News

US science teacher Ryan Zaremba worked with Taxon Expeditions and uncovered two new species last summer on a trip to Vondelpark in Amsterdam

Parker’s shift to remote learning required our teachers and staff to adapt and alter many plans; nowhere was this more evident than Field Day

Since they couldn’t all be together at school, Cathy Davidson’s 2nd Grade class held a virtual neighborhood nature walk

Upper School French Teacher Lorin Pritikin shows how even under stay-at-home conditions, students can “go global”

Weekly reporters Nick Skok ’21 and Tess Wayland ’22 received Best of SNO (Student Newspapers Online) Awards, which “showcase excellence in journalism”

I have been thinking about our Parker colleagues, students, alumni and families of color, especially, in light of recent events

Senior Madeline Friedman has spent the last semester engaged in an Independent Study taking a closer look at people’s relationships with food. By studying diet, food and nutrition, Friedman wanted to gain a deeper understanding of why we need/choose to eat certain foods and how the human body processes and uses nutrients

These past months of remote learning have provided teacher Vicki Lee and her students an opportunity to stretch their mathematical mindsets well beyond the classroom

Upper School math teacher Steven Tyler challenged his AP Calculus class with a nontraditional form of mathematical assessment

The History Department closed the last full week of classes with a bang, orchestrating a pair of ZooMX experiences featuring experts from the University of Kansas and Harvard University

For those of you yearning for the taste of summer during this time of social distancing, Chef Zac is here with a video designed just for the Parker community

Enjoy this recording of our Concert Choir singing “I Lived” as a tribute to the Class of 2020

In guiding her Upper School students as they study biology, teacher Kara Schupp likes to take the time to help increase appreciation for the human beings actually practicing the science she teaches in classes, in addition to their important contributions to the discipline

Keedra Gibba’s 6th grade class recently hosted Marjorie Berk Moss, a social work supervisor and staff attorney at Northwestern University’s Bluhm Legal Clinic Children and Family Justice Center

This semester in Jeanne Barr’s Upper School Talk of the Town history course, she has guided 13 seniors and one junior in reading The New Yorker and other publications and joining together in small groups to track themes in one of four categories: Art, Culture, Politics or Science and Technology

This semester gave two teachers a unique opportunity to tweak their curriculum in asking students to produce video logs or “vlogs” of life since remote learning began

In their ongoing efforts to curate creative outlets for our student community to learn and grow together despite social distance, members of our Integrated Learning and Information Sciences (ILIS) Department have recently orchestrated the school’s first-ever virtual hackathon, which invited interested students to join together remotely and work in small groups to design and build a virtual world

We could not be more proud of the 8th grade class of 2020

Grape Jam continues its efforts to bring joy to the Parker community through performance

Teacher Anne Blasko has been directing the creative talents of many Parker students during this time of remote learning

Parker is proud to announce that our first-ever Project Invent team, Team Vita Voca, was awarded $600 in seed funding at Project Invent’s May Demo Day competition

Enjoy the latest issue of The Clark Street Journal Middle School newspaper

Senior Jared Saef conducted an independent study under the guidance of faculty advisor Susan Elliott, examining the compositional change in the retail lining Clark Street in Lincoln Park over the last thirteen years, which he submitted to the Mikva Foundation’s Action Civics Showcase

The History Department treated the 8th grade and the Upper School to their second “ZooMX.” New York University Professor of Social Science, published author, New York Times columnist and Parker graduate Eric Klinenberg ’89 recently hosted the virtual gathering with more than 70 students and faculty

Pritzker Visiting Scientist•Inventor•Engineer in Residence Dr. Dinee Simpson recently shared a video with Parker science students

Students in Tisha Johnson’s Junior Kindergarten class typically design and create new projects surrounding different themes in the classroom each week. Despite current circumstances, Johnson wanted to continue fostering this creativity, so she has encouraged students to design and create new things each week on their own at home

Grape Jam continues its efforts to bring joy to the Parker community through performance

Parker is gathering recipes from the community, and we need your help

Social distancing has not stopped junior Benji Gourdji from pursuing his passion for music

Social distancing couldn’t stymie our annual tradition of pairing baby photos of our seniors with photos in their current glory

When school dismissed for remote learning in mid-March, Ms. Wild knew she would need to integrate the classroom pets into her remote learning curriculum

