Opened 1901 CEEB code 140830 Phone +1 773-353-3000 Founded 1901 | Founder Col. Francis W. Parker Principal Dan Frank Mascot Colonels Colors White, Blue | |
 | ||
School type Independent Private school Motto Everything to help and nothing to hinder Address 330 W Webster Ave, Chicago, IL 60614, USA Similar Latin School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, British Internatio School of, St Ignatius College Prep, Chicago City Day School Profiles | ||
Francis W. Parker School is an independent school serving students who live in the Chicago area from kindergarten through twelfth (senior year in high school) grade. Located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, the school is based on the progressive education philosophies of John Dewey and Colonel Francis Wayland Parker, emphasizing community and citizenship. Tuition and fees range from $29,710 for kindergarten to $37,240 for grade 12.
Contents
History
Founded in 1901, Parker boasts the first official parents' association as well as one of the first school newspapers to be written, typeset, and printed by students: The Parker Weekly, which began publishing in 1911.
Parker has 938 students, and has undergone considerable physical renovation between 2000 and 2009. Parker added an AstroTurf field which started construction in June 2012, and it was finished in September 2012. During the 2008–09 school year, the Auditorium was completely renovated, with new classrooms, more seating, office space and a balcony.
Parker announced that the University of Chicago will take over publishing responsibilities for the school's publication of Schools: Studies in Education, a national education journal featuring the narrative and analytic reflections of educators and students nationwide. The school is a member of the Chicago Independent School League (ISL).
Many notable figures have spoken at Parker including Barack Obama, Albert Einstein, and Jane Addams in the school's assemblies known throughout the school as "Morning Exercise."
Athletics
Parker is part of the Independent School League (ISL) athletic conference, and its mascot is the Colonel named after the school's founder, Colonel Francis Wayland Parker. The school has six sports during the fall season with eighteen interscholastic teams, three sports in the winter with fourteen teams, and five sports in the spring season with nineteen teams throughout the middle and high school. Sports at Parker range from boys and girls soccer, to tennis, basketball, baseball, cross country, track and field, and field hockey. Parker has a no-cut policy regarding its athletic department, meaning any student who tries out for a team will make it, and over 65 percent of the students play on at least one team throughout the academic year.