensive insights were provided to help families make informed decisions about sleep routines and media use.

Parenting in the Digital Age: Tips for K-5

Parents/Guardians

October 25

What is the right age to get my child a cell phone? How much screen time should I allow my child to have? In this session Assistant Head and Director of Educational Design & Innovation Bonnie Nishihara talked about why these are the wrong questions and other parenting pitfalls. Guidance was offered about how to be a “guardrail” for your child as they learn to navigate the media and technology landscape.

Parent/Guardian Education Event: Film

Screening & Panel on Fentanyl

January 23

In January, we hosted an education event for parents and guardians that included a 30-minute screening of Song for Charlie’s original film Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl, which was developed in partnership with and endorsed by the California Department of Public Health, followed by a panel discussion about how to open an important discussion with children about these deadly risks. We also integrated separate, age-appropriate lessons for students in upper grades as part of our health and wellness curriculum. Mark Day alum Brennan Mullin ‘85 was part of the panel.

The Download on Device Adoption: The Skills Your Children Need Before Getting a ‘Smartphone’

February 1

Mark Day School partners with Common Sense Media through their Connected Schools program. Designed for parents and caregivers of kids in grades K-6, this webinar considered the skills that kids need to live safely and responsibly in a digital world.

Let’s Talk - Parenting to Support Our Teens February 7

Presenting speaker Annie Egan dove into parenting and the integral impact on teens. Attendees learned about the variety of parenting styles and which one continues to rise to the top as most effective and why. Annie provided accessible take-aways and language to use with teens to increase communication around sensitive issues and serve as a guide for topics including modeling, boundaries, clarity, and connection. Mark Day alum Cole Green ‘21 was also a speaker at the event.

7th & 8th Grade Parent/Guardian Education with Zach Laurie January & May

Before 7th and 8th grade students begin their drug education lessons with Zach Laurie from Roots to Branches, parents and guardians were invited to an education event with Mr. Laurie to learn more about what’s in store for students so they could continue the conversation at home.

TOGETHER MOVING

At Mark Day School, P.E. has always been an important part of our school program. We know that physical development is brain development; P.E. helps build skills and habits that benefit students today and long into the future. Starting from the school’s inception in 1980—44 years ago—former Athletic Director and P.E. Teacher Ray Orwig built a strong program that many alumni remember years and decades following graduation. Ray retired in 2019, giving a new Athletic Director the opportunity to build upon his legacy.

Current Athletic Director and Upper School P.E. Teacher Cody Fusco is Mark Day School’s first female Athletic Director. Born and raised in San Francisco, “Coach Cody” has been part of the independent school community since she was young. She attended San Francisco Waldorf School Kindergarten through 12th grade, where she was first introduced to sports. “Back then, it was called Games Class,” says Cody. “In that class, I learned the joy in movement.” Cody started after school sports in 6th grade, the beginning of a long sports career that involved volleyball, basketball, and soccer. In college, she played Division 3 volleyball on a scholarship while studying sports management and event coordination. During this time, she was also introduced to coaching through volunteer work, which she found rewarding.

Cody came to Mark Day School after eight years as the Middle School Athletic Director at Convent and Stuart Hall, an independent K-12 school in San Francisco. “When I visited Mark Day, I appreciated the small community and the care I noticed teachers have for students,” she says. “I loved the project-based learning style, the Creativity Lab, and the beautiful campus—especially the large field, having come from a city school.

“There is a place for everybody in sports,” Cody believes. In the Upper School P.E. program, she cultivates an inclusive environment where every student—whether they are aerobically inclined or not—feels comfortable and capable. Every day students are challenged by activities based on a fundamental set of fitness principles: fitness and skills are built over time, sus-

tained effort towards a goal results in positive change and success, and the mind will become stronger when one’s body is pushed physically. “Movement is not just about playing soccer or basketball,” she explains. “It’s also about physical and mental health. I want to give kids a wide variety of sports and workouts so they can find something that they enjoy and can work to develop those skills.”

Following these principles, our G4-8 daily fitness program begins with warm-ups and stretches followed four days a week by a run, which increases in duration and intensity over the course of each year. Once a week, students begin class with bodyweight workouts, plyometrics, and other exercises to support their success with the running program as well as their overall fitness and health. Students participate in the timed mile at three points throughout the school year to measure progress and strive to improve their personal progress. Cody says, “It’s important for students to understand and see firsthand that consistent practice will result in improvement, and the timed mile is one way they can learn that.”

Aside from running, students are currently practicing a variety of sports, including pickleball, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, basketball, soccer, flag football, space ball, capture the flag, dance, track and field, pillo polo, and more. “The exposure to different health and wellness approaches provides students with an array of choices so they can decide what works best for them,” says Cody. “When they are invested in their own health, they will be more likely to carry through those routines and habits throughout their lives.”

LEARNING THROUGH STORIES

LITERATURE IN THE UPPER DIVISION

AA Mark Day School, we love to read. Students are often seen pulling personal novels from backpacks at recess and running to the Learning Commons as soon as the lunch bell rings. We even have several faculty and staff members who are published authors themselves.