Grape Jam continues its efforts to bring joy to the Parker community through performance

Junior Camille Freedman recently completed an Independent Study that allowed her to take on a pair of unique leadership roles within her dance studio community at Extensions Dance Center and better understand the work and responsibilities involved in running a nonprofit dance studio

Eighth grade students recently participated in a virtual experience with President and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsRachel Bronson, also a Parker parent, that helped connect lessons from nuclear risk and climate change in the past with the current pandemic

Parker faculty frequently tap their personal experiences and professional networks to enhance engagement in their classrooms, whether they teach classes in person or remotely

Senior Giselle Lopez, who played Little Sally in this year’s production of Urinetown, submitted her video, that which Broadway in Chicago shared as part of “Around Broadway in 80 Days” 

Art teacher Katie Palmer recently asked Upper School students in her Photo I and II classes to respond to The Kitchen Table Series, the seminal work by artist Carrie Mae Weems

Students in Alicia Abood’s Writer's Studio class recently attended an intimate virtual gathering with poet Kate Baer, who shared three poems from her new book What Kind of Woman and fielded student questions about her craft and process

Senior Molly Taylor is receiving recognition for a recent essay on the failure of the 1937 Exposition Internationale to build bridges between nations and assuage culminating pre-World War II tensions

In Parker’s inaugural year of building a Project Invent team, students have been using design thinking, engineering and computer science to create a physical device for a junior with multiple severe allergies

Students in Cathy Davidson’s 2nd grade class recently completed their poetry unit

Check out this gallery of “Surprise Drawing” images created by students in 1st through 3rd grades

The Virtual Choir experience aims to maintain the sense of community that exists in making beautiful music together

Knowing how important it is for students to share their own efforts and take in each other’s work, teacher Kay Silva presented students with a live Claymation Watch Party

Grape Jam is back in its efforts to bring joy to the Parker community through performance

Upper School English teacher Mike Mahany is known for bringing the fun to every class he teaches. Inspired by online photos of people recreating famous paintings at home during the pandemic, he put up juniors in his two American Literature sections to a similar challenge

At the end of an eight-week unit, Upper School history teacher Jeanne Barr recently asked her 11th grade students to render their interpretations of the consequences of modern industrial capitalism using stop-motion animation

The 2019–20 Berkowitz Committee is proud to announce that Youth Outreach Services (YOS) will receive the $10,000 Susan F. Berkowitz Award for Outstanding Service to Children

With remote learning now an everyday reality for students around the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools are having to look at everything they have traditionally offered students through an entirely new lens—and the concept of recess is among them

In his Themes in World History class, teacher Otis Pope recently asked his students to demonstrate their understanding of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its impact on the Cold War by creating online narratives

In a recent virtual gathering with conductor, teacher and professional musician Betty Lewis, Upper School orchestra students had the opportunity to meet with world-class violin maker—also called a luthier—Antoine Nedelec

Although Parker students are currently learning in their homes, it hasn’t stopped them from exploring their own creativity as remotely guided by our master art teachers

Enjoy Parker employees reading their favorite children’s books in the Parker Reading Circle!

The 7th grade recently worked not to remove statues in the Windy City but rather to add overlooked and forgotten individuals to the monument landscape

Students in Jeff Stone’s class had the unique opportunity to meet and creatively collaborate with director Marc Webb as they work on their 5th grade language arts curriculum

Although Grape Jam is unable to perform together in person, they still want to use their love of music and singing to lift the spirits of the Parker community

In his effort to bring the tastes our model home to each member of the Parker community while socially distancing,  Food Service Director Chef Zac offers up his latest video, showing how to make his famous Wedding Day Scones in your kitchen at home!

