Directory

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Kirkpatrick Arbogast serves as the school chaplain here. Arbogast, formerly a vice-president with Goldman Sachs, joined the Peace Corps to teach at the Institut National d’Économie, (I.N.E.) Université Nationale du Bénin in the République du Bénin. First a Jesuit and now an Episcopal priest, Arbogast’s taught everyone from pre-school children to retired adults: with the Groton School, Trinity School (NYC) and the National Cathedral School as well as with several Jesuit schools, including Georgetown Prep, Fordham Prep and the Loyola-Blakefield School. He’s also served in parishes such as Trinity Church Wall Street and St. Paul’s Chapel at Ground Zero. His research interests have long been to understand the relationship between religion and education with a focus on spiritual and ethical formation. He holds degrees from Yale, Harvard and the Perkins School of Theology (Southern Methodist University).

With more than 30 years experience as an educator, John Ashton serves the School as associate headmaster, a position to which he was appointed in 2015. He has held additional administrative and teaching positions at St. Mark’s (assistant head of Upper School, Wilderness director), Hockaday (head of Upper School) and various public schools in his home state of Indiana. Ashton first joined the St. Mark’s faculty as a member of the English Department in 1996, teaching sixth grade humanities, coaching three sports, serving as a trip leader in the Wilderness Program and managing student attendance. As the first director of the School’s Leadership & Ethics program, he played a crucial role in forming the foundation of the character education program here. He has also served as interim head of Upper School for two years.

A 1995 graduate of St. Mark’s, William Atkinson ’95 joined the faculty as a Humanities teacher before being appointed Head of Upper School. A participant in the Pecos Wilderness program, he is also an assistant varsity football football coach and assists with assorted Middle School sports. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Methodist University. After graduating from St. Mark’s, Atkinson attended West Point for two years before pursuing a career in law enforcement, teaching situational awareness to elite military personnel around the world. An accomplished artist, his work is exhibited in professional art galleries on the east and west coasts and Europe.