News

From Wednesday, September 13 to Friday, September 15, the class of 2026 kicked off the beginning of their sophomore year with a retreat at Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center

Students Alex ’33 and Bradley ’29 Cortez-Bzdusek medaled in the 2023 USA Karate Nationals

On Tuesday in the courtyard, the Upper School hosted its annual Involvement Fair, featuring more than 50 student organizations. Each group staffed a table as a way to promote their club, committee and/or affinity group

To build excitement for a weekend of Colonels athletics, students participated in Spirit Week

Senior Harry Lowitz was recognized by SNO for his article welcoming Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Erika Prahl 

The tradition of Big Siblings and Little Siblings is almost as old as Morning Ex. On Monday, the seniors entered the Big Gym to the strains of bagpipes and sat facing the rest of the school community.

Since the school’s founding in 1901, Parker has begun each academic year with the Corinthians Morning Ex, and the tradition continued this year.

Read “Uemura Runs Away with Junior Men’s 17 Title” from USA Gymnastics to learn about senior Kai Uemura’s back-to-back all-around national title

We invite you to take a photo with your family, friends, colleagues or classes in front of a display currently in place in the Kupcinet Gallery

This year’s Chicago Robotics Invitational hosted by Parker on July 15 and 16 was the biggest and best iteration of the event yet

Alumna Diana Llamas ’23 will receive a full, four-year Evans Scholarship worth more than $125,000 thanks to Viktor Hovland’s hole-in-one during the final round of last year’s BMW Championship

Alumnus Jim Lowry ’57 will be honored with the Chicago Humanities Civic Leadership Award on Wednesday, September 13

This summer, senior Hannah Bilgin received some amazing news: A poem she submitted to the 2023 Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards competition has been recognized by Illinois Humanities

Kai Contractor and Evan Sato’s film is an Official Selection for the 2023 All American High School Film Festival

Since 1901, Morning Ex has been an important part of school life at Parker. Students assemble every Monday and Friday for a 40-minute curriculum-based program to share common ideas and learning opportunities

Earlier this year, the Chicago Opera Theater served as the 6th Annual Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholars in Residence, dazzling the audience with a performance, lecture and more information on bringing their newest opera, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, to the stage. More recently, they came to Parker to meet the Lower School and help explain opera in a way that resonates with these young minds

The Parker community gathered one last time this academic year for the annual Class Day celebration of the senior class

Parker’s Physical Education Department joined teachers, students in 1st through 3rd grades and their Big Siblings for the annual Field Day

Principal Dan Frank formally knighted and welcomed students to the “Kingdom of Fifthenham” as part of this year’s 5th Grade Dubbing Ceremony

After attending a Steppenwolf Theatre performance of Eve Ewing’s book of poetry 1919, English teachers guided Upper School students in a generative process, wherein they published an original book of poetry reflecting upon America and their own lives

Junior Kyle Feitler spent the first semester of this academic year immersed in a hands-on experience learning more about Congress as a Senate Page for Illinois Senator Dick Durbin

Seniors Kai Contractor and Evan Sato’s documentary Remembering Tyler Lumar has been accepted to the Indianapolis Black Documentary Film Festival

Junior Alexandra Fidler was chosen for the Second Team in Class 2A softball from among more than 200 student-athletes nominated statewide this year

Junior members in our Students for Sensible Drug Policy civic-lab group recently met with 43rd Ward Alderman Timmy Knudsen to advocate for greater access to Narcan within our ward, and further promotion throughout the city.

During the annual Woodland Activity Day, teachers and parent/guardian volunteers transformed the school’s courtyard into an interactive learning environment

Alexandra Newman ’01 recently returned to Parker to share history and music from the Violins of Hope program

After reading Corrine Luyken’s picture book about the creative process The Book of Mistakes, 1st grade teacher Beth Joebgen paired up her students with some grown-up artists to make simple inkblots into something beautiful

Students in 1st and 9th grades recently came together for a poetry project in which older students shared what they had been learning with their younger counterparts, and both collaborated in developing original poems and artwork

Second graders have been studying activism and learning about child activists around the world, whose passion, stories and activism have inspired them. Through this exploration, they learned that taking action and using your voice to create change is powerful, even at very young ages

Freshman Ava Farhat recently qualified for the USA Karate team and will represent our country at the World Championships in Dundee, Scotland this summer

Junior Saroya Ornelas Pagnucci recently presented on her semester-long Independent Study focusing on barriers to female political participation

Congratulations to Physical Education teacher Madeline Maldonado on being named the Independent School League Softball Coach of the Year

May Term, a program that originally took place in the 1970s, took place at Parker this week after returning last year

