PHYSICAL EDUCATION & SPORTS
Health for Life
Health and fitness literacy are an essential part of a Parker student’s education. Students from lower to upper school spend weekly time participating in physical education, and gain an appreciation for competitive sports, lifelong activity, and wellness practices.
Lower School
The physical education department at the Lower School strives to instill in students a joyful love of movement, understanding of new sports and fitness activities, and development of self-reflective and team-building skills.
All Lower School grades participate in P.E. four times a week, for 30-40 minutes (depending on the grade). Dedicated weekly physical education has been shown to not only benefit physical health, but also improves academic performance, mental health and well-being, and social interactions.
Lower School students are exposed to a variety of sports and their respective rules, including: soccer, basketball, volleyball, flag football, softball, running, lacrosse, tumbling, dance, and even bocce ball.
During lunchtime recess, Lower School students have the opportunity to come inside to a peaceful environment to practice meditation and light stretching at mindfulness class, or can also join the dance program and explore modern contemporary, hip-hop, ballet, jazz, and creative movement.
Middle School
Through the combination of individual and team activities, middle school students are introduced to a variety of sports, and develop the fundamental skills needed for Upper School athletics and beyond.
Physical fitness concepts in Middle School include cardiovascular development, proper warm-up and flexibility exercises, gross and fine motor control, beginning strength and conditioning concepts, and fundamental skill development.
Middle School students spend equal time in physical education as they do in core subject, arts, and elective classes. This amounts to an average of 200 minutes of physical activity every week.
In Grades 6 through 8, students spend some of their physical education time attending Parker’s Life Skills program. This course provides students with the skills and knowledge to positively impact their nutrition, stress management, adolescent development, mental health, and even personal finances. CPR certification and standard first-aid are also part of the Life Skills curriculum.
Middle School Sports
In the Middle School, students have the opportunity to join boys, girls, and co-ed inter-scholastic sports teams, and compete against other schools for the first time. Our Middle School is a great coaching and teaching incubator for students who may want to continue their pursuit of athletics at the varsity level. Middle School sport offerings include:
- Cross country
- Flag football
- Golf
- Lacrosse
- Volleyball
- Basketball
- Softball
- Tennis
- Soccer
- Cheer
- Baseball
Upper School
Upper School students complete their physical education credits by participating in one of Parker’s junior varsity or varsity athletic teams, or exploring new fitness interests in one our unique P.E. class offerings.
Let’s go Lancers! Upper School students have the opportunity to play on one of Parkers 20+ CIF sports. We believe that student-athletes benefit not only physically and emotionally by participating and competing in sports, but also develop critical skills (e.g., teamwork, resilience, leadership, tenacity, etc.) that promote success in the classroom, in college, and in life.
The Parker physical education department aims to educate students in a range of lifelong fitness activities and develop an interest in joyful movement and health concepts during their four years of Upper School. Students are given a wide variety of unique P.E. classes to take, including Yoga, Fitness for Life, Sports Medicine, Pilates, and Student Athletic Training.
All Grade 9 students engage in Life Skills courses as a complement to physical education. The Life Skills curriculum provides students with the knowledge and skills to develop healthy behaviors for Upper School and beyond. CPR certification and standard first-aid are part of the course curriculum. Additional topics include: self-esteem, drug and alcohol education, mindfulness, and sex education.
Upper School Athletics
At Parker, we believe that athletics is an integral and valuable component of our students’ overall educational experience. We believe that student-athletes benefit not only physically and emotionally by participating and competing in sports, we believe that one of our fundamental responsibilities is to help student-athletes develop critical skills (e.g., teamwork, resilience, leadership, tenacity, etc.) that promote success in the classroom, in college and in life.
The Athletics Department fulfills this mission by:
- Emphasizing the importance of our coaches as educators – we expect our coaches to teach student-athletes the fundamentals of their sport and to be role models for sportsmanship, respect, and integrity;
- Ensuring that our student-athletes understand that participation in athletics is a privilege, not a right – we expect all of our student-athletes to represent Parker as model citizens; and
- Building school spirit, camaraderie and an atmosphere of togetherness across all of our sports teams – we strive to be a source of pride for our students, school, and community.
2020-2021 Upper School Sports Offerings and Program Heads
Season I (Fall) Start Dates and Program Heads
Cheer (Dec. 12): Azantia Límon alimon@francisparker.org
Cross Country (Dec. 12): Matt Schellenberg mschellenberg@francisparker.org
Dance (TBD): Amber Hendrix ahendrix@francisparker.org
Football (Dec. 12): Matt Morrison mmorrison@francisparker.org
Sailing (TBA): Chris McGrath cmcgrath@francisparker.org
Surf (TBA): Cecile Santini csantini@francisparker.org
Boys Volleyball (Dec. 12): John Herman jherman@francisparker.org
Boys Sand Volleyball (TBA): John Herman jherman@francisparker.org
Girls Volleyball (Dec. 12): Audra Dent adent@francisparker.org
Boys Water Polo (Dec. 12): Sam Busby sbusby@francisparker.org
Girls Water Polo (Dec. 12): Sam Busby sbusby@francisparker.org
Boys Rugby (TBA): Warren Spieker wspieker@continuinglife.com
Season IIA (Spring) Start Dates and Program Heads
Girls Golf (Feb. 8): Jack Klein jklein@francisparker.org
Boys Golf (Feb. 15): Jack Klein jklein@francisparker.org
Boys Soccer (Feb. 22): Amani Walker awalker@francisparker.org
Girls Soccer (Feb. 22): Melissa Warner mwarner@francisparker.org
Girls Tennis (Feb. 22): Tucker Clary tclary@francisparker.org
Boys Tennis (Feb. 22): Tucker Clary tclary@francisparker.org
Season IIB (Spring) Start Dates and Program Heads
Baseball (March 13): Amad Stephens astephens@francisparker.org
Boys Basketball (March 13): Jim Tomey jtomey@francisparker.org
Girls Basketball (March 13): Judy Spoelstra jspoelstra@francisparker.org
Cheer (March 13): Azantia Límon alimon@francisparker.org
Dance (TBA): Amber Hendrix ahendrix@francisparker.org
Boys Lacrosse (March 13): Ken Maguire kmaguire@francisparker.org
Girls Lacrosse (March 13): Emily Lotkowictz elotkowictz@francisparker.org
Sailing (TBA): Chris McGrath cmcgrath@francisparker.org
Softball (March 13): Jenny Schafran jschafran@francisparker.org
Surf (TBD): Cecile Santini csantini@francisparker.org
Track and Field (March 13): DJ Wallcott dwalcott@francisparker.org
Girls Sand Volleyball (TBA): Audra Dent adent@francisparker.org