What is Morning Exercise (or Morning Ex)?

Soon your children may come home sharing news about things they experienced during the day’s Morning Exercise. If you’re not sure what they are referring to, here is some background on Morning Ex so you have a better context for talking about it with your kids.
 
Since 1901, Morning Ex has been an important part of school life at Parker. Students gather for a 40-minute curriculum-based program to allow all four divisions of the school (Lower, Intermediate, Middle and Upper Schools) to share common ideas and learning opportunities. This year, to ensure the safety of all, Morning Ex will be a virtual experience.
 
While most presentations stem from the classroom curricula of our 14 grade levels, Morning Ex also provides a space for students to debate current events, teachers and outside guests to speak about important world and local issues, the community to become aware of social topics and devise ways to take action, artists and musicians to share their talents, and students to learn how to present projects, ask or answer questions with self-assurance in front of an audience of their peers and be members of an audience.
 
The Morning Ex program is an integral part of the school’s curricula and is not an open forum for outside speakers or presenters. The Morning Ex Committee, which consists of Upper School students and faculty representatives from the school’s four divisions, vet all programs. The Committee aims to protect the integrity of Morning Ex and ensure presentations have an appropriate classroom focus.
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Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.