Parker’s Upper School Scholastic Bowl team traveled to Atlanta during Memorial Day weekend to participate at the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament

A documentary made by a pair of seniors for their Creating Historical Documentaries class is an official selection for the online Student World Impact Film Festival

Student leaders of the Berkowitz Committee recognized Chicago nonprofit Alternatives for shaping positive change in local youth in a recent Morning Ex

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and the Upper School affinity group Asian Alliance took the month as a time to celebrate their culture

Students put all of their newfound cooking experience to the test and participated in the Chemistry of Cooking Cook-off

A 90-year-old survivor of the Heart Mountain prison camp shared his personal story of the difficulties he, his family and other Japanese Americans faced before, during and after their imprisonment

On Saturday, May 20, four students—junior Warner Vance, sophomores Victoria Batts and Beckett Nikitas and freshman Spencer Koh—and faculty member George Austin traveled to the Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Wisconsin to launch the rocket that they had worked on during Cookies

Members of the community traveled to the University of Chicago Center in Paris as part of the FACCTS program

Parker is so proud to announce that this year’s Project Invent team was awarded the Moonshot Award and $500 in funding at Project Invent’s Demo Day in San Diego this past weekend

To celebrate an amazing year of SOCA, groups from all divisions gathered together

The community is no stranger to the accomplishments of pianist and Parker sophomore Zarin Mehta, who recently traveled and performed across the globe. Now, Mehta is turning heads again as he is set to perform at Ravinia

Senior Yasmeen Ibrahim led a packed teach-in to students and faculty about Umrah, Islam and life in Saudi Arabia

This past week, the students in Parker’s Upper School Creative Nonfiction elective invited the entire community to a special reading

The Development Office once again hosted Parker’s beloved Lower School Grandparents and Special Friends Day last week

From Tuesday, May 2 through Saturday, May 6, 15 Middle School students, 12 Upper School students and five Parker science faculty members participated in a week-long outdoor science adventure at Teton Science Schools

One Parker P.L.U.S. class recently held a celebration of Korean culture

The Parker ROV (Underwater Robotics) team rose to the occasion and earned second place in the Midwest MATE ROV Regional Competition—and first place in the Engineering and Technical presentation

Congratulations to senior Nariya Cooke on receiving a Cboe Empower Scholarship, securing her one of the five full-ride scholarships they awarded to Chicago students this year

Parker welcomed the community to the Signing Day Ceremony for student-athletes Luca Lennon and Hudson Lin, who signed agreements to continue their athletic careers in college

On Thursday, May 11, 15 Upper School students and four science faculty members from each division visited Dr. Mika Tosca at the School of Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum

Intermediate School students have been learning about digital communication, digital citizenship and navigation of technology

Upper School English teacher Mike Mahany’s Graphic Novels senior elective hosted Chris Ware, a graphic-novelist  from Oak Park and author of novels such as Rusty Brown and Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, in a Zoom meeting on Wednesday

Parker wants to congratulate junior Kumiko Muro for her tremendous achievement in winning the newly established Timuel Black Essay Contest for Chicago high school students

Parker is excited to welcome new Head of Upper School Cory Zeller

Student creativity, scholarship, determination and drama were on display in this year’s annual 4th grade Greek Play, where students shared the story of Theseus and the Minotaur from the perspectives of three characters

Alongside Spanish teacher Liz Villagomez and History teacher Andy Bigelow, 23 eager juniors and seniors took part in an incredible opportunity to dive into the heart of the Civil Rights Movement

The school community recently gathered to honor retiring faculty and staff members Jimmy Contreras, Gary Childrey, Anne Nelson, Lorin Pritikin and Chris Turner.

Upper School student-artists recently visited renowned African American sculptor Richard Hunt’s home and studio to learn more about his life and creative process.

Parker welcomed pediatric otolaryngologist Dr. Dana Suskind to campus this week as part of the 25th Annual Francine C. Rosenberg Memorial Lecture Series.

Fourth grade students tapped into their imaginations and optimism in designing work to ensure a sustainable future for life on the planet.

During Integrated Learning and Information Science, 2nd graders put their design, building and collaboration skills to the test to prepare for a visit from the mythical monster Godzilla.

Join us in congratulating Kagan and read “Uemura In Antalya” here.

On Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30, Parker’s Upper School Scholastic Bowl team competed in the NAQT Small Schools National Championship Tournament at the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois.

Congratulations to senior Jack Kahn on receiving a National Merit Scholarship!

Upper School students campaigning for a Student Government office next year recently appealed to their peers for support as part of Parker’s annual Democrafest.

