Rowland Hall St Mark’s School

Our family moved to Salt Lake from NJ 6 years ago. As we have lived in numerous places my top priority was looking into schools for my three boys. After looking at
and reviewing websites and reviews our family narrowed it down to two schools, McGillis and Rowland Hall. As we were accepted at both schools we had a decision to make as a family, but honestly there was no decision.
From the first moment we stepped foot in Rowland Hall we knew we were home. You knew you were in a special place immediately. Each and every staff member we came across truly loved the school and were excited at the prospect of us becoming part of the Rowland Hall family. There was no entitlement whatsoever. In fact instead of the school making us feel as if they were doing us a favor to consider accepting our children, they made us feel like we were doing them a favor considering Rowland Hall for our children’s education. The Beginning School Principal even came in on Sunday to interview my one son to accommodate our travel plans.
Once we were accepted I noticed all the little things that Rowland Hall did as a private school which were quite unique in relation to the other private schools we attended in Greenwich, CT and Tokyo. First was the faculty which I personally feel is Rowland Hall’s greatest asset. Each and every teacher genuinely cares for each and every child. My son’s second grade teacher gave me an update every week for the first two months of school. The teachers at Rowland Hall understand that each child is unique and they teach to the individual needs of each student. I was blown away by the integration of technology in the classrooms starting in second grade. Besides learning in the classroom I felt the value system of the school meshed well with our family’s values … Loyalty, respect, etc. Everything we were teaching at home was reinforced in the school environment. The small class sizes have always been appealing to me as has been the accessibility to anyone in Rowland Hall’s faculty and staff.
Rowland Hall was definitely the best part of moving to Salt Lake for our family and I feel so blessed that my children are able to receive such a top notch education in such a nurturing environment.

I was a public school kid, as was my husband, as were my kids, at least until circumstances took them away from their big public high school in the Chicago suburbs. I looked at the SLC public high schools (and appreciated the choice of different ones even though it was really confusing) but a class size of 37 kids? I don’t think so. What a shock to learn that Utah has a lower per capita spending than Missisippi. WTF?
So after ruling out most of the private schools for religious/​uniform reasons (my daughter refused to consider wearing one), we settled on Rowland Hall. The class sizes are closer to 20, the teachers really care, and the kids are not as wealthy and stuck-​up as she feared. She misses the racial and economic diversity of her old school, but she admits that the education she is getting at RoHo is much better.
She’s had some catching up to do academically, but the teachers have been really helpful with that. She enjoys the dance, band and choir programs, and she even attended the winter formal. If you ask her, she’ll tell you the school is «ratched,» but deep down I think she likes it there.