Our mission states that “Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity.” This simple sentence is a pillar of our institution, upholding the core values which we, the students, are expected to embody.

Contrary to the mission statements of most public and private schools across the United States, Parker does not emphasize academic excellence or scholarship. The Latin School of Chicago, for example, declares in its mission statement that it “provides its students with a rigorous and innovative educational program in a community that embraces diversity of people, cultures and ideas.” Another rival and independent school, the University of Chicago Laboratory School characterizes similar values, asserting that it “ignites and nurtures an enduring spirit of scholarship, curiosity, creativity, and confidence.” Both Latin and Lab are among the vast majority of schools which articulate educational rigor as a core value within their mission statements because, simply put, it is much easier to promise an excellent test score and GPA than it is to promise an excellent human being. 

Although it is well-known that Parker students maintain a rigorous and challenging course load and graduate overly prepared to thrive at the University level, our mission statement is not particularly concerned with flaunting these intellectual accolades. Instead, we have opted to take a far more ambitious path: one which prioritizes morality over scholastic achievement. Parker does not promise that students will graduate as scholars or brilliant intellectuals. Rather, we seek to guide students as they develop into “responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.” 

The mission statement offers prospective students, parents, and families a quick and easy mechanism for distinguishing between top-ranked independent schools within Chicago. While I was applying to high school from a Montessori elementary school, I was allured to Parker’s strong emphasis on community and empathy. As I wandered the Latin and Lab open houses, I was overwhelmed, and ultimately deterred, by the importance placed upon college acceptance as the absolute purpose of high school education. As a timid 8th grader who had just recovered from months of studying for selective enrollment tests and private school entrance exams, the words “college prep” had not yet entered my vocabulary. Oppositely, Parker teachers and shadows with whom I was able to communicate gave me a sense of hope that I would not be spending the next four years preparing for the four after that.

Looking back, as a senior in high school nearing the finish line, I’m not sure if this hope was false. Although I certainly spent my high school career engaged and interested in what I was learning in class, I felt as though my peers promoted a “do it for the college app” mentality and  cultivated intense competition and rivalry in the classroom. 

Despite a mission which strives to educate students to act with empathy, courage, and clarity, there has been nothing to prevent students from taking matters into their own hands and promoting intellectual elitism in the classroom environment. When it comes to the mission, we, the students, may be failing ourselves.