Books and stories are an important mechanism for learning. Israeli author, historian, and professor Yuval Noah Harari says, “Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of the world by telling stories.” Jimmy Neil Smith, Director of the International Storytelling Center, adds, “There is no stronger connection between people than storytelling.” And author Joan Didion puts it differently: “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” At Mark Day, we incorporate literature throughout the curriculum, giving students the opportunity to dive into stories from around the world and experience both windows into different people and places and mirrors that reflect back the familiar. Students begin by learning to read, and almost immediately they are reading to learn.

In Upper Division English, 7th and 8th grade students study character development, literary devices, historical events, power dynamics, diversity, social change, and more through the texts selected by teachers Dana Kirk

“ A lot of the work we do is about the human experience. There is so much to uncover about our own experience through talking about what other characters are going through.

and Leila Sinclaire. “A lot of the work we do is about the human experience,” says Dana, who teaches 8th grade English. “There is so much to uncover about our own experience through talking about what other characters are going through.” Leila, who teaches 7th grade English, adds, “Because we are all reading the same story as a class, there is also a community-building aspect to studying literature.” Students engage with books in multiple ways, including wholeclass read-alouds, small group book clubs, and individual analysis.

Below is a round-up of books that 7th and 8th grade students read during English this year, and why these carefully selected texts enhanced their learning in different ways.

7TH GRADE LIT

Other Words for Home

Jasmine Warga

A young girl moves from Syria to Cincinnati and must navigate a new culture and a new identity.

Seventh graders begin the year in English reading Other Words From Home in conjunction with their study of the rise of Islam in history class. “I try to coordinate English texts that resonate with subjects they’re studying in history,” says Leila. Other Words From Home is a verse novel that features a female Muslim protagonist. The story presents some situations that are uncomfortable for middle schoolers, like when the main character gets her period, and Leila encourages her students to “embrace the awkward.” They also discuss the character’s decision to wear a hijab by considering what they would do in the same situation. “We talk about othering, and the difference between how we feel on the inside and what people project onto us from the outside,” says Leila. These discussions are followed by a self-portrait project that incorporates an internal written monologue and the assumptions others make.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Marjane Satrapi

A coming-of-age story during the Shah’s regime in Tehran.

Students read Persepolis as a wholeclass read-aloud. “It’s an advanced book with some confusing government terminology, so I want to stay right there with them,” says Leila. This coming-ofage story set during the Iranian Revolution in 1979 is good preparation for what they will read the following year— Animal Farm. Persepolis is a graphic

novel written by a trained visual artist, and students analyze it in conjunction with the works of van Gogh and Michelangelo. Students examine the visual choices made by the author, asking questions like “why does the author use such a large font for the words here?” and “why is there so much dark shading on this page?” They also participate in peer-led conversations about Persepolis, which encourages deeper student engagement and improved conservation skills.

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah recounts his struggle to find himself and his relationship with his mother.

While students are learning about Africa, West African Kingdoms, and the colonization of Africa by Europe, they read Born a Crime. For students who have attended a delegation to our partner in South Africa, Kliptown Youth Program, this memoir is also particularly relevant. Most students know who Trevor Noah is from The Daily Show and his comedy in general, further increasing their engagement with his story. Because of that, many students choose to read this book via audiobook (an excellent version read by Noah himself), which is a choice they have with all literature studied in class.

Selected Afrofuturistic Texts

Afrofuturism is a “genre that centers Black history and culture and incorporates science fiction, technology, and futuristic elements into literature, music, and the visual arts. Often using current social movements or popular culture as a backdrop, Afrofuturism focus-

es on works that examine the past, question the present, or imagine an optimistic future, and are meant to inspire a sense of pride in their audience” (metmuseum.org). In conjunction with their studies of Afrofuturism in history, during which they watch the movie Black Panther and record podcasts discussions about the film, students enhance their understanding of Afrofuturism through a selection of texts and book clubs that lead to rich conversations about the questions and feelings that arise when confronted with an “unfamiliar “ world.

Selected Literature About the Holocaust

During the Holocaust and Human Behavior unit, students tap into their deep desire to understand and to talk openly about the “why” behind the “what”—particularly when conflict is involved. In this unit, students study aspects of human nature and societal conflict that recur across time and place, including such elements as stereotypes, power, and propaganda that have had a hand in major historical events. Students read a range of texts that offer a wide variety of perspectives on the Holocaust to avoid having one narrative unintentionally speak for all. The collection of literature includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and diaries. Leila is highly aware that learning about the Holocaust can bring up intense emotions. “It’s important that we don’t look away from these more difficult events,” she says. “I want students to be ready to stand up for any group that is targeted. I want them to recognize patterns and behaviors and the mechanisms that are at play, and to feel empowered to use their own voices.”to feel empowered to use their own voices.”

8TH GRADE LIT

Selected Short Stories

The 8th grade year begins with a short story unit, which is an extension of students’ summer reading of an anthology of short stories. “While reading these stories, students identify and analyze literary elements like symbolism, motif, and irony,” says Dana. “I love this unit because you can teach students how to understand plot through examining a series of different stories. We’re also able to read from a diverse selection of authors.” Students then write their own short stories, taking inspiration from what they’ve read. “I’ve found that this year, several students were inspired by Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club and wanted to write about a character who also struggles with identity as a first-generation American.”