For some, the novelty and challenge of remote learning serves as a catalyst for inspiration, as 8th grade math teacher Tim O’Connor is currently modeling in teaching his Algebra 1+ classes

After discovering Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West for the 10th grade English curriculum, teacher Matt Laufer devised an assignment that put students in the role of unsolicited, unpaid consultants to the movie adaptation

Seventh grade student Zarin Mehta won first place in the 2020 New Music School Concerto Competition in late January at the Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago

Recently, history students in Parker’s 8th and 11th grades participated in a special Zoom-based class session on the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt with American political journalist, best-selling author, documentary filmmaker, former Newsweek magazine senior editor and Parker alumnus Jonathan Alter ’75

Share in this online homage to Parker’s graduating class of 2020

Enjoy the latest issue of The Clark Street Journal Middle School newspaper

Prior to Parker’s shift to remote learning, when one student used the morning meeting to share her independent efforts to write get-well notes to patients who had recently contracted COVID-19, a number of her peers were interested in lending their hearts and pens to the effort

History teacher Sue Elliott recently embraced the remote learning opportunites to lead her students through a closer look at the 1918 flu pandemic and its connections to today

For those of you yearning for the flavors of our model home during this time of social distancing, Chef Zac is here with a video on how to make Parker Bagels at home

School Nurse Anne Nelson is back this week, continuing her quest to save lives and stamp out disease

To assess their understanding and mastery of new concepts, Upper School Advanced Physics students recently took on the role of teachers to explain resonance

Eighth graders recently concluded a science project that challenged them to exercise their creative imaginations and envision technologies that could help shape a more sustainable future for our global community

Want a fun Parker background for your Zoom meetings? We’ve got some great options for you!

Upper School history teacher Andrew Bigelow orchestrated his first-ever virtual “Meeting of the Minds” to dig deeper into the early 1900s

To get her students acclimated to remote learning, Upper School Spanish teacher Liz Villagomez added a video-share component to an element of her curriculum

All are welcome to enjoy the sweet sounds of Upper School Latin teacher and renaissance man Mark Aymar in this series of performances

Looking to learn more about a college remotely?

Rather than let the current COVID-19 crisis make him feel powerless, one Parker sophomore has partnered with the school to produce PPE using a 3D-printer from the TIDES Garage at home, donating the results to health care workers on the front lines at hospitals around the city

While we shelter in place for the benefit of our global community, the Colonel in each of us might yearn to do more to assist those in need during these difficult times

Being stuck at home can be boring, so the ILIS crew has put together this resource of fun and cool activities

During April Recess, Intermediate and Middle School students have a variety of optional activities in which they can choose to participate from their homes

Our Middle School performance of Matilda may not able to take the stage, but we can still share the fun, magic and energy of some fantastic rehearsal footage

Remember the film Last Believer that teachers Dan Greenstone and Travis Chandler produced as part of their joint Creating Historical Documentaries class?

The Parker PM team wants to ensure everyone has a smile on their faces this April Recess. 

Using her skills as a fabric artist, Upper School science teacher Elizabeth Druger sewed face masks for her family and is now focusing on others who may be potentially at high risk

Middle School Head John Novick invited students in 4th–8th grades to share their poetry and artwork during the school closure

Parker is proud that the IHSA Sportsmanship Advisory Committee has chosen sophomore student-athlete Sammi Coleman for its Student Advisory Committee

In addition to supporting our community of teachers and learners as they work together remotely during the coming weeks, Parker’s Tech team wants to do their part to do “everything to help” as well

First grade teacher Greenie recently shared this poem, which helped put the feelings so many Parker employees are experiencing right now into words

Sophomore Tess Wayland received a Best of SNO (Student Newspapers Online) Award for her Weekly article on the coronavirus

Senior Kindergarten students recently enjoyed a musical treat when music teacher and Upper School Orchestra conductor Betty Lewis brought her students to the Kindergarten Atrium to perform for their younger peers

As Francis W. Parker School continues its efforts to be fiscally responsible and environmentally conscious, we are pleased to offer the 2018–19 annual report as an electronic document.

Two-term U.S. poet laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner and 2017 Heinz Award recipient Natasha Trethewey recently visited the school as Parker’s 2019–20 Jeanne Harris Hansell Endowed Poet

Each spring, 3rd grade students learn about industrialization, immigration, the Great Migration and present-day Chicago as part of their classroom study

Enjoy a selection of photos as our students took on this roaring American musical, Urinetown

Members of Parker’s Asian Alliance gathered on Tuesday, March 3 to make a presentation about the coronavirus, including background information on the virus, the global economic impact and microaggressions/xenophobia/racism around the virus

The Music Department has worked together for the past four years to orchestrate a Morning Ex to help students take a closer look at gender inequity in music

Recently, the 5th grade celebrated the culmination of their engineering and programming unit during STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) week

Middle and Upper School students got the straight dope on the vaping industry and its inherent risks in a recent Morning Ex with Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor Matthew Quinn

Parker parent and Avexis President David Lennon visited recently to talk about his work with gene therapy and spinal muscular atrophy

In the third year of the Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholar in Residence program, Parker welcomed Chicago Opera Theater (COT) to campus 

Seventh graders recently explored the important question of “Who Am I (now)?” from four different angles

On Saturday, February 22, Parker’s robotics team 3507 Robotheosis competed at the Illinois State Tournament and clinched the second consecutive Illinois State Championship

Recently, student-athlete Ana Franco was named one of field hockey’s “100 Players To Watch From The Class Of 2023” by MAX Field Hockey!

