One of the highest alumni honors awarded by the University, the award recognizes exceptional career achievement.
The First Laboratory School
Lab is a Nursery 3–Grade 12 institution that has stood as the pioneer and vanguard of pedagogical innovation since its founding in 1896.
As the first laboratory school in the country, our legacy is built on a commitment to pushing the boundaries of traditional education, shaping the future of learning, and fostering a community where intellectual curiosity thrives.
Our Mission
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools are home to the youngest members of the University of Chicago's academic community. We ignite and nurture an enduring spirit of scholarship, curiosity, creativity, and confidence. We value learning experientially, exhibiting kindness, and honoring diversity.
Our Values
As enshrined in our mission, the Lab community
upholds the following core values:
Lab centers hands-on activities and real-world applications of academic concepts...
Every person in the Laboratory Schools community honors differences, communicates openly, and treats one another with respect...
We cultivate a community of belonging that both acknowledges and respects the identities of every person we encounter—inside and outside of our school community
Ranked the Best Private School in Illinois
2024 Rankings according to Niche, the leading platform
connecting students and families with colleges and schools.
Nestled within the rich academic tapestry of the University of Chicago, our schools continue to serve as living laboratories where groundbreaking educational theories are tested and refined.
Our students are not merely recipients of knowledge; they are active participants in their own learning journey. Our distinguished faculty, collaborative ethos, and over a century-old tradition of academic excellence create an environment that challenges conventional norms, nurtures critical thinking, and prepares students to democratically engage in an ever-changing society.
Pillars of Academic Excellence
For over a century, our pillars of excellence have guided the Laboratory Schools to foster a legacy of academic achievement, intellectual curiosity, and a lifelong love of learning.
Learn more about our approach in our school's 2019 Strategic Framework.
Students engage deeply asking not why, but what if
Explore unconventional solutions and think critically
Igniting a passion for learning and driving students to ask questions
Empowering students to take risks without fear of failure
At a Glance
2,211
students in 15 grades
100+
clubs and activities
3
fully functional theaters
105,000
volumes in four libraries
5
gyms plus swimming pool
11
Golden Apple award winning faculty
All children should have access to an education that values their identities and spirits in a way that highlights their learning styles, interests, and gifts they bring to the classroom community. Tracy Aiden
Early Childhood Head Teacher
Progressive Education Network Board Member
What is a progressive education?
Lab's founder is thought to be the most significant educational thinker of his era and is considered by many to be the “father of progressive education.” Dewey advocated for schools to be more like democratic communities. As the nation's first laboratory school, Lab remains an active member of Progressive Education Network (PEN), which believes that the purpose of education transcends preparation for college or career.
Over a Century of Scholarship, Curiosity, Creativity, and Confidence
Dewey's intention was to challenge conventional attitudes about childhood education and to discover “how a school could become a cooperative community.” In such a community, each member had roles, performed tasks, and learned what it meant to be productive citizens. Learning, in other words, was not too different from life.
Notable Alumni
The greatest testament to the power of a Laboratory Schools education has always been our graduates. They remind us regularly that the precollegiate life they experienced at the Laboratory Schools contributed to their achievements as adults. Lab alumni have a knack for making a difference in the world as professionals, academicians, artists, educators, researchers, public servants, and more.
Emmy award-winning writer, performer, director, producer
Executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists—keepers of the "doomsday clock"
Blues musician and bandleader
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Eisner Award-winning cartoonist and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter
Illinois State Representative
Feminist scholar and founding director of multiple research and policy centers
United States Secretary of Education
Fulbright scholar, executive director of Black Entrepreneurs NYC
Specialist in history and culture of Africa and the African Diaspora
American economist, physicist, legal scholar
Renowned astrophysicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Crafoord Prize, and MacArthur "genius" award winner
Chicago Alderman
Author, running record holder, inductee of Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame
Pulitzer Prize-wining journalist, host of Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, founder and CEO of Futuro Media Group, author