For the first time in their Upper School career, the class of 2024 took off for an old-school overnight retreat—the first junior overnight retreat since the spring of 2019, before the pandemic.

Fifty alumni from six decades and several industries returned to campus last week for Career Day, an all-day event for Upper School students to hear from alumni about their professional lives

On Tuesday, April 25, advanced classes in French, Mandarin, Latin, and Spanish gathered to celebrate their progression in their programs and share dramatic interpretations of various artistic works in the original language

Upper School female student-athletes had an opportunity to learn more about leadership from Utah Jazz Chief Experience Officer Andrea Williams via a Zoom meeting orchestrated by Director of Athletics Bobby Starks

Junior Kindergarten through 5th graders recently enjoyed a memorable Morning Ex when student bands from 4th and 5th grades performed for their peers

Starting on Monday of last week, Parker welcomed Julian Randall ’11 to campus for a week and a half of poetry, writing, mentorship and more, culminating in the 9th Annual Jeanne Harris Hansell Endowed Fund for Poetry presentation on Wednesday

Students in Upper School Advanced Biology welcomed a special guest Zoom lecturer to the Kovler Family Library this past week. Speaking as a senior conservation scientist, Lincoln Park Zoo’s Charles Foley, PhD, spoke discussed his work with lions

The spotlight shined bright on three female faith leaders at this year’s International Women’s Day Celebration

Students and teachers in 2nd grade invited the community to take part in a Courtyard Sharing on a recent unit of study

A new Upper School PE course welcomed a very special guest lecturer from 1st grade

After a long wait and much planning, 36 eager Upper School French students, accompanied by five steadfast chaperones headed to Paris for April Recess

Recently, senior Payton Pitts was accepted at all six of the Ivy League universities to which he applied

Upper School scientists and chocolate fans had a hands-on lesson in the art of tempering chocolate when Sarah (Levy) Imberman ’99 and her Chief Operating Officer Alexa Sindelar visited Science teacher Gigi Mathews’ Chemistry of Cooking class to share their expertise

We are excited to announce that Parker has successfully completed a nationwide leadership search to find a Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)

Senior Big Siblings recently met with their Little Siblings in the Lower, Intermediate and Middle Schools

The 2023 Young Women of Color Symposium hosted at Parker on Saturday, March 25 was an enormous success. More than 150 students registered, representing 17 schools from the Chicago area

The Middle School proudly entertained the community this week with a fun trip to Bikini Bottom! A cast and crew of more than 80 Middle School students joined together for this exciting performance of The SpongeBob Musical

Third grade students presented what they had learned about various inventors, artists, scientists, authors and more at two special Morning Exes for the school and their parents

The Appreciation Committee reminded faculty and staff on Thursday that “We Couldn’t Be S’more Thankful” with bags of a delicious trail mix containing Golden Grahams cereal, marshmallows, chocolate chips and Hershey’s chocolate bars

During their Integrated Learning and Information Science Department class time, SKers have been learning about different emotions—talking about what it means to be calm and the difference between that feeling and feeling energized

Second grade students recently studied various biomes in their classrooms and used this opportunity to learn about different animals, landforms, weather patterns and more

On Monday, Parker welcomed Julia Danielle Smulson for a top-tapping, head-swaying Morning Ex

Last week, Parker’s Upper School Slam Poetry Team competed in The Rooted & Radical youth poetry festival

Parker is very proud to share the recent string of tremendous achievements sophomore Zarin Mehta has accumulated during the past several weeks

We would like to extend a big thank you on behalf of the Used Book Sale Committee and the Parents’ Association 

Upper School thespians thrilled audiences with a toe-tapping rendition of Little Shop of Horrors as this year’s Spring Musical

Forty-third Ward aldermanic candidate Brian Comer met with the senior class this week just ahead of the runoff election on April 4

Recently, Upper School French students and 2-C came together to share their knowledge of France

The English Department put their creative talents to work to help celebrate poetry and the upcoming Hansell Poet

In a recent study of work focusing on themes of power and social reform, Art teacher Caroline Gardner introduced her 6th graders to work by artists Laetitia Ky and Asya Kozina

Please help Parker congratulate our Upper School athletic teams as they continue their push for excellence throughout the IHSA State Championship Playoff Series

Upper School students got some hands-on experience with the process of fermentation in their Chemistry of Cooking course when Food Service Manager and master baker Zac Maness combined forces with teacher Gigi Mathews to make bread from sourdough starter

Upper School French teacher Lorin Pritikin shared her passion for language activism at Morning Ex this week

The school community learned more about this year’s Upper School musical Little Shop of Horrors in a recent preview Morning Ex