Parker students Uma Morris ’25 and Kumiko Muro ’24 were two of the Featured Poets in the most recent issue of VOICES de la LUNA

On Wednesday, Parker enjoyed a special Morning Ex performance by a quartet of Project Inclusion Ensemble Freeman Fellows from the Chicago Sinfonietta

As part of learning about examination of identity in Junior Kindergarten, teacher Jeremiah Howe has been leading his charges in a closer look at the different shades of skin that we live in

A group of Upper School students who are nimble with numbers participated in the American Mathematics Competition

On Monday, February 10, Parker welcomed Melanie Nutter, a proud member of the class of 1989 as well as a new Parker parent, to present at Morning Ex

Robotheosis (Team 3507) and Frank’s Garage (Team 9410) hosted and competed in the Chicago North League Championships this weekend

As part of this year’s Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholar in Residence program, members of our Middle and Upper School student choirs were invited to audition for Chicago Opera Theater (COT)

Advanced French students Lauren Hughes ’20, Lily Koltun ’20, Isabel Olesinski ’20 and Will Rantala ’20 joined French III student Bodie Florsheim ’21 to perform a short play for a DePaul University French class

Parker alumnus Amie Siegel ’92 was recently featured in the PBS NewsHour segment

Don Tate, award-winning author and illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed children’s books, visited Parker recently to share more about his work and inspire students to discover and hone their personal passions with practice

Parker hosted 250 delegates from all around Chicago for a day of debate at FWPMUN IV, Parker’s fourth-ever one-day Model UN conference

Parker freshman Shira Wein was recently selected as a member of the 2020 Amateur Hockey Association Illinois All-State Team

The Physical Education Department recently combined forces with 4th and 5th grade students on a new unit of study that focused on peer teaching, creativity, problem-solving, cooperation and new product development

On Wednesday, February 5, Parker alumnus Len Goodman ’80 spoke to students at Morning Ex

Parker’s Physical Education Department hosted a Winter Games Event for JK and SK students on Wednesday

As part of their work during the first semester, Upper School French I and II students designed elaborate Google virtual tours

Parker alumnus Regine Rousseau ’90, a businesswoman, entrepreneur, poet and author, spoke to the Parker community at Morning Ex on Monday

With 2020 at last upon us, new student artwork is on display throughout campus, showcasing a wide range of materials, processes and techniques

Beginning in the New Year, the Kovler Family Library welcomed 35 new original novels written by students in 5th–12th grades as part of this year’s National Novel Writing Month project (NaNoWriMo)

Author and educational consultant Devorah Heitner recently returned to Parker to speak with Intermediate and Middle School parents and caregivers about teaching kids to use technology in a smart way

Lower School students combined their talent, energy and enthusiasm for the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a special Morning Ex

A little cold couldn’t keep Upper School physics students from getting some firsthand experience with the principle of energy conservation, as science teacher Xiao Zhang recently led the charge across our ice-speckled turf field to launch rockets.

Parker recently welcomed author, consultant and speaker Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. and author and professor Dr. Marguerite W. Penick-Parks to the school for a special workshop.

US science teacher Ryan Zaremba worked with Taxon Expeditions last summer on a trip to Vondelpark in Amsterdam where they uncovered two new species!

Internationally recognized psychotherapist, author and speaker Lynn Lyons recently spent three days at Parker to provide differentiated strategies and interactive discussion addressing the most common concerns and issues that parents and teachers have regarding stress, worry, mood and behaviors

Students in 3rd grade recently immersed themselves in a study of European settlers in this region during the 1800s for this year’s annual Pioneer Activity Day

As they returned from December Recess, seniors and juniors gathered with recent graduates for the annual College Counseling Alumni Panel