The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also Lab School and abbreviated UCLS; the upper classes are nicknamed U-High) is a private, co-educational day school

Day school

A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It is affiliated with the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

. About half of the students have a parent who is on faculty at the University.

History

The Laboratory Schools were founded by American educator John Dewey

John Dewey

John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...

 in 1896 in the Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Chicago

Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...

 neighborhood of Chicago. The school began as a progressive

Educational progressivism

Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. More recently, it has been viewed as an alternative to the test-oriented instruction legislated by the No Child Left Behind educational funding act...

 institution that goes from nursery school through 12th grade.

Campus

The Lower School, Middle School, and High School are a part of the main 1362 E 59th Street building. The main building consists of five smaller, interconnected buildings: Judd, Blaine, Belfield, Middle School and U-High. Similarly, there are two gymnasiums, Kovler and Sunny, which stand as interconnected buildings. Kenwood Avenue has a cul-de-sac between the schools and the gyms, thus the recreational playground area between the gyms and the schools is known as Kenwood Mall. The Nursery School consists of two smaller, separate buildings and is a block west and a half block north on Woodlawn Ave.

Student body

The school has over 1,700 students currently enrolled, though there are plans to increase the size.http://facilities.uchicago.edu/construction/lab-school.shtml It is considered one of the top preparatory schools in the United States, reflected in the Wall Street Journal's findings that the school is amongst the top five feeder institutions in the nation for elite colleges. It has been heralded as one of the more diverse independent schools with about 35% students of color and over 44 nationalities represented. The student body is about 60% white.

Today the school is divided into a Nursery School (Pre-K and Kindergarten), Lower School (1st through 4th grade), Middle School (5th through 8th grades), and High School (9th through 12th grades). Many children begin the school in nursery and continue through their high school graduation, and 75% of applications are for nursery school or 9th grade.

In 2007, the school was ranked fourth in the nation for its record of sending graduates to elite universities and colleges.

Extracurricular activities

The high school math team and the science team are regular contenders for state titles. The school's newspaper (The Midway) and the school's yearbook (U-Highlights) regularly win regional and national awards, as does the arts magazine, Renaissance. Other popular activities include theater, ethnic clubs, Student Council, and Model UN. The Model UN team is consistently ranked top in the nation, and is world-renowned for its competitive excellence. It recently was ranked in the Top 5 High School Model UN teams in the United States.

The school's athletic teams, the Maroons, compete in the Independent School League

Independent School League (Illinois)

The Independent School League is an athletic league comprising nine private secondary schools in the Chicago metro area. All of the schools are also full members of the Illinois High School Association; the governing body for most high school athletics and competitive activities in the state...

 (ISL) and are members of the Illinois High School Association

Illinois High School Association

The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...

(IHSA). The high school has eight boys and eight girls teams, while the middle school has five boys and five girls teams. Both operate with a "no cut policy," meaning any student who wishes to participate may.

Notable persons

External links

• 100 Years of Learning at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools