Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School

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Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
Established	1995
School type	Charter school
Grades	7-12
Principal	Teri Schrader
Location	Devens, Massachusetts, United States
Students	approx. 360
Athletics	Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Softball, Track and Field
Colors	Green and black
Mascot	Panther
Website	www.parker.org

The Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School (more often referred to as the Parker Charter School, and usually as simply Parker) is a secondary school in Devens, Massachusetts, named after 19th-century educator Francis W. Parker . It is also home to the Regional Teachers Center. The school is free and publicly funded by the state of Massachusetts and covers six years, from grades 7 to 12. The school is a charter school as defined by the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. Admission is limited to roughly sixty students per year and is determined by random lottery. Parker received its charter in 1995 and every five years the school is reviewed by the state. If the charter standards are met, then the charter is renewed.

1 Philosophy
2 Teachers
3 Principals
4 Student body
5 Student government
6 Life after Parker
7 See also
8 Sources
9 Further reading
10 External links

[edit] Philosophy

Parker is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools. The Essential Philosophy was outlined by Ted Sizer, the founder of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, in a series of three Books entitled Horace's Hope, Horace's School, and Horace's Compromise. Sizer's objections to mainstream public schools include:

Time wasted going from classroom to classroom.
Elective courses which distract resources, time, and energy from the core curriculum.
The inflated importance of sports.
Unidirectional lecturing of teacher to student.

The Parker School addresses these problems with:^[1]

Block scheduling: Three two-hour blocks a day with integrated subjects like "Arts and Humanities" and "Math, Science and Technology."
A common core curriculum: There are no electives until the student enters Division III (roughly equivalent to grades 11 and 12). Every student takes the same core curriculum through Divisions I and II (grades 7-10). Spanish is the only language offered at Parker. The core curriculum contributes to a sense of unity among the student population.
A "teacher as coach" philosophy: Students address teachers by their first names, and every written assignment and oral presentation has an intensive draft and revision process so the student can interact with the teacher as much as possible. A result of this is that work is not graded in the traditional way at Parker. Work is commented on extensively and compared to a rubric of standards for a given "division".The bulk of teacher feedback is usually given with the aim of aiding further revision rather than as a final assessment of the student (see below)
Depth over breadth: At Parker one does not find any "survey" courses like "US History." Rather, the teachers of Arts and Humanities will choose a few issues of American history to discuss in depth that year (19th century Immigration, Vietnam War, etc), and then use the tools of a variety of disciplines (art, history, literature) to explore that same topic in greater depth than any one discipline alone would do.
Advancement based on achievement: There is no social promotion from one grade to the next from year to year; nor are there traditional letter grades. Rather, student work is assessed based on whether it meets the standard and students move between divisions when they assemble a portfolio of work proving that they can produce work that meets the standards of that division (typically after 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 years). Work that does not yet meet standards is assessed as "just beginning" or "approaching" the standard and students are expected to revise their work continually to show improvement. When students have completed a portfolio of "meets" work, they complete a "gateway" presentation highlighting their learning and showing they are ready to move forward.
The advisory sytem: Advisories (equivalent to "homerooms" in traditional schools) are designed to create close relationships between students and teachers. Advisories have roughly twelve students. Each advisory has a faculty advisor at the head, and for fifteen minutes at the beginning and end of each day, advisories meet to connect and reflect together and discuss the events of their personal lives. An hour a week on Wednesdays is also dedicated to advisory time, usually spent in non-academic activities.

[edit] Teachers

The teachers tend to be young, idealistic, and full of energy. This is not always the case, of course, but the school's relationship with the Harvard Graduate School of Education means that many young teachers start at Parker to intern and decide to stay. Teacher turnover at Parker is very high. Many teachers leave the school after a few years. Some leave to take on leadership roles in their own essential schools elsewhere in the country. Others leave because of the relatively low pay: though Parker spends a greater percentage of its total funds on its teachers than any school in the state, Parker teachers are paid less than teachers at other local public schools.

[edit] Principals

Jim Nehring (1996-1998)
Ted and Nancy Sizer (1998-1999)
Gregg Sinner (1999-2001)
Teri Schrader (2001-present)

[edit] Student body

Though admission is by lottery, the student body is somewhat self-selecting. The school's isolated location in Devens, a decommissioned army base in central Massachusetts, means that any student attending needs to have a parent able to drop him or her off at 8:30AM and pick him or her up at 3:30PM, a schedule that somewhat infringes on the workday. The average commute to school for a Parker student is a 15 minute drive. Bussing is not provided, making it difficult for low-income students from nearby urban areas such as Lowell or Leominster to attend. Parent-organized carpools are common. The students who do apply often fall in one of two categories: academically successful students frustrated by the lack of opportunity and challenge in the local public schools or students whose personalities, attitudes, or learning styles have proven to be incompatible with the mainstream public schools and are looking for an alternative.

[edit] Student government

The student body is represented by the Community Congress (CC), which meets every Wednesday for one hour. Within the CC, there are various groups that deal with different aspects of school government, including the STAF (Student Teacher Activity Fund) Committee, which distributes community-benefiting mini-grants; the Spirit Committee, which organizes dances and other school spirit activites; the Green Committee, which oversees recycling and works to make the school more environmentally friendly; and the Public Relations Committee, which writes a bi-weekly newsletter for the Friday Announcements.

The CC is made up of one representative from each advisory in the school, and is led by two co-advisors elected by the student body at the end of each school year. In the 2004 election, the position of an alternate was added in order to take the place of one of the co-advisors in the case of absence or a senior project obligation. Past co-advisors were:

Katie Jameson and Gabe Chicoine (2003-2004)
Edward Pechet and Tai Sassen-Liang (alternate: Becca Arnold) (2004-2005)
Jake Yarmus and Ted Gross (alternate: Helen Lanier) (2005-2006)
Kayla Reeves, Amanda Griffin, and Kyle Reeves (2006-2007)

The CC's counterpart, the Justice Committee (JC) is also formed of one member from each advisory, and meets on Wednesday for an hour. The main purpose of the JC is to mediate disputes between members of the Parker community. The JC also oversees student elections, such as the one for co-advisors.

[edit] Life after Parker

Parker prepares its students for college. Graduates in the past have matriculated at elite schools like Brown, Cornell, Williams and Haverford. The tendency is towards small, liberal arts colleges, but Parker sends many students to the local University of Massachusetts schools as well. See a list of colleges graduates are enrolled in.