Weekly Information for January 3, 2025

Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, This is an exciting time of year for our Seniors and their team of supporters. Clearly none of our students do it alone. Thanks to their families, teachers, and friends who shaped the values and aspirations of our students – we share in their success. Tonight is a fitting way to kick off the next few weeks as we head up the street for Junior and Senior Prom. We look forward to seeing our students all decked out, celebrating and enjoying one another. Next Thursday, we host the first of four days of Senior Exhibitions, during which every senior shares their senior project in front of a juried panel. This final OP provides every student an opportunity to “demonstrate mastery and exhibit their expertise before family and community.” It serves as the culmination of six years of authentic engagement, hard work, and exhibitions of learning at Parker. This is also a moment of pride for the institution and our approach to learning. Last year, voters in the state of Massachusetts decided that MCAS would no longer serve as a graduation requirement. That prompted state leaders to engage in a year-long process of considering alternatives that could be used to determine a student’s knowledge, skills and dispositions for graduation. Two of the top three competency determinations come directly from our work - student portfolios and capstone projects. We have increasingly shared our approach and welcomed visitors from around the world who want to see our Senior Exhibitions. I was one of those visitors 15 years ago, my first exposure to Parker. What makes our approach unique is the school-wide commitment to academic rigor, personalization and public exhibition – for all students. We are thrilled to celebrate the success and growth of our students in this public way. It is a celebration for our whole school community!  Brian

Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, Wishing you a wonderful spring break with those who you love! We hope the week off is restful and rejuvenating. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday, April 27, for a rigorous and celebratory end of the year at Parker. Have a great break! Bex

Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, There is a classic cartoon that I have been thinking about quite a lot lately. The image has two different drawings under the heading “success.” The first image has a straight arrow moving up to the right at a 45 degree angle which is labeled “what people think it looks like.” The second image has an arrow that also moves up to the right that quickly turns from a straight line into a massive, messy tangle before straightening out for the last little bit. This image is labeled “what it really looks like.” I have a longstanding love-hate relationship with this image. Sometimes I look at it and find it a useful reminder that mistakes, wrong turns, and feeling like I might be going in circles is completely normal and to be expected. Sometimes I look at it and yearn for the clean, clear, simple straight line of accomplishing something as and when I planned. At this point in the school year, I often need the reminder of this image. As a student, this was when at least one of my teachers might realize we were “behind” and then speed through the remaining curriculum. This can also be the time of year when students wonder if they are making progress or when they become convinced they are not making progress. Either of these feelings can make it hard to sustain the energy and attention necessary to get out of the tangled mess. This can be a time when we are sitting in that tangle, on the way to some success, that we can’t quite see yet. It’s a time when we have to really focus, work hard to get through the complex challenges, and be willing to revise our original plans. No matter which image resonates with your current experience, I encourage you to remember that what we think about how things will go, and how they actually go, don’t always line up perfectly. I believe that if we pay attention to those points of discrepancy, that just might be where we can find our richest learning. Best wishes for a restful weekend. Bex

Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, We are delighted to celebrate Parker students who were recognized for their outstanding performance at the 45th annual Elizabeth Haskins Mathematics Contest at Fitchburg State University. In the 90-minute competition, students answer 50 challenging math questions written or created by members of the Fitchburg State Mathematics Department faculty. This year, five students from Parker participated in the competition. The high scorers in each grade level were recognized in an awards ceremony at the competition. All five students from Parker were among the top scorers! Three Parker seniors earned Honorable Mention, placing in the top 15% of all scores: Chrys Olsen Dylan Stark Oliver Gillen Two of the three top scorers were Parker juniors. Andrew Roberdeau earned 3 rd place in the 11 th grade division, repeating his performance from last year, when he placed 3 rd in the 10 th grade division. Daniel Hendrickson won 1 st place in the 11 th grade division, earning the highest overall score out of all scores at the entire competition. We appreciate the leadership and coaching of Diane Kruse, MST Domain Leader, and Nathan Soule, MST Teacher. We are very proud of our students and the adults who help them thrive.  Have a great weekend. Brian

Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, Feedback, reflection and revision are central to everything that we do at Parker. As Nancy Sizer wrote in Keeping School, “the emphasis is on growth, on learning from one’s mistakes, cleaning up one’s prose, clearing up one’s understandings.” This requires students to work hard, to be open to feedback and to try again. We are very proud of our students for engaging meaningfully in this iterative process.  We take a similar approach to adult learning at Parker. This week, we welcomed thirty teachers from across the region to join us in professional development called Looking at Student Work. During the session, Parker teachers shared the goals and expectations for standards-based assessments in their class. Participants used protocols to make observations and build meaning, referring to Parker’s articulated Criteria for Excellence, associated rubrics, and the work itself. This represents an essential opportunity to ask for feedback, reflect and revise – just like our students. We recognize that early dismissals can be hard for families. We take this professional development time seriously every week, ensuring that we are prepared to meet the needs of our students. Thank you for your partnership. Have a great weekend. Brian