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mINuTes FROm sOmeWheRe eLse

At 60, St. Mark’s Nursery School has become a township tradition

By roB Anthes the fourth generation to be involved with sees every day, and gives a realistic picture
ranthes@mercerspace.com the school. In one recent year, nine of the of what a child’s strengths and needs are.
students were children of graduates. The school also has an open door policy,
Last month, I walked through the And they all made the same paper pump- meaning that families can visit the class-
doors of St. Mark’s Chruch on Paxson kins and the same handprint plates I and room whenever they’d like. Sullivan said
Avenue, and straight back to 1990. other graduates did. While instruction has there are very few problems when parent-
I hadn’t been inside the building since transitioned to adapt to the times, very little teacher conferences come around—a rar-
June of that year—when I graduated from else has changed since the school moved ity today.
St. Mark’s Cooperative Nursery School— into the St. Mark’s building in the 1970s. Another rarity at St. Mark’s is that
but everything seemed as it was then. (The school started in 1956 at Union Meth- every teacher is certified, with degrees
The same risers in the auditorium, the odist Church on Quakerbridge Road. A gas in elementary education and a specialty
same bright-colored classrooms, the same explosion in 1970 leveled the church, but in early childhood. The staff uses their
building blocks and wooden chairs and miraculously injured no one. Union Meth- training to focus on more than fact-based
little boxes of apple juice. I wasn’t wearing odist and Hamilton Square Methodist later instruction. Children will develop their
Ghostbusters sweatpants and white Stride- merged to form St. Mark’s.) motor skills, learn colors—in English and
Rite sneakers, but I might as well have. Sullivan said the school and its staff are Spanish—and complete the typical pre-K
Angela Dixon, who teaches the 2 and like a family, and like many families, St. academics. But, the goal, Sullivan said, is
3-year olds, noticed me flailing in my time Mark’s Nursery School takes its traditions to help every child become the best per-
warp, and smiled. She, too, is a gradu- seriously. Some are fun, like the annual son he or she can be. This means devel-
ate of the program—Class of 1966—and cookbook where the recipes for students’ oping social skills, confidence, self-aware-
knows the look. It’s common. favorite foods run alongside the children’s Jen Latini and Janet Sullivan stand ness. The timid students at the beginning
The nursery school, whose 60th descriptions on how to make them. But oth- with Adeline Ngo and Owen Ngo of the year are the ones who are the stars
year just ended, has become a mainstay ers, like the cooperative nature of instruc- at St. Mark Cooperative Nursery of the June graduation concert.
because of this consistency. School direc- tion, are essential to the fabric of the school. School’s graduation in June. As every parent knows, there are a lot of
tor Janet Sullivan has been there for the St. Mark’s is the last cooperative school choices in early childhood education today.
last 40 years. Her son went through the in the Trenton region, a point of pride for Day care and preschool franchises dot our
school, as have her grandchildren. Dixon the staff. At a cooperative school, each fam- cal as they are practical. It means an extra highways now. St. Mark’s—a Hamilton tra-
has taught there for 20 years. Jen Latini, ily helps in the classroom one day every pair of hands helping the teacher, but it also dition—is not like them. But, in a world of
who teaches 4-year olds, sent all three two months or so. (Not every child has a gives family members an opportunity to see rapid change, that’s not a bad thing.
of her children to St. Mark’s. The great- family member who can do this, and there their children in the classroom and interact- For more information about St. Mark’s
granddaughter of school founder Doro- is a non-cooperative option for enrollment.) ing with other children. This provides the Cooperative Nursery School, call (609)
thy Hutton will be attending this year— The benefits of a co-op are as philosophi- family the chance to see what the teacher 586-0030.

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August 2017 | Hamilton Post49