St. Mary’s Episcopal School is a non-profit, co-educational day school. The school is open 180 days for Multiage 1-4, 37 partial days for Two Year Olds, 106 half days for Three Year Olds, and 180 half days for Four Year Olds . We are closed for 12 major holidays and 12 days during the school year for vacation, parent conferences and staff training.

St. Mary’s is in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia and is governed by St. Mary’s Rector and Vestry. The Principal carries out the day-to-day operations of the school. During the 2001-2002 school year a school advisory council (SAC) was created. Its mission is to assist the administration in program planning and operational policy development. A 12-member school board assists with legal, financial, policy and marketing responsibilities.

Cities Served: DuPont, Fircrest, Gig Harbor, Lacey, Lakewood, Olympia, Puyallup, Spanaway, Steilacoom, Tacoma, Tumwater, University Place

School Districts We Serve: Clover Park, Fife, Franklin Pierce, North Thurston, Olympia, Peninsula, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Tacoma, Tumwater, University Place

Military Bases We Serve: Ft. Lewis Army Base, McChord Air Force Base

 Family Handbook

The school will provide you with a comprehensive handbook that is updated annually. It will give you detailed information about the polices, rules and responsibilities, enrichment opportunities, expected behavior, discipline policy, fund raising, school reports, parent involvement opportunities, curriculum, health policies, special events, emergency procedures, and current information.

Annual Goals

These goals are established by the members of the staff and approved by the School Board.  Our goals are based on the results of our annual survey, progress made on the previous year’s goals, available financial resources, current research on best educational practices, the Washington State Benchmarks and Expected Learnings documents, as well as informal input from students, parents and church members.  We also consider the feedback we receive on how prepared our students are for their next school experience.

Some goals are ongoing and carried over from previous years.  These goals deal with areas that are designated as areas where we want to continue to focus our energy and resources.

1. To continue to strengthen the linkage with all church programs, including Sunday School, the MOPS program, Vacation Bible School, music ministry, youth ministries and the church’s outreach programs, in order to assist all families as they work to develop a strong Christian foundation for all children attending St. Mary’s

2. To continue to develop our marketing plan using a variety of sources to include: our web site, the reader board, tours, local papers, the military base education officers, telephone directory, State and Government Agencies, other Episcopal Churches, former and current family members, church members, Chamber of Commerce, Vestry and School Board members. Our plan is to use any available resources within our financial means in order to insure our classes are filled to capacity.

3. To continue to work with all members of the St. Mary’s community to increase our endowment and scholarship funds, in order to insure that the school is able to serve all children who come seeking a Christian based educational experience.

4. To maintain and improve a cost effective before and after school program to meet the custodial needs of families.

5. To continue to assess and refine all areas of our curriculum in order to insure the appropriate linkage between levels and to insure alignment with the most current State Essential Learning Requirements, the newly developed Washington State Early Learning Requirements and Developmental Benchmarks for birth to kindergarten Entry and current trends in education that will strengthen our program.

6. To work to develop a staff training and benefit package that will insure low staff turnover and the opportunity for increasing the skill level of all our employees. This will include providing the mandatory First Aid training and employee awareness class required by our revised insurance plan.

7. To work to strength the roles and coordinate responsibilities between the members of the School Board and the Vestry in order to further clarify the working relationship between these groups.