Founded in 1896 and located in Hyde Park, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools are among the nation's best. Being part of the University of Chicago means that the importance of intellectual life—thought and exploration—infuses everything we do across all aspects of our curriculum. Families who choose Lab care sincerely about curiosity, inquiry, and creativity. All are attracted to a diverse community and an environment that creates and nurtures the habits of expansive thinking and complex problem-solving.
Virtually all Lab alumni go on to graduate from a four-year college. They gain acceptance to outstanding colleges around Chicago and the country: from the University of Chicago, University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign, Northwestern, and DePaul, to Harvard, Emory, University of Southern California, and many more.
And Lab grads find each other wherever they go—their Lab relationships last for years after graduation, turning into unexpected opportunities over and over as they pursue any number of different fields: medicine, law, education, banking, finance, theater, and the creative arts.
Because the Laboratory Schools are part of the world-renowned University of Chicago, the importance of intellectual life—thought and exploration—infuses everything we do across all aspects of our curriculum. Lab's history is firmly rooted in experiential learning. This approach enriches our students' educational experience and contributes to Lab's reputation as one of the finest pre-collegiate schools in the world.
All of this starts each morning when our teachers and staff arrive at school committed to giving our children the best possible education. And it ends when our graduates head out into the world with confidence and the knowledge that they are part of an amazing and unique community. To choose to be part of the Laboratory Schools is to embrace deeply held and widely shared values:
- We believe in the power of human intellect and the importance of education. We believe that learning is an ongoing process that knows no boundaries, no endpoint.
- We believe that our differences strengthen our community.
- We believe that those around us should inspire, support, and—yes—challenge us to work to our fullest potential.
Ours is a supportive learning environment that encourages curiosity and creativity, celebrates new ideas, and engages people who possess various experiences and backgrounds. Students learn to think independently and critically, explore challenging ideas, and celebrate our school community's diversity.
All around Lab is evidence of a life of learning—students and families who are fully engaged, faculty who would not want to teach anywhere else, and the unparalleled University of Chicago setting that enriches our community and resources in incomparable ways. The 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.
Diversity at the Laboratory Schools includes the thoughts and worldviews, identities and affiliations, aptitudes and aspirations, races and cultures, genders and sexualities, and experiences and economics of our students, families, faculty, administrators, and staff. Through their engagement with diversity, students will gain the preparation they need to live and lead in a complex world, with an inherent sense of inclusiveness and justice.
In our vision, we strive to appreciate diversity in education fully and define the crucial and continuous commitments we must make as a community to foster diversity at the Laboratory Schools. We believe our diverse community plays a vital part in our students' academic, social, and individual growth.
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