Civility Sustains Academic Excellence
A Statement from Head of School, Kevin Yaley, Ph.D.
July 2024
In the summer of 1883, renowned 19th-century educational leader and our School’s namesake Colonel Francis W. Parker gave a series of talks at a Summer Institute on Teaching. Parker’s final talk that summer began as follows:
Your Title Goes Here
“No matter how much educators may differ in regard to the means and methods of teaching, upon one point there is substantial agreement; viz. that the end and aim of all education is the development of character. There is also, little or no difference of opinion, in regard to the elements that form the common ideal of character. Love of truth, justice, and mercy; benevolence, humility, energy, patience, and self-control, are recognized the world over, as some of the essentials that should govern human action.”
Throughout our 112 years, Francis Parker School has remained deeply committed to the core beliefs that the needs of society should determine the work of the school and that the supreme need of society is for all to live the common ideal of character—in a word, civility. And today, we find ourselves in a moment in our history when the need for civility has arguably never been more desirable and more needed.
Like all great schools, Parker is, and will always remain, committed to the pursuit and fidelity of academic excellence—a pursuit that can only be achieved if it occurs within a school community defined by its civility.
Academic excellence guides our students to think critically, write persuasively, communicate confidently, and inquire courageously. It empowers students to discover, develop, and express their own political and civic beliefs in an environment where expressive freedom, intellectual diversity, self-regulation, and civility are increasingly overshadowed by competing social, political, and religious ideologies, conflicting regional biases, and seemingly irreconcilable differences. In short, academic excellence demands civility.
In 2024, The Edward E. Ford Foundation (EE Ford) funded a report titled Thriving in A World of Pluralistic Contention: A Framework for Schools. The report presents skills, instructional practices, guidelines, and strategies designed to deepen student curiosity and increase their appreciation of the world’s complexities. This guidance will assist students in effectively managing the inherent tensions that increasingly sit at the center of our schools, our communities, our nations, and our world. It is a roadmap to achieving—and preserving—the pursuit of academic excellence through the framework of civility.
This framework encourages leading schools to recommit to the critical work of developing students’ intellectual curiosity, ethical responsibility, self-reliance, community engagement, and global competence. Schools must cultivate in students a willingness to listen deeply and patiently, even in the face of provocation, and the ability to uphold an ethic of generosity and an assumption of good faith. The core curriculum and instructional practices must constantly reinforce the skills and aptitudes of conscientiousness, civility, and community, all while maintaining a deep commitment to academic excellence.
As we continue our mission-critical work of academic excellence and civility, Parker will look to the wisdom and guidance of resources such as the EE Ford Report to best prepare our students to thrive in their world today and tomorrow. Accordingly, we will dedicate time and attention this fall to further strengthening our commitment to civility through a series of talks, workshops and panels, parent education opportunities, and student-led discussions. We will incorporate lessons into the program and curriculum, reinforcing our fundamental belief that civility sustains academic excellence.
It is our responsibility to our School, our mission, and, most especially, our students to invest deeply in civility and citizenship in the coming year and beyond. The goal is to ensure that Parker remains a place where expressive freedom, intellectual diversity, self-regulation, and civility define our students’ learning. In the end, without a deep commitment to civility, academic excellence becomes a baseless pursuit.
