Fall Admission Events Set at Morgan Park Academy

Morgan Park Academy will host a pair of October admission events designed to help students and parents learn more about one of the state’s top PreK-12 schools.

Families are invited to explore How to Afford an Independent School on Thursday, October 4, 2018, at 6:00 p.m., as the Academy’s admissions team and director of finance will explain options available with indexed tuition model, scholarship support, financial assistance, payment options, and more.

MPA will host its annual High School Open House on Thursday, October 25, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. Students and families are encouraged to meet the admissions team, hear from current students and faculty, tour the college-like campus, and learn more about Morgan Park Academy’s record of educating independent thinkers and global leaders since 1873.

Both events are free and open to the public, but space is limited. Please call 773-881-6700 or visit www.morganparkacademy.org to RSVP.

Currently celebrating its 146th year, Morgan Park Academy is an independent college preparatory school in Chicago’s Morgan Park-Beverly neighborhood, enrolling 450 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

MPA was named the city’s No. 8 private high school in the latest Chicago magazine rankings and is the No. 6 K-12 private school in the state, according to the research and reviews website Niche.com, which awarded an overall A+ grade. On diversity, long a strong suit, the Academy consistently earns the highest marks, ranked second in the state and in the top 50 nationally among most diverse private high schools.

Built around small class sizes and strong teacher-student relationships, the MPA experience invites students to develop a worldview rooted in their own culture while broadening and deepening their thinking beyond the boundaries of campus, city, and country.

With a ratio of one teacher for every eight students, MPA students not only have the opportunity to speak up and stand out in the classroom, on stage, and on the athletic field, but also to develop genuine, personal relationships with teachers that foster academic achievement and create a sense of community.

Graduates emerge as confident young adults, original thinkers, and creative problem solvers. They progress into the next stages of their lives well-prepared for advanced college coursework and poised to meet and exceed the high expectations that they refined at MPA.

The school’s core focus, Head of School Mercedes Z. Sheppard said, is its mission to engage the whole child, inspire the independent learner, and prepare the global leader of tomorrow to make a positive difference in the world.

"We want students to leave MPA understanding that their neighborhood and their city aren't everything, that we are part of a larger world that we have a responsibility to," Sheppard said.

Morgan Park Academy’s student body reflects Chicago’s diversity in ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socioeconomic background, with students from 80 zip codes throughout Chicago, the surrounding suburbs, and northwest Indiana, as well as about 25 international students. In a community where no ethnicity comprises more than 35% of the Upper School, students embrace the differences that make each other unique.

Infused into the curriculum throughout the school year, the study of language and culture, service to others, and environmental sustainability comes into sharpest focus during Global Week each March. High school and middle school students and teachers share a broad range of learning experiences off campus, while early childhood and elementary students explore the world's countries and cultures closer to home.

Recent high school experiences included trips to Japan, Iceland, Greece and Italy, Yellowstone National Park, and Silicon Valley, California. Last fall, MPA students hosted a visit from the German students they met abroad the previous spring.

“Our goal is to help students widen their perspective,” Sheppard said. “We show them the world and challenge them to step outside their comfort zones -- and their zip codes.”

Small class sizes also allow MPA students to receive personalized attention from the Director of College Counseling throughout the college admission process. A thorough, thoughtful college counseling program ensures that students find the right fit in their college searches and are ready for advanced college coursework once they get there.

Morgan Park Academy seniors in the past decade have been accepted by 28 of the nation's top 30 colleges and universities, as ranked by US News & World Report. The collective list of admissions includes national universities such as Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Rice University, Stanford University, Tufts University, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University; as well as top liberal arts schools such as Amherst College, Wellesley College, and Williams College.

For more information, please contact the MPA admissions team at 773-881-6700 or visit www.morganparkacademy.org.