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The St. Mark Community Education Program improves the quality of individual lives and the community through English, literacy, and citizenship programs.

Lack of literacy, low English language skills, and limited access to US citizenship impede many residents' access to jobs, education and other ways to improve their lives. We have a vision of residents of the St. Marks Area participating fully in US society, creating a viable and stable community. We believe that we should have mutual respect and compassion for one another. Members of our community will grow in self-esteem and confidence as they gain new language skills, cultural knowledge, and US citizenship.

Description:
We are a community-based organization in the St. Marks area of Dorchester. We provide several levels of evening and weekend English classes. We also have a citizenship assistance program, helping clients apply for US citizenship as well as helping them prepare to pass the citizenship interview.

History:
Since 1993, St. Mark Parish has been running a volunteer-led ESOL class for mostly Vietnamese students on Sunday mornings. In 2001, the parish started a citizenship campaign, helping about 40 applicants gain US citizenship. The leaders realized that one of the biggest barriers to citizenship was low levels of English. In 2002, the group applied to English for New Bostonians for funding to expand the ESOL classes. Classes were added on Monday and Wednesday night, and the student population expanded from primarily Vietnamese to include also Cape Verdean and Haitian learners. Since then, the program has continued to expand, adding more night and weekend classes as well as an English for citizenship class. There are now about 100 students taking English classes each year. The citizenship program assists two rounds of 20-30 applicants a year to apply for citizenship and prepare to pass the citizenship interview. in 2005, the organization incorporated as a non-profit, although it still maintains close ties to St. Mark Church. There are now 11 board members, an executive director, 4 part-time teachers, and over 25 volunteers helping run the program.

Contact person: Cat Howell, Executive Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (617) 825-0514

Address:

20 Roseland Street Dorchester, MA 02124 (See a map)

Directions:

We are located on Dorchester Avenue between Fields Corner and Ashmont. On the T, take the Red line to the Shawmut T stop. Exit the station and walk to Center Street. Jog left onto Samoset street, which runs behind St. Mark School. Walk through the parking lot and past the school, and you will see the back of the church. The Rectory is to the right of the church.   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: Shawmut,   Walk distance (in minutes): 2   Nearest Bus Stop: 18, 1 minute walk For maps or information, please see http://www.mbta.com