St Mark Children’s Day Out

The staff here is so loving and caring. Henry treat your child as an individual and you as a parent with the most loving nature. I feel completely comfortable leaving my babies in their care!

We are were new to austin and were looking for something to allow my son to have some social interaction while mommy got a break. This place is absolutely amazing. It is clean and classes were comfy. The teachers are extremely nice and always have plenty of things for the kids to do which are fun but also educational. Music was my sons favorite part and he still talks about Mr. Shane on a daily basis. They also have special classes after school was over such as music, Spanish, and cooking. Pizza day was also an option my son doesn’t like pizza though.
We started out in the twos and moved to threes when space was available. I have to say both classes were great with my little man. He always came home with projects he made and for Christmas we got fabulous home made gifts as well as most other holidays I love my Mother’s Day gift. I will cherish them forever.
Ms. Maggie and ms. Ashely were wonderful! I am going to miss them terribly since we are moving out of state. They made picking up my son each day and enjoyable experience always telling me what he had accomplished and what he enjoyed. He sings songs, has his colors down, counts, abcs are great, tells me about things that I don’t remember discussing with him. I would recommend this school to anyone.
Debra and her assistant know everyone by name parents and siblings alike. They say hello everyday and make you feel like you are apart of a family. The Christmas program was wonderful and having a smaller place to have pictures taken with Santa was a huge plus and we were able to purchase pictures from a professional photographer.
They are moving to a brand new school with an incredible playground. Again sad we are going to miss out. If you were on the fence about this place go check it out you won’t be disappointed! Also has a summer program:) I don’t attend the church for anything other than the school program and you would never know it. Treated just like everyone else!
Thank you CDO I am very grateful I found you!!!

I love, love St. Mark’s! This was the first daycare my daughter attended. The first couple of days she didn’t want me to leave her but now she cannot wait to go! She sometimes doesn’t even say bye to me in the morning. She is off doing all the fun things they have planned for the day. The staff is great and Debra and the teachers keep everyone informed of events, weekly plans and updates. I would highly recommend this preschool/​daycare!

This is my son’s second year at St. Mark’s. I toured another daycare before choosing St. Mark’s, but I felt there was no comparison. The classrooms are cozy, bright and cheerful. Not at all «institutional,» as I saw at the other daycare. The building is old, but renovations are scheduled for the near future.
The director, Debra, and all the staff are warm, patient, caring, and experienced. My son had some anxiety at first, and his wonderful teacher was great at distracting him at dropoff time and helping him make that transition. Now he absolutely LOVES going to school each morning. As soon as he walks in, he is welcomed by his teacher and classmates, and he gets started with one of the educational yet fun activities that are set up around the classroom.
The children get plenty of fresh air every day, with lots of outdoor play on the playground. There is a music teacher who comes once a week, and there are occasional field trips that parents are welcome to chaperone. My son has learned so much! I can’t wait to send my daughter here next fall. I truly couldn’t ask for a better start to my son’s educational experience and we feel so lucky that we stumbled across this school.
School hours are 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Kids can attend all four days, or as little as one day a week. The school year runs September through May, and there is also a summer session in July and August.

I feel a little like I won the lottery when I found this mother’s day out program. Debra runs the program and is a young mom’s dream come true — she has raised three boys of her own and understands what it is to be a mother and an educator. The teachers have been a part of St. Mark’s MDO for long stretches of time, the turn over is very low. I love that they concentrate on several letter and numbers along with a subject (bugs, farms, seasons, etc) each month.
The kids are all so happy whenever I visit and I think that is a testament to the attention paid to each of them. The facility is older but it is very well maintained, always clean. Whenever I drop my little guy off, they always have some sort of fun activity to help make the transition easier — shaving cream with little animals on the table, sensory boxes, matching games, painting — he LOVES being dropped off.
The pricing is very fair and my favorite part is that they are very flexible. My little guy still naps from 1 – 4 so I pick him up early and take him home to nap. The hours are normally from 9 – 2 with nap time starting at 12:30. Currently they offer Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday slots but they are expanding for the summer and fall.
If you are very lucky, maybe you can get on the wait list so your little one can experience such high quality child care!

I got lucky in my search for a Moms day out program. I stumbled across St Marks CDO on an internet search and it was the first and last program I toured. I have a degree in early childhood education so I had high expectations of what I wanted for my daughter. I knew the second I met Ms Debrah, the director, that I would love it here. I was ready to sign up. The second my daughter turned 18 months she was enrolled. Fall 2010
This was my daughters first time being away from mom. Her teachers helped with this difficult transition gracefully. My daughter has formed a wonderful bond with her teachers and other classmates. I love the small class size and the highly skilled teachers. L is always smiling and happy when I pick her up. I am looking forward to the day when I can enroll my 11 month old.

My son has been attending St. Mark’s CDO since the June of 2009 and we absolutely love it.
The staff is wonderful with the children; they truly love what they do and they’re great at it. It is a small school which allows for parents, teachers and students to get to know each other as the year progresses.
All the activities the children participate in are fun and engaging for their age. My little guy has learned so much since he’s been there.
I was very anxious about child care in the beginning but once we arrived at St. Mark’s, I knew we had found the right place for us. Everyone there knows us by name and we are always received warmly. It’s a safe, loving environment fit for learning and growing.
Highly recommended!

My son recently started at St. Mark’s. We searched high and low and were granted spots at some other MDO/​CDO programs in town but none of them felt right. One big issue for me was that at other programs the ratio was something like 1 teacher to 16 kids. Also, I wanted a program where I could be involved. St. Marks solved both those issues for us. My son is one of 6 children in his classroom and the director feels that the ratio should be based on the children and the teacher, not on guidelines written by an agency. Also, I have the opportunity to volunteer at his school, serve on the board, and attend field trips. I feel like I can be as involved, or uninvolved, as I want.
The staff is wonderful. They have been a part of the program for sometime and many of the have their children attending as well… same goes for the director. Also, this is one of the few programs that runs year round AND they do field trips! My son went to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm and had a blast.
I highly encourage you to tour the school and talk to the director. You will be happy you did!

This is a wonderful preschool /​mother’s day out program. Both of my children (ages 3 and 5) started here at age 18 months. The teachers are wonderful and caring (most are mothers of children attending the program) and the curriculum is fun and engaging.
The class size is small so each child gets the attention you would want them to have. Every time I dropped off my kids, they were each lovingly welcomed by their teacher. I always left feeling my kids were going to safe and that they were going to have fun. When I picked them up, this was always the case.
The building is old but there are plans for improvements and upgrades. Please don’t discount this program because of the site or location. It is a wonderful place for your children.
We have since moved out of Austin and use our experience with St. Mark’s as a standard while looking for a new preschool.