Robert C. Parker School

Robert C. Parker School is an independent school for students of all genders in pre-school through 8th grade, 10 minutes from downtown Albany. We believe that successful learners are confident, caring and creative, capable of defining their own place in the world.

Children eager to understand their world energize our classrooms at a time when their capacity for learning is arguably at its peak. They join together in our community of teachers, peers, mentors and families to discover and be discovered, to learn respect and earn respect, and to develop intellectual strategies that will carry them forth in a direction of their own choosing.

At Parker, mutual respect underlies all interactions in play and work. The school offers a safe learning environment where students are encouraged to pursue intellectual risk-taking. Developmentally appropriate curricula, thoughtful challenges, and constructive feedback help each student succeed. Mixed-age classes offer opportunities for collaborative learning and peer support.

Parker celebrates a learning process that is open-ended and challenging, using an inquiry-based, hands-on approach to learning. Teachers know students as individuals and leverage their strengths and interests. Teachers and students collaborate to develop research topics and projects that meet curricular needs and capture the interests of individuals and the class. In making active choices about learning, students and teachers create a democratic community that is responsive to individual learning styles and strengths.

At Parker, learning is viewed as an active process that continues throughout a lifetime. Knowledge is rooted in students’ experiences. We encourage independence of thought, emphasizing critical thinking and problem solving, while teaching basic skills and competencies. The school respects the capacity of each student and recognizes that each student develops at his or her own pace.

The Parker community is composed of students, teachers, administrators, families and friends of the school who are all integral to the life we share together. We come together to celebrate life at the school during fairs, assemblies, social, and sporting events, learning about and from each other.