Animal Farm George Orwell

A group of farm animals rebel against their farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy.

Students are introduced to allegories by reading the classic novel Animal Farm While reading the book, they learn about fables and satire and make connections between a major event in history and the book that those events inspired. Animal Farm is an opportunity to showcase an example of how to effect social change through writing novels. They engage in a project to create a cartoon or video that incorporates satire. “Satire can be tricky,” says Dana. “So part of the project is learning how to satirize something with respect.”

Macbeth Shakespeare

Civil war erupts to overthrow newly appointed king Macbeth.

“Macbeth is the perfect entry play for Shakespeare,” says Dana. “It’s short and fast-paced and raises interesting questions about fate and power.” Dana believes her job through teaching this play is to make it relevant, which includes showing students the Joel Cohen film with a large Black cast. Additionally, Dana will give a presentation about the history of casting in Shakespeare performances as it pertains to ethnicity and race. Students also perform some of the play themselves. “My hope is that through learning how to read Shakespeare, students not only develop an appreciation of his writing but also the relationship between performance and understanding.”

Annie John Jamaica Kincaid

When Annie turns 12, she begins to question the cultural assumptions of her world and instinctively rebels against authority.

In this autobiographical coming-of-age novel, the book recounts the effects of colonialism on the identity of a young Black girl. For students, it’s an opportunity to understand how colonialism stretches far and wide, affecting multiple generations. Dana is intentional about walking students through the content, particularly when the book’s characters make some disturbing choices. “There is something very human about the main character and through her, students can find ways to be less hard on themselves for choices they have made that have hurt someone,” says Dana.

WHAT ARE FACULTY & STAFF READING?

At Mark Day School, we are a community of readers and lifelong learning. We asked what members of our faculty and staff are currently reading or have read recently. Here’s what they said!

Demon Copperfield

Barbara Kingsolver

“Demon Copperfield’s candid, compassionate depiction of the opioid crisis and our country’s failure to recognize the people of Appalachia had a profound impact on me.”

The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne

Shannon Takaoka

“It’s a young adult novel written by a good friend of my sister’s who lives locally in Lucas Valley. It’s Shannon’s first book and I really enjoyed her book talk about writing and publishing.”

Hamnet Maggie O’Farrell

“Even though I adore literature and was a college English major, I never really cared much about Shakespeare’s life until I read Hamnet. The evocative prose transports the reader to the late 1500s. I couldn’t put it down.”

Boundary Waters

William Kent Kruger

“I love to read series because I get attached to the characters and experience their development over time. I’m also looking forward to discovering more about the Minnesota wilderness through this series.”

The Nightingale Kristin Hannah

“I love historical fiction and am fascinated by fiction and nonfiction books about Jewish people’s experiences during WWII.”

The Splendid and the Vile Erik Larson

“It chronicles Winston Churchill’s first year in office as the Prime Minster, coinciding with the Blitz of London and the threat of Nazi invasion before America’s involvement.”

The Covenant of Water

Abraham Verghese

“I chose this book because it is at the intersection of science and humanities, since the author is a physician but it is a fiction book about a multigenerational family drama.”

Mycroft Holmes

Kathleen Abdul-Jabbar & Anna Waterhouse

“As a huge fan of the original Conan-Doyle series, I was excited to read about Sherlock’s older brother. The story is unique, enjoyable and well-researched. I even learned a few new things about my hometown!

Dana Kirk 8th Grade English Teacher

Leila Sinclaire 7th Grade English Teacher

Leslie Garber Asst. to the Head of School

Suzanne Alpert 8th Grade Science Teacher

Ashleigh Brody 4th Grade Teacher

Iliza Abbe Drama Teacher

Justin Bayer Upper School P.E. Teacher

Dom Cox 5th Grade Teacher

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

James McBride

“It’s set in the 1970s when Jews and African Americans lived side by side in a symbiotic relationship in a dilapidated neighborhood. I’m loving the rich language and cultures.”

Crying in H Mart

Michelle Zauner

“I heard an interview with the author and I wanted to know more. It focuses on Michelle’s relationship with her mom, who passed away, and their shared love of food. I lost my mom this fall and I’m finding comfort in the book’s honest portrayal of a mom-daughter relationship.

The Running Grave

Robert Galbraith

“This novel combines a few things I really enjoy: a good police procedural and admirable (all the more so for their flaws) protagonists who we get to know over more than one book.”

Scrimmage For War

Bill McWilliams

“It’s about the true story of the San Jose State football team, who were playing against the University of Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree from San Jose State and my grandfather fought in World War II, so I found this story particularly meaningful. ”

We Are Not Free Traci Chee

“I read this book as part of the parent book club at Terra Linda HS because of its in-depth perspective on young people in terms of race, gender, politics, etc. It’s a true story based in the Bay Area.”

Tell Me Everything Minka Kelly

“I was familiar with actor Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights. I had no idea she had such a tough upbringing. Fascinating memoir about perseverance, family dynamics, and the idea that we can define ourselves however we choose to.”

Murder by Degrees Ritu Mukerji Metzger

“Murder by Degrees is a mystery written by a Mark Day School parent! It’s set in Philadelphia in the late 1800s and follows a pioneering woman doctor.”

