Future Forward

At Francis Parker School, excellence in teaching and learning has always been central to the School’s vision of creating engaging learning environments that nurture curiosity and prepare students with the skills and knowledge they need to embrace purposeful opportunities and live joyful lives.

Thanks to a transformational gift from the Vassiliadis Family Foundation with support from the E.E. Ford Foundation, Parker is now able to formalize and expand this commitment with the creation of the Paul Esch Office for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (The Office). This new office at the School provides the structure and resources needed to align teaching practices, foster professional growth, and ensure that every student benefits from a unified vision of learning.

The Office empowers Parker’s faculty through year-round coaching, collaborative learning, and targeted training, building lasting teaching capability to meet every student’s needs and ensuring educators continually refine their craft and elevate the learning experience.

ORIGIN STORY

The inspiration for The Office began with a simple question: Are we doing everything possible to help outstanding educators become outstanding Parker educators? “One of the things at a school like Parker is we have a collection of outstanding practitioners and they come to us outstanding,” said Assistant Head of School for Academics and Head of Grades 6–12 Dan Lang. Dan and the rest of the leadership team wanted to make sure the School was doing the groundwork to align these top-notch professionals with the strategic and effective instructional practices already abundant at Parker.

The goal of The Office is to ensure a cohesive community of educators who share a common vocabulary and a collective vision for what they hope students will achieve. This keeps everyone at the School working as a unified whole rather than in isolation.

Over the past decade, Parker has made incremental changes in service of this vision—including new roles, updated policies, and refined practices. “We’ve gotten to a critical point where it’s time for everything to pull together and be stewarded by The Office,” Dan said. “Teaching and learning are our core business. They should be central, they should be prominent, and they should be stewarded by somebody like Erika Assadi, who’s going to do a great job with it.”

STRUCTURE OF THE OFFICE

For Head of Teaching and Learning Erika Assadi, the work is rooted in Parker’s unique ability as an independent school to be intentional and deeply responsive to student needs. In short, it’s about removing barriers. Erika and the team are managing the infrastructure so that each individual educator can focus on applying their creative instincts in the classroom, instead of getting caught up in the smaller details.

“We can be more nimble, we can provide more resources, and we can be more intentional in the way that we are creating our environment,” explained Erika about the work of The Office.

The Office’s structure reflects this mission and is comprised of curriculum directors, Director of Instructional Coaching for Belonging, literacy and math coaches, department chairs, and EdTech coordinators. While these are the official members, Erika emphasized the collaborative nature of the work: “It is a collective group of expertise. We are leaning on everybody’s knowledge and skillset to make the work of The Office happen.”

THE WORK OF THE OFFICE

Investing in our teachers is essential to giving students the best possible education. Through year-round partnerships, coaching, collaborative learning, and targeted training days provided by The Office, the School is building teachers’ long-term skills so they can meet the diverse needs of every student. This comprehensive approach ensures our faculty continually refine their craft and grow as leaders, creating a more dynamic and effective learning experience for all.

BEYOND THE BASICS

Beyond these supports, The Office is launching the Paul Esch Office for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Fellowship Program—a four-year, internal “master’s program” for Parker educators. Each cohort program provides dedicated faculty with the time, resources, and expert guidance to investigate a specific pedagogical challenge through the lens of the Science of Learning.

Fellows will develop, refine, and lead evidence-based projects that directly enhance student learning, align with Parker's mission to educate the whole child, and contribute to the broader educational community.

“We want our teachers to become practitioners of how the brain actually works,” Erika explained. “The stronger we are in mind-brain education, the deeper understanding we’ll have about why things work or don’t work with day-to-day instructional practices.”

As each fellowship ends, Fellows will emerge as instructional leaders, joining The Office as champions and coaches.

DATA-DRIVEN EDUCATION

Erika shared that the most important data is what’s really happening in the classroom day-to-day, including how a student feels and how a student is seen and known in the community. “We want students to be emotionally connected to the learning—that's what should be driving what we do in the classroom and why we do it.”

This responsiveness has already led to changes, from adding movement and music to Junior Kindergarten literacy lessons to incorporating more nonfiction texts in Grade 2 to match student interests.

The Office uses a range of data, including standardized test scores, community surveys, and crucial classroom observations to inform its work. Some of the most recent data used by The Office was from the [Yellow Car] survey results, which allowed Parker to assess and understand the perspective of our own community members, including students, faculty, and parents.

PURSUING INNOVATION

While few independent schools have such an office, Parker drew inspiration from standout examples like St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, The Westminster Schools, and Wildwood School. As Dan put it, Parker is “pulling some of the best of the ideas that we. see and creating the Parker version.”

“We have the history of these schools to know that it works successfully, and we will customize it to make it successful here at Parker,” Erika said.

One goal of The Office is to keep Parker at the forefront of education. To this end, The Office's forward-thinking strategy includes the formation of an AI Steering Committee and AI Advisory Council. The AI Steering Committee—comprised of Office members, EdTech coordinators, librarians, and the Director of Technology—researches trends, tests tools, and reviews policies. The advisory council, which includes students and faculty, offers real-world insights and feedback.

Dan acknowledged concerns around AI, but is confident in Parker’s approach. “I think we’re looking at it square in the eye. We’re being intentional and deliberate,” he emphasized. “The fundamentals of a Parker education are not wavering. Critical thinking, good communication, good humans—that will always be what we strive for.”

A PARKER MILESTONE

The creation of The Office marks a milestone for Parker and strengthens its ability to nurture not just great teachers, but great Parker teachers rooted in the educational philosophy, vision for learning, and values that are foundational to the Parker Experience.