Members of the Upper School South Asian Student Alliance (SASA) shared a fun, interactive and informative Morning Ex with their peers about the celebration of Holi

Timmy Knudsen, 43rd Ward alderman, talked about his civic role and the upcoming runoff election at a Morning Ex for 5th–12th grades this week

On a recent Monday, Parker’s Immigration Justice group, a Civic Lab consisting of 15 juniors and their faculty adviser, Matt Laufer, traveled to Devon Avenue, where they purchased household goods for the Burmese Rohingya, Ukrainian and Congolese refugees settling in the Chicago area

Students in 8th grade have been hard at work with Visual Arts Department Co-Chair Katie Palmer creating pieces of art by using light

With the expertise and support of Middle and Upper School Librarian Annette Lesak and the Integrated Learning and Information Sciences team, French I students completed their annual Francophone-themed Makers’ Project

The school community got a glimpse of a new artistic addition to campus when Parker’s Mural Club shared more about a work in progress at the Visual Arts Morning Ex in February

More than 70% of the student body in 1st–4th grades participated in the return of Parker’s annual School Science Fair

Parker is proud to report that USA Gymnastics has selected Uemura to lead the eight-athlete delegation for the 2023 FIG Junior World Championships in Antalya, Turkey

Parker’s Upper School Scholastic Bowl team traveled to Elgin Academy this weekend and made Parker History

Fifth grade students have immersed themselves in the complex process of making stop-motion short films

Senior Grant Koh recently gave a lunch presentation featuring a gentle yet mathematically rigorous introduction to Abstract Algebra, a public sharing of the fruits of his independent study

On Wednesday, March 1, students in Advanced Spanish took a field trip to sample some Spanish tapas at Bulerías as a follow-up to a reading about the tradition of “el tapeo” (going out for tapas) in Spain

This past Saturday, March 4, Parker hosted our annual Diversity Job Fair for Independent Schools, an important recruiting event Parker established 19 years ago in partnership with The Latin School of Chicago and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Mark Love, an engineer with international experience in transportation systems, returned to Parker to work with the 9th grade

In honor of March Mathness at Parker, the Lower and Intermediate Schools gathered for a special Morning Ex to share the ways different grades and classes approach math

This past Tuesday, the Middle School’s Pop Vocal Ensemble, an extracurricular choir, traveled to Evanston to perform and work with music education students at Northwestern University

On Friday, March 3, all Upper School spring student-athletes and coaches gathered to participate in a workshop provided by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA)

On Monday, March 6, Parker hosted a Scholastic Bowl Class 1A regional tournament, the first round of the IHSA state series, and had tremendous success

Parker’s 5th grade classrooms were abuzz with a flurry of activity as students engaged in a full week of STEM curriculum

Upper School student writers from The Weekly recently participated in a data gathering and writing workshop with faculty from Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University

Alum James Hulsizer ’17 returned to campus recently to treat Upper School Applied Algebra students to a three-day curricular tour of the stock market

First grade students in Beth Joebgen’s class celebrated Black History Month by reading and discussing biographies and stories by Black authors and illustrators

The number 100 is a big one, and some Lower School students recently recognized their 100th day of school in creative, fun and effective ways

The cast of 15 Upper School students take on this horror comedy rock musical opening on Wednesday, March 15

Upper School students in the Immigration Justice Civic Lab group are currently collaborating with Refugee One on a fundraiser to buy household necessities and appliances for the Burmese Rohingya, Ukrainian and Congolese refugees settling in the Chicago area

Earlier this morning, perennial highlight and mathematician extraordinaire Professor Eugenia Cheng returned to Parker to kick off March Mathness 2023

Parker Parent Rami Nashashibi recently spoke to the IS and MS about his work in the field of social justice

Senior Owen Stepan spent the fall semester engaged in an Independent Study with Upper School Computer Science teacher Brianna Ifft, wherein he coded an app for 2nd graders to practice their math skills

Student members of the Social Justice Committee recently spent a Saturday morning assisting with setup and food distribution at the St. James Food Pantry

Two Upper School students are members of a figure skating team that recently won first place at a state competition

Parker congratulates the FTC Robotics students and mentors for a very successful season, including two teams participating in the State Tournament for the first time

The Appreciation Committee celebrated Parker faculty and staff this Valentine’s Day with an adorable table of sweets

The Development Office hosted another successful Grandparent Dinner and a Movie event last Friday

Junior and Senior Kindergarten students spent a very full morning engaged with their Big Siblings and PE teachers in their annual Winter Games extravaganza

Mugs received! We would like to thank you for the overwhelming response to our recent request for mug donations

CBS News Chicago recently interviewed junior Kai Uemura about his pursuit of the Olympic dream in gymnastics!