“It’s about a teacher who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination, but gets there three years early and faces some unintended consequences. A super interesting mix of historical fiction and time travel! Not the usual Stephen King spooky stuff (which I also love!).”

Amy Zimmer Upper Division Math Teacher

Joe Harvey Head of School

Christine Maguire Associate Dir. of Development

Wendy Levine ‘89 Director of Development

Maggie Bendicksen Head of Grades K-4

Robert Bowers K-3 P.E. Teacher

Sophie Shulman ‘02 Director of Communications

Alex O’Neill 3rd Grade Teacher

Mark Day Middle School: Breaking the Bubble, Embracing the Lab

by Joe Harvey, Head of School

As much as we strive as parents to provide for our children, to give them what they need for a good life, a worry sometimes arises alongside that striving: that our kids are somehow living in a “bubble,” and that “out there” waiting is a real world that they might not be prepared for. The “school of hard knocks” may be an old cliché, but the fear that somehow our children might not develop the toughness to face the challenges of a complex, unpredictable world can be quite unsettling. Just considering our lives within the natural beauty and temperate climate of Marin County (a weather/beauty bubble?), I sometimes find myself hesitating to go out on a rainy trail run and have to shake my head and think of what my mom would say…knowing that she, at age 85, still walks four miles a day–rain, snow, sleet, or shine–through the Illinois farm country where I grew up. Beyond the weather (and whatever level of Midwestern toughness I have lost!), we know that we and our children live in a world that is increasingly complex, constantly changing, and fraught with geopolitical conflict and other challenges.

At times that same trope of a “bubble” is applied to schools—especially but not exclusively to independent schools—with both positive and negative connotations. Every school certainly ought to be a nurturing, protective setting—and at the same time, schools are sometimes criticized as creating an idealized or even false environment that does not reflect how things actually work “out there” in the “real” world. It is such an interesting dichotomy, and

I find myself thinking about it in the context of Mark Day’s approach.

At Mark Day School, we hew to a different vision: school is not a bubble, but a lab. Both a bubble and a lab have elements of protection and a controlled environment—but a lab is designed to model elements of the real world. Mark Day, like a laboratory, is intentionally designed as a dynamic place of experimentation where teachers control for some variables to more effectively enable children to focus on their next challenge. It is in that zone of proximal development—just beyond their comfort zone—where the most productive learning awaits.

The dichotomy has another element as well: embracing the laboratory ethos means Mark Day students are not sheltered from real-world complexities but are actively engaged in navigating them; students are not passive observers, but rather active participants in their own learning. This philosophy is not new; indeed, educator John Dewey described the task this way in 1897: “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Or, alternatively, “I believe that education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” But while it is not a new philosophy, putting it into practice must be and is intentionally renewed and nurtured by our amazing teachers.

It is instructive to listen to our graduates reflect on how the mindsets they develop at Mark Day prepare them for their next steps. At a recent alumni panel, Pierce Freeman ‘10 said, “What I took away from here in terms of problem solving definitely shaped my ability to problem solve subsequently. It comes

down to a few different components. One is whenever you’re confronted with a barrier in front of you, Mark Day teaches you to bulldoze through that barrier as much as you possibly can, which builds individual grit, if you’re not going to give up at the immediate presentation of an obstacle in front of you. But number two, you also should know when to bring in other people to help you, because I don’t think there is any problem that is insurmountable, especially if you have a lot of really smart people tackling it alongside you. And I think that is in some ways contradictory, because you’re supposed to get other people to help you; should you do that immediately, or should you not? It’s kind of a manual heuristic that you have to use; and intuition just has to tell you when you’re probably not going to make any more progress on your own and you have to bring other people in. That kind of a collaborative work environment is something that is really critical and I would absolutely ascribe to developing here.”

We consistently review and improve our curriculum with an eye to making what is already strong, stronger. Several years ago, working from a “portrait of a Mark Day graduate” that the faculty developed and our ongoing research, we developed and refined a set of seven Metacognitive Skills—habits and

mindsets that serve students across all disciplines and that we prepare students to apply independently. Two in particular come to mind as examples of our commitment to the laboratory ethos; one is “Self-Understanding and Self-Direction.” Several of the learning outcomes include that a graduate is able to independently: Understand and articulate their own learning style, needs, personality, and temperament, Honestly assess their own strengths, challenges, successes and setbacks, Set and pursue short- and long-term goals, Show initiative, and Consult their internal compass to make decisions and navigate adversity.

Those skills reflect and translate to real-world learning. They help every student to not only navigate a complicated world, but to determine their own place in it, and where and how to act to shape their world and their approach to it.

