[Mark] was a teacher, a father figure, a mentor and an advocate for my education.
404.664.4340
I can remember leaving his office thinking he was completely out of his mind. But today, a thank you could not be enough. Alexia was sought after by some of the top boarding schools in the country.
Mark Stucker was born in Toronto to a family of educators. His grandparents and great-grandparents having been teachers, his father earned a living as a chemistry teacher and assistant high school principal, while his mother was an elementary school teacher.
His bachelor’s degree is from Michigan State University in social and organizational psychology and communications, and while he studied at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, he obtained a master’s in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Mark did christian ministry from 1987-1995 and started working in college admissions at the Philips School in Dallas in 1993.
Mark enrolled his oldest child in independent school in 1999 and since then, made it his mission to change some of the misconceptions about boarding school in the minds of other parents.
He met parents who said “Nope, no way, not for us,” when boarding school was mentioned as an alternative, but eventually saw their child thriving in the very same environment after their reservations melted away.
Mark noticed things that vaulted parents over the barriers of their preconceived notions:
- The family met boarding school parents and teens who impressed them with their self-confidence, their global perspective on life, their communication skills, their maturity, their relationships and their stories.
- They received satisfying answers to their questions about things like safety, how and when they’d be able to talk to their child, and what the daily structure was like.
- Finally, they visited a school and they were blown away by the love, dedication and expertise of the faculty. They could see that the teachers genuinely cared for and supported the students in their development.
- They were equally impressed with the happiness and maturity of the students and the resources, facilities and opportunities that they wouldn’t get at home.
During the visit, they’d know the school was exactly where their child needed to be and were filled with excitement about the resources, and acquired peace of mind that boarding school could be a real possibility—that they could send their child off, and things would work, and it would be fantastic.
For School Match 4U, there is nothing like the feeling of helping a family create the best plan for their kid’s success, then seeing them be excited about it.
Mark’s journey took him to Westtown School, between 2001-2009, where he started as Director of Annual Giving, breaking the school record and being promoted to Director of Multicultural Recruitment and Associate Director of Admissions.
In 2009, Mark moved to Atlanta and accepted a position as Director of High School Placement at KIPP South Fulton Academy, where a number of parents whose children he had guided in the placement process impressed upon him that Atlanta needed someone of his caliber to help others outside the KIPP community. Mark then started School Match 4U, doing educational consulting for families in Metro Atlanta and around the country and around the world.
In 2014, he launched the Game Changer college admissions video series and the Game Changer workbook, and in 2015, Mark Stucker was promoted to handle boarding school placement for all four KIPP middle schools in Metro Atlanta.
He is currently creating a boarding school documentary called, “A Secret World: What Life is Really Like at Boarding School.”
Questions about our services, our team or our availability for speaking engagements? Feel free to contact him here.