Much like any rocket launch, from NASA’s Artemis I circling the moon to a high school event, weather plays an important part. And as a school so close to Lake Michigan, Parker is no stranger to a bit of wind and cold trying to impact students’ launch experiences. However, Upper School Science teacher Xiao Zhang and his team were determined to persevere and get firsthand experience with the principle of energy conservation

Senior Zeynep Altunbas is partnering with fellow exchange students from Türkiye to organize a relief effort to help those affected by the recent earthquakes in the region

Six Parker students recently discussed their trip to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas at Morning Ex, where they not only participated in the conference but also acted as student leaders in moderating discussions and panels

Parker welcomed the Chicago Opera Theater to campus on Wednesday for the 6th Annual Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholar in Residence lecture and performance

On Saturday, Parker’s Upper School Scholastic Bowl team successfully hosted its first competition in the team’s six-year history

Second grade students in Brittney Washington’s class have been learning how to build inclusive communities by showing appreciation for others and themselves

Upper School students used their Python coding skills to create unique geometric patterns in Computer Programming class

As part of their study this semester, Upper School American History students produced original artwork that focused on moments in the American Revolution from a variety of perspectives

A spectacular array of recent works by Parker’s talented student-artists are on display in the Kupcinet Gallery for the school community to enjoy

The Boys’ Basketball teams volunteered their time at Habitat for Humanity’s Chicago ReStore location

A group from the Midwest Workers Association visited Parker this week for a special Morning Ex to celebrate a partnership that stretches beyond 20 years

Upper School Robotics teams recently conducted a Morning Ex to share about what they do, how they do it and convey more about the accolades their teams have garnered leading up to a league tournament taking place at the school

This past week, senior student-athletes Payton Pitts and Caleb David each broke the 1,000-point mark in basketball for regular season play against Latin and Northside College Prep, respectively

Secrets of Success Club recently hosted Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for a Zoom interview

Parker is excited to announce that The Parker Weekly is now open to the public

The Parents and Guardians of Black Students would like to thank the Parker community for donating and assisting with the assembly of the Blessing Bags for our Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Project. In total, 113 bags were created with love, which exceeded our goal of 100 bags

A COVID diagnosis did not stop Parker’s 5th Annual D’Rita and Robbie Robinson Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Speaker Ijeoma Oluo from sharing her time and message with the Parker community on Monday

Last week, 18 seniors in English teacher Alicia Abood’s Poetry Elective class came together to showcase their passion and work for their families, faculty and staff who gathered in the Harris Center

Parker’s community of teachers and learners recently honored the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in two special Morning Exes

Sixth grade students have been learning all about planet Earth in their science studies this year. Recently, each had to develop an independent project tied to their studies of climate change with the objective of encouraging others to take action to protect our shared environment

Upper School students in Travis Chandler’s Photoshop class recently put their newly acquired skills to some practical use when they designed book covers for their peers who recently completed novels as part of their participation in National Novel Writing Month

Upper School student filmmakers recently shared their final projects from the Creating Historical Documentaries course

Tim Sinclair’s iconic voice sounded all too familiar to Chicago sports fans during a Morning Ex this week. Sinclair serves as the public address announcer for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Fire and the University of Illinois Illini. Senior Emre Emanet interviewed Sinclair, asking questions about how he began his career in sports and sharing some of his amazing accomplishments, including being the PA announcer for the NBA All-Star Game and a voice on video games in the NBA 2K series

On Friday, November 11, 24 Upper School students took part in the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), a written problem-solving contest more than 300,000 students nationwide take annually

Upper School singer-songwriters and musicians in Alec Synakowski’s Songwriting and Music Production class recently shared highlights of their work from the first semester in a Music Elective Morning Ex

Parker welcomes and encourages all families to visit the school to cheer for student-athletes when they play home games

Parker’s Boys’ Varsity Basketball team traveled to the Rich Township Big Dipper Tournament during the December Recess

Parker faculty and staff received a giant Happy New Year card to welcome them back to school this week

Students in Art teacher Caroline Gardner’s 7th grade classes, after wrapping up their unit in digital art, began a new lesson that focuses on sculpture and mixed media work. To kick off this new unit, students studied weaving

Lower and Intermediate School students prepared the Parker community for the December Recess with the annual Winter Program

Juniors and sophomores in Spanish III visited Ms. Liszka’s 3rd grade Spanish class to read stories and engage the children in some fun activities

Parker students across grades and choirs came together to share a program that was perfect for the winter months