The laboratory mindset instilled at Mark Day also empowers students to embrace the unknown, confront obstacles, and emerge stronger and more resilient. It is the safety of the laboratory that gives students the opportunity to make mistakes—which are, in the

“Mark Day, like a laboratory, is intentionally designed as a dynamic place of experimentation where teachers control for some variables to more effectively enable children to focus on their next challenge.

words of environmentalist and educator David Orr, “the portals of discovery.” The commitment to a growth mindset is wired into the school, brought to life by teachers and students each day. Below are several competencies that students construct in the category of a growth mindset. They…

See potential for growth in themselves and others

Believe effort will help them learn and grow

Seek and use feedback

Embrace challenge and are willing to stretch beyond comfort zone, and Learn from mistakes

Head of Grades 5-8 Dave Hickman talks about “necessary and productive mistakes” as crucial pieces of learning for every student. At Mark Day, teachers work alongside students not to solve problems for them, but rather to pursue a higher-level goal: to guide students to solve problems themselves so they build an essential toolkit to use beyond the classroom

walls and the boundaries of our campus. In that way, just as our alum articulated in reflecting on how they approach problem-solving, “challenge” and “support” are not in contrast, but rather two elements of the same overarching aim.

All of this intentional work is, indeed, to prepare students to face the challenges of the world in which they love. And it aims higher. Whether we are regularly examining components of our curricular program or developing new school initiatives, our goal is to prepare students to see opportunity in the complexity of our world, to build strong partnerships, and to lead. To that end, Mark Day serves not as a bubble, but as a microcosm of the real world—a laboratory where students are not shielded from complexity but equipped to navigate it with confidence and courage.

BACKSTAGE PASS

ROBIN HOOD & THE HEROES OF SHERWOOD FOREST - Photos by Jessica Lifland -

BEAUTY & THE BEAST, JR.

- Photos by Ethan Kaplan & Jessica Lifland -

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Have you ever wondered where your former classmates are in the world? Or what your Kindergarten buddy does for a living? We caught up with six alumni to talk about what they’ve been up to since they graduated Mark Day School years—and decades—ago.

“

Ever since my time at Mark Day, I have been interested in how the brain works...That preexisting interest in the mind coupled with the work I have done through my nonprofit has cultivated my interest in the neuroscience of addiction and related human behavior.

AVERY KALAFATAS CLASS OF 2019

In high school, while attending St. Paul’s School, I started Project 1 Life, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that educates teens and young adults about the dangers of the Fentanyl crisis and prescription drug abuse. We focus on spreading awareness about “fenta-pills”, Narcan, and FTS (fentanyl test strips) and giving young adults and teens megaphones of their own to spread the word in their communities.

I am currently on the pre-med track and a Neuroscience major at Dartmouth. I am specifically focusing on opioid addiction, its effects on brain structures, and neurology-based treatments.

Ever since my time at Mark Day, I have been interested in how the brain works. Even my 7th grade Science Fair Project, titled “Who’s Happy?” focused on psychology and varying factors correlating to well-being. That preexisting interest in the mind coupled with the work I have done through my nonprofit has cultivated my interest in the neuroscience of addiction and related human behavior.

Other fun facts about me: I blow hot glass, am a ski patroller, scuba dive, and teach a second-grade class once a week. I am also planning to get my EMT license next Winter!

ERNESTO GARCIA CLASS OF 2008

After graduating from Mark Day School in 2008, Marin Academy in 2012, and Skidmore College in 2016, my journey brought me back to Mark Day School, but this time in a different role– as a teacher. For two years as Mr. Orwig’s PE assistant, I helped teach the PE curriculum, substituted for Mrs. Sigler’s class, and most importantly, kept an eye out for walkers behind the tennis courts. Working with Mr. Orwig as his PE assistant held special meaning to me because, as a student at Mark Day, PE played a pivotal role in shaping my values of forward thinking, determination, and compassion.

My experiences at Mark Day, as both a student and a teacher, directly influenced my career path. After exploring my career options in high school and college, I pursued physical therapy and graduated from University of Washington, Seattle, with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2022. Now residing in the Pacific Northwest with my fiancé, Erica, and our dog, Lilo, we find joy in the region, albeit often missing the Marin sunshine. Currently I am practicing at an outpatient Physical Therapy clinic that specializes in chronic pain. With this focus we provide holistic treatment to our patients that considers not only the physical but also how trauma impacts the nervous system and can present as physical pain. This role challenges me daily, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to leverage my experiences from Mark Day School to guide others in their healing journey.

ALEX VARNER CLASS OF 1999

After Mark Day School, I went to Branson for high school where I ran cross country for four years and joined the newly-formed track team my senior year. While at Davidson College, in addition to being on the cross country and track teams, I spent my junior year abroad in France (Paris and then Tours), which was an incredible experience. I got to travel around Europe and Morocco as well. I finished up my senior year back on campus and graduated in 2007 with a degree in French.

After college, I moved to Washington, D.C. with my college roommate and found a job working as a paralegal at a big law firm. As it turned out, the group I supported spent most of its time doing due diligence on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which were one of the big causes of the financial crisis not long thereafter. Sitting at a table reading mortgage loans that Fannie Mae was buying from Citibank was a little surreal looking back on it. After a year in D.C., I moved to Berkeley, CA and found a job working in a small money management firm doing operations. I spent two years there and realized I wanted to be the person making the investment decisions, so I decided to go back to grad school and wound up at UNC Chapel Hill, where I earned my MBA with a concentration in investment management. I then returned to the Bay Area after interning and ultimately getting a full-time offer from my current firm, Main Management, a boutique money management firm in SF where I am the Director of Research and a member of our investment committee.

