Worcester is the 2nd most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the 114th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, also making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north-northwest of Providence. Due to its location near the geographic center of Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth"; a heart is the official symbol of the city. Worcester is the historical seat of Worcester County in central Massachusetts.
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses, a satellite campus in Springfield and also 25 campuses throughout California and Washington with the University of Massachusetts Global.
The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public university system and has been accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) since 1975. With 1,110 faculty members and over 18,000 students, it is the largest university in the Merrimack Valley and the second-largest public institution in the state. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the United States. Originally an all-graduate institution, Clark's first undergraduates entered in 1902 and women were first enrolled in 1942.
Worcester State University (WSU) is a public university in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1874 and enrolls nearly 5,500 undergraduates and over 900 graduate students.
Anna Maria College is a private Roman Catholic college in Paxton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1946 as a women's college, but has been coeducational since 1973. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) formerly known as North Adams State College (NASC) is a public liberal arts college in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is part of the state university system of Massachusetts. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Originally established as part of the state's normal school system for training teachers, it now offers programs leading to Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees, as well as a Master of Education track.
The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first Harvard school to award degrees to women. HGSE enrolls more than 800 students in its one-year master of education (Ed.M.) and three-year doctor of education leadership (Ed.L.D.) programs.
Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of the school from the county and it became Chicago Teachers College (CTC). Northeastern Illinois University began as a branch campus of CTC in 1949. In 1951, the State of Illinois began funding the college, and assumed control in 1965, transforming it into a comprehensive state college. In 1967, it became Chicago State University. CSU is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Theodore Ryland Sizer was a leader of educational reform in the United States, the founder of the Essential school movement and was known for challenging longstanding practices and assumptions about the functioning of American secondary schools. Beginning in the late 1970s, he had worked with hundreds of high schools, studying the development and design of the American educational system, leading to his major work Horace's Compromise in 1984. In the same year, he founded the Coalition of Essential Schools based on the principles espoused in Horace's Compromise.
Francis Wayland Parker was a pioneer of the progressive school movement in the United States. He believed that education should include the complete development of an individual — mental, physical, and moral. John Dewey called him the "father of progressive education." He worked to create curriculum that centered on the whole child and a strong language background. He was against standardization, isolated drill and rote learning. He helped to show that education was not just about cramming information into students' minds, but about teaching students to think for themselves and become independent people.
Francis Parker School of Louisville, originally known as St. Francis School, is a private, coeducational, college-preparatory day school in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Founded in 1977, it is an outgrowth of St. Francis School, in Goshen, a K-8 school founded on the developmental education model a decade earlier. Both schools are non-sectarian, but maintain an association with the Episcopal Diocese of Louisville, and a historical link to St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in Louisville. The church and the schools are named after St. Francis of Assisi.
Brewton–Parker College is a private Baptist college in Mount Vernon, Georgia, United States. Brewton–Parker was founded in 1904 and is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
Francis Parker School (Parker) is a college preparatory independent day school in San Diego, California, serving students from junior kindergarten through twelfth grade. Parker was founded in 1912 by Clara Sturges Johnson and William Templeton Johnson, themselves recent arrivals to the West Coast. The Johnsons' nieces had attended the original Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, founded eleven years earlier, and sought to recreate the same progressive education standards at the original institution.
Francis W. Parker School is an independent school serving students who live in the Chicago area from Pre-K through twelfth grade. Located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, the school is based on the progressive education philosophies of John Dewey and Colonel Francis Wayland Parker, emphasizing community and citizenship. Tuition and fees range from $36,480 for kindergarten to $42,300 for grade 12.
Whitney High School is a public school located in the southern Placer County city of Rocklin, California, a settlement in the northern Sacramento metropolitan area. Whitney is one of two high schools in Rocklin Unified School District; its counterpart is Rocklin High School. The school is the district's newest educational facility, having opened in 2005 to freshmen and sophomores; Whitney's first freshmen graduated at the end