Support Us

You can share in our commitment to provide classrooms, outdoor classrooms, and community spaces designed to be learning environments where children and their families feel free to be themselves, to make choices, to try new ideas and to delight in their discoveries and abilities. Our school budget is funded through tuition, fundraisers, grants and donations. It covers salaries, supplies, continuing education for our teaching staff and capital improvements to our facility and play yards.

In addition, your donation will help us to offer scholarships to families in need. Every attempt is made to keep tuition as affordable as possible. Scholarships are available if needed.

St. Mark’s Nursery School and Kindergarten is a not-for-profit ministry of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church and is a tax-exempt charity (tax ID number 35-1066653). Contributions are tax deductible.

Or consider leaving a Legacy Gift. You can name St. Mark’s Nursery School and Kindergarten as a beneficiary of your IRA or 401(k). Or you can help sustain and grow our work by naming us in your will or trust. Recommended language is: "I give _______ (residue, percentage, or specific amount) to St. Mark’s Nursery School and Kindergarten, a nonprofit organization with its office located at 100 North Highway 46 Bypass, Bloomington, Indiana 47408." And please let us know if you make arrangements for a legacy gift. Every such gift encourages others to give, and we would also like to be able to thank you for your generosity.

  

The Mary Jane Van Hook
Scholarship Fund

Mary Jane joined the staff of St. Mark's Nursery School in 1971, and discovered her passion for working with young children.

Under her tenure as director the program blossomed.

Like Fred Rogers and Bev Boss, she was a fierce believer in advocating for child-centered programming and was an early supporter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In 1990 the school became NAEYC accredited, which it remains today. Her strong belief in supporting the youngest in our community led to the creation of many events such as Getting Ready for Christmas, Young at Art, BubbleFest, and Science Alive. She also inspired and collaborated with others on the development of an early childhood area for WonderLab.

Mary Jane facilitated many lab schools, parent outreach programs, and taught early childhood students at Indiana University.  But she would say her greatest achievement was getting to watch so many children grow and discover the world.

Making St. Mark’s Nursery School and Kindergarten available to all was of the upmost importance to Mary Jane. To support this vision, she created the scholarship fund, which was renamed in her honor upon her death in 2018.