Outside of work, while I had been actively running and competing in races since college, I continued to run, inspired by my time at UNC. I ran the SF marathon which qualified me for Boston the following year. I was hooked, to say the least, and that led me to start experimenting with longer distances, like 50K and beyond. A few successful ultra races early on in my career enabled me to get a sponsorship with Nike for several years (while still working my day job). Their support allowed me to travel for races to

places like Chamonix and Annecy in France and Porto in Portugal. A big highlight for me was placing 7th at the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles from Palisades in Tahoe to Auburn) in 2014. Additionally, I competed as part of two U.S. national teams at the World Ultra Trail Championships in 2015 and 2016. I have stepped back from competitive running but still run regularly and also bike. This year will mark my 20th running of the Dipsea Race in Mill Valley, where I currently live. I have a 7-year-old daughter (Ava) and seeing her grow and explore the world is incredibly rewarding.

When I think back on my time at Mark Day, I remember how much the teachers cared for the students. It wasn’t quite as obvious to me then, but when I see how Ava’s teachers interact with her, I am reminded of things my own teachers did that made my experience at Mark Day so special. I particularly remember Mr. Orwig’s P.E. classes, which I loved and credit for starting me down my running path. I know my time at Mark Day really set me up well for what was to come and I am incredibly grateful for it.

EVA GEISSE CLASS OF 2009

After graduating from Mark Day School in 2009, Eva attended the Bay School of San Francisco and then Whitman College, where she earned a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies. For Eva, Mark Day was never far from her heart and mind. “My first year out of college, I worked as a naturalist at Walker Creek Ranch, where I went for outdoor ed in third grade at Mark Day!” she explains. She rejoined the Mark Day community as a faculty member in 2018, as the Science Support Specialist.

“I got to help develop and facilitate hands-on and inquiry-based science learning in grades K-8,” she says. After three years in that role, she decided to pursue graduate school full-time at the University of San Francisco. Eva graduated in spring 2023 with an M.A. in Teaching and a science teaching credential.

Eva is currently in her first year teaching 9th grade Environmental Science and 10th grade Biology at Gateway High School in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. She is also an advisor to a group of 9-12th graders. Eva lives in the Outer Richmond in San Francisco with her partner Rowan and dog Nora. In her free time, she loves exploring Golden Gate Park, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family—especially her baby nephew Rylynn.

In many ways, Eva credits her time at Mark Day—as a student and as a teacher—as having an influence on the course of her life. “My third grade teacher at Mark Day, Ms. Cooper, inspired me to want to become a teacher,” she explains. “I remember her warmth, energy, and contagious enthusiasm for learning new things, especially during our science projects.” Eva continues, “Mark Day has not only helped me grow into the person I am today, but also the educator I am today. Mark Day provided me with an environment where I could make mistakes and learn and grow as a student but also as an adult in my early years of teaching. Some of my K-8 teachers became my colleagues, mentors, and friends, and I cannot thank them enough for their love and support throughout the years.”

CHELSEA MOYLAN CLASS OF 2002

I am incredibly grateful for the foundation that I built with the support and guidance from Mark Day, both intellectually and socially. Since leaving Mark Day, there hasn’t been a year of my life where I don’t think back with appreciation for the teachers who shaped me, education that enriched me, and the friendships I developed and hold tight even now, 22 years later.

Since Mark Day, I’ve received Bachelor of Arts degrees from Villanova University in both Criminal Justice and Sociology. I volunteered at a maximum security prison—tutoring inmates in reading, math, etc—and traveled to Galway, Ireland for the best summer of my life, where I studied Film, Literature and Sociology and explored my family’s heritage. Those two highlights of my college career feel grounded in the engrained experiences I had at Mark Day, volunteering with marginalized

communities at Homeward Bound and having confidence to explore the world outdoors from my cherished memories of Outdoor Ed. I have to admit I follow along the Outdoor Ed trips on the school’s instagram page with jealously, wishing I, too, was in Coloma or Pinnacles again! I spent the summer after graduation assisting my professor with editing her book, Breaking Woman: Gender, Race, and the New Politics of Imprisonment. I continued my higher education at University of Pennsylvania, where I received a Masters of Science in Criminology.

While spending my days and nights deep in Supreme Court cases and taking extra credit courses on Sociology because my thirst for justice and learning felt insatiable, I also developed my creative side and realized my passion for fashion. I became drawn to the artistry of makeup and self expression that fashion awarded me and started my own business selling jewelry and clothing made by small, independent designers when I decided to move back to California. After hosting a pop-up shop in San Francisco for a week that allowed my online store to turn into a tangible experience, I knew I just had to open a physical storefront and that was the birth of ANOMIE (named after a theory of sociology theory I studied in school!) as we know it today. We’re coming up on our 10 year anniversary. After getting pregnant right before the start of COVID-19 lockdown, I now navigate life as an offsite manager of three employees and stay-at-home mom of two toddler girls, Josie (3.5) and Franny (1.5)!

My husband Ryan and I recently renovated a home in Novato, down the street from my childhood home, and am hoping to host a Class of 2002 reunion there this summer!

You can find me looking up the application deadline for Kindergarten admission at Mark Day, hoping my daughters can have the same foundational education and character building experiences that I am so grateful to have been awarded. Thank you, Mark Day!

LAURA NAVARRETE CLASS OF 1995

I always knew that I wanted to work with animals. Once I left Mark Day, I spent time in high school volunteering for my local zoo and regional parks. My junior year of high school, I had an amazing opportunity though a scholarship program that allowed me to work with the Earthwatch Program and I spent a few weeks trapping black bears in North Carolina. This solidified for me what I wanted my career to be and I switched from thinking I wanted to be a veterinarian to focusing on wildlife biology. I went to U.C. Davis for my undergraduate degree and while I was there, I helped the graduate students on their various projects (wood ducks, voles, fish). My freshman summer of college, I worked for the Student Conservation Association (SCA) which is a part of AmeriCorps. Through that program, I worked in Yellowstone National Park for the summer in resource management, managing visitors around bison and bears, spraying weeds, and even helping with some wildlife surveys. The summer of my senior year in college, I got a job with the Forest Service working with the Pacific Southwest Research Station trapping small mammals and that started my career working with the federal government. After a few years of seasonal work across multiple states trapping kangaroo rats, flying squirrels, and spotted owls, I went back to school to get my

Master’s of Wildlife Science from Texas Tech University looking at the impact of wind farms on Sandhill Crane habitat use in the High Plains of Texas. During that time, I continued to work for the Forest Service in New Mexico and when I graduated, I went to work as a district biologist for the Forest Service in Northeast Oregon. After spending eight years with the Forest Service, I switched agencies and now work as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service working on endangered species in my area like wolverine, wolves and whitebark pine.

My family and my career are the highlights of my life. I’ve always been driven to make a difference in the things that are important to me and being able to work for the conservation and recovery of amazing wildlife species is something I value every day. I have an amazing husband and two incredible children and watching them discover new things and being able to share this beautiful world with them is my joy.

I love being outdoors. I live in an area that is very undeveloped compared to other parts of the country and the opportunities for hiking, fishing, skiing and backpacking are plentiful. Some of my favorite things to do are to take my kids and go look for something that day (frogs, bumblebees, owls, whatever) or take my dog and see how many miles we can go in the backcountry before we’re exhausted.

The things I remember most about Mark Day were the things that happened outside the main classroom. I remember the library and Mrs. Forrester. I remember P.E. and feeling proud of running two miles. I remember music class and our performances (no big surprise since my dad was the music teacher). But overall I remember the friendships.

ALUMNI NEWS

Class of 1986

Dustin “Duffy” Ballard, along with long-time friend Dave Levine, are hosting Run TMC, a podcast dedicated to basketball, which they consider a profession, a passion, and a big part of their lives since they were kids in Marin. “We knew there was at least some market, which was a very nostalgic market, as the people who grew up playing basketball in the county were sort of a nostalgic generation,” Ballard says. “We had enough friends and knew enough people in the community who were coaching. Otherwise we just like to tell stories about playing basketball, whether on the outside courts, or great high school memories from games or tournaments.” The podcast title “Run TMC” is a nod to the great Golden State Warriors teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s which featured Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. For Ballard and Levine, Run TMC stands for Run The Marin County, and they’ve mined some of the great basketball coaching and playing talents for interviews.

Class of 1989

Alumna and current parent Window Snyder has been a trailblazer in cybersecurity for over 25 years. She was recently featured in TechCrunch after receiving an alumni award from her high school, Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford, CT. Snyder was part of a group of people who pushed Microsoft in the early days of the mainstream internet to finally take cybersecurity seriously. “People don’t realize that Window is responsible for starting so many positive security improvements at major corporations that blazed a trail for other corporations to follow in their footsteps,” says Katie Moussouris, CEO and founder of Luta Security. “It’s not just her work at Microsoft, it’s that she basically revolutionized security for the entire internet with her work there. She is

more responsible for more technical and social changes inside of software companies than anybody else I know.”

Class of 2001

Jessica Ngo M. Ed. joined the Mark Day School Board of Trustees as the alumni trustee this year. Jessica attended UCLA (BS Economics) and University of Illinois (Masters of Education, Diversity and Equity in Education). Jessica lives in Los Angeles and is the Director of Elementary Admission at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences.

Class of 2004

Class of 2002

Sarah (Lopez) Catalano and her husband Tyler welcomed Cassius Catalano May 21, 2023.

Elizabeth Kamai MSPH, Ph.D. is an environmental epidemiologist with expertise in environmental toxics, health outcomes during pregnancy and childhood, exposure assessment, GIS, community engaged research, and environmental justice. Her current research projects focus on how environmental pollutants affect the health of vulnerable and marginalized populations and she aims to link rigorous scientific research to policies that support marginalized communities and address environmental injustice. The first paper from her dissertation research was among those selected for EHP’s 2022 Editors’ Choice Curated Collection.

Eric Lee is a practicing attorney and argued an immigration case before the Supreme Court in April. He is grateful for the excellent education he received at Mark Day.

Class of 2008

Crisa Salarpi Cushing married Patrick Cushing on October 27, 2023. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Class of 2012

Water polo domination continues for Dylan Woodhead and Quinn Woodhead (class of 2014). Dylan is currently playing professional water polo in Vouliagmeni, Greece, and Quinn is playing for a team in Palermo, Sicily. Dylan was named to the U.S. Water Polo team, and Quinn was named alternate for the men’s tournament of water polo at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. The tournament took place between October 30 and November 4 at the Aquatic Center in Santiago. Team USA qualified directly for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

Class of 2014

Taylor Powers will be attending graduate school at Vanderbilt University in the fall of 2024 for her nurse practitioner degree.

Class of 2016

Katherine Gutierrez will graduate from The University of Tampa in May with a degree in Marine Science-Biology and minors in Dance and Sociology. At Tampa, she helped build a vibrant community by co-founding the school’s first Asian and Pacific Islander Association. After graduation, Katherine (pictured with Patriot the Bald Eagle) will move to St. Louis where she will work at the World Bird Sanctuary, continuing her education in animal husbandry and educating the public in their Nature Center.

Grant McKechnie graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) with a major in Electrical Engineering in the fall of 2023 and is currently in his first semester of his MS program as a research assistant at UIUC. He is working on research with MIT Lincoln Lab on developing and simulating optimized control systems for microgrids, which are their own self sufficient electric power grids that can connect and disconnect from larger grids. The control systems that they design ensure that the microgrids offer constant reliable (and often green) power to all loads on the microgrid and help regulate the overall electric grid to prevent outages. He says, “I believe in microgrids and their ability to reliably integrate green energy into the overall power grid and I am certain that they will be essential for the green electric energy revolution. My MS thesis will most likely be on optimized control or topics within fault detection and control of parallel converter topographies.” This summer he will be interning at Lucid motors on their Battery Management Systems team where he will be designing circuits and writing code to maximize the miles per charge of their electric vehicles. He adds, “I really appreciate the passion in STEM that Mark Day School cultivated and I am certain that I would not be where I am if it wasn’t for the amazing teachers and friends that I met at Mark Day!”

Kaisa Lee and Lily Cummings had lunch together as part of our Alumni Dining Out program.

Lilah Popell is a senior at Wesleyan University and will graduate this May.

I’m a theatre and psychology double major and am currently working on writing my senior thesis paper on the psychological benefits of theatre-making.

Class of 2017

Veronica Birnberg, Lauryn Cummins, and Mark Cummins pictured in Portugal together studying in Europe for the fall semester of their junior year.

Class of 2018

Moss Will Fallat recently appeared in College of Marin’s “Much Ado About Nothing” ensemble along with Thomas Peterson (class of 2012) who was cast as Don Pedro.

Class of 2021

Indigo Prasad illustrated the second book written by former Mark Day math teacher Norm Lyons, Mind-Stretching Adventures of Anna Lize and Saul Van Chek, published in February. Both books are on Amazon.

Class of 2022

Hudson Blechman is one of three co-founders of an app that won the Impact App Challenge at The Branson School this school year. His team’s app offers youths who want to volunteer at local nonprofits an inventory of available spots and a place to sign up and confirm hours. The contest was sponsored by Impactree Foundation, a San Rafael nonprofit founded by alum parent Ken Kutzig.

Faculty and Staff

Max Billington, Hudson Blechman, and Khema Klinetobe are pictured on a spring break trip with their high school to Singapore and Malaysia in March 2024.

friends were made and a love of learning established.

Mike’s education continued to Saint Ignatius High School in San Francisco. During the summer of 2015 between his Sophomore and Junior years at University of Oregon, Mike became ill with necrotizing pneumococcal pneumonia, sepsis, and a staph infection in his lungs. The Lung Transplant team at UCSF worked tirelessly saving his life with a double lung transplant in August. The following eight plus years of life were filled by University of Oregon graduation with a degree in Journalism, employment in San Francisco with marketing and public relations firms, and participation in city life. Enjoying music concerts up and down the West Coast, passionately rooting for the Giants, Warriors and 49ers, with a wide group of friends plus traveling to Lake Tahoe and Hawaii brought Mike the most joy.

Michael is survived by his mother, Karen Everest Mason, who lives in Truckee, California and Kona, Hawaii. His final wish to all that he knew was “make sure my mom has a beautiful life.” Karen would like to thank the community of Mark Day School for their emotional support during Mike’s lung transplant journey.

Former art teacher and master quilter Patricia Bruvry was recently featured in the Marin IJ after designing and presenting a quilt to astronaut Leroy Chiao (uncle to Natalie ‘00 and Julia ‘08 Smith).

In Memoriam

Michael Christopher Mason ‘09 (aka Mike, Mikey) passed away on January 19, 2024 from Acute Organ Rejection at UCSF after a long hospital stay. When he was a student at Mark Day School, Mike enjoyed playing sports, long field trips, and wonderful teachers. Lifelong

CLASS OF 2024

HIGH SCHOOL MATRICULATION

The Branson School (12)

Marin Academy (7)

Marin Catholic (4)

San Domenico (8)

Sonoma Academy (4)

San Francisco University

High School (1)

Urban School of San Francisco (1)

Cate School (1)

Thacher (1)

Convent (1)

Nueva School (1)

Marin School of the Arts (2)

Marin School of Environmental Leadership (1)

Novato Medical Careers

Pathway (1)

Redwood (5)

Archie Williams (2)

Tamalpais High (1)

Castro Valley High (1)

Terra Linda High (2)