Culminating experiences are about to begin

Spring 2023

Dear Friends,

Spring has come to Hyde Park and with it the exciting final weeks of school. At each grade level, carefully-delivered lessons, inquiry-based adventures, and confidence-inspiring challenges have taken firm root. Culminating experiences are about to begin. Soon, Middle Schoolers will depart for outdoor experiences or explorations of American history in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Outside of Earl Shapiro Hall, Early Childhood children are taking in the wonders of spring in Jackson Park. Our seniors will shortly depart for an assortment of curated adventures for May Project. Lower School students will soon find that Pride Month is again marked by their advocacy for LGBTQ inclusivity. It is a time of year to celebrate Lab students’ growth and accomplishments, like those of the scientists, artists, musicians, and athletes featured in this edition of LabLife.

Over countless seasons, Lab has grown into a large, diverse, complex institution that brings together students and their families from a broad geographical swath of Chicagoland and a variety of backgrounds and situations. A world-class faculty teaches a 21st century curriculum with care to the great pressures and challenges facing young people today. And yet, we still find purpose in John Dewey’s founding vision—particularly in our consciousness that Lab is preparing today’s children and teens to be the leaders and champions of an ever-healthier democracy in the future. No purpose could be more compelling at such a time.

In these pages, and in all your interactions with the Laboratory Schools, I hope you find inspiration and joy in the growth and development of our students. You will find their daily endeavors as well as their triumphs—from new school swimming records set at the Independent Schools League championship meet to the Quality Award nabbed by our robotics team at the FRC robotics regional in Milwaukee—reflect our mission priorities of scholarship, kindness, and diversity. You will find countless young people well on their way to being leaders in their chosen fields, discerning defenders of truth, informed participants in public discourse, and staunch proponents of an inclusive, equitable society.

Throughout, Lab stands as a community of caring and purpose. Thank you for belonging to the Lab community and partnering in the all-important endeavor of providing an outstanding education to young people. Enjoy this issue of LabLife, and have a wonderful spring.

Tori Jueds
Director of Schools