St. Mark's Campus - Episcopal School of Jacksonville

🦕 Tiny explorers. Big discoveries.

Campers spent the morning getting up close with some fascinating friends during Dinosaur Discovery Week! Thanks to Sabrina from Clark’s Critters, our young adventurers had the chance to meet a box turtle, snakes, and a skink while learning about the amazing world of reptiles.

It’s safe to say curiosity was on full display! 🐢🐍🦎

As we reflect on another wonderful school year, we’re celebrating our fifth grade students and all they accomplished during their time in Lower School.

On May 21, fifth grade students gathered at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for a meaningful celebration marking the completion of their Lower School journey. Each student was recognized with a Certificate of Achievement honoring their hard work, growth, and dedication.

Congratulations to our award recipients!

🦅 Board of Regents Award: Asher Fanning
📘 Academic Achievement: Nealie Close
🏅 Athletic Achievement: Lauren Stroud
🎨 Fine Arts Achievement: Mason Smith
💙 Faith, Character, Culture: Henry Lewis

Camp Create campers enjoyed a very special visitor today, “Captain Character!” They loved his animated puppet show, along with ride-on dinosaurs 🦖🐅🦕

Camp Create is off to a great start! 💫🏰🦸The first theme, “Fairy Tales and Castles,” included meeting Elsa and Spider-man look-alikes in costume. Campers also enjoyed rhythmic music classes, water play, story time, Soccer Shots, imaginative play, and STEM/STEAM activities. Stay tuned for upcoming themes like Dinosaur Discovery, Ocean Adventures, and Super Hero Training!

Congratulations to Jessica Michaud, recipient of this year’s Nancy Wood Award for Excellence in Teaching on the St. Mark’s Campus! Mrs. Michaud received the award this morning at the end of year faculty and staff Chapel and awards assembly. “In a profession that demands so much, she demonstrates daily what it looks like to truly teach — not just deliver content, but inspire students to love learning. Her classroom is a place where curiosity is cultivated, effort is valued, and each child is seen,” said Beville Anderson, Head of Lower School, St. Mark’s Campus.

Please join us in welcoming these newest Eagles to the nest!

Special thanks to all our wonderful parent ambassadors (two pictured in Thelma’s photo) for helping us welcome these and all of our sweet families to ESJ! We appreciate all you do to make them feel at home!

It’s safe to say these students had an absolute blast splashing into summer today!

Fifth grade students celebrated the culmination of their poetry unit with a “Poetry Café” today, complete with tea, sweet treats, and an encouraging audience of peers. After reading “Love That Dog” by Sharon Creech, students explored how poetry can help writers discover their own voice. The novel, written entirely in verse, follows a reluctant young writer who slowly gains confidence as he responds to and experiments with poems by well-known poets woven throughout the story. During the café, each student shared an original piece aloud, inspired by the book, marking not only the end of the unit, but the growth of thoughtful, expressive young writers.

What a way to kick off the last week of school! The St. Mark’s Campus has officially turned into a petting zoo! Pre-primary students spent the morning meeting one-week-old goats, chickens, ducks, and bunnies, while first grade students proudly watched Bun Bun, Ms. Fackler’s bunny, hop through the play structures they designed just for him. Meanwhile, the science classroom is full of happy chirps as baby chicks, hatched just last week, continue to grow!

From hands-on learning to plenty of smiles, this has been the sweetest start to the final week of school. 🐐🐥🐰

As if the last week of school is not exciting and fun on its own, Pre-primary students, faculty, and staff were surprised with a petting zoo to start their week! Animals will be back on campus tomorrow as older students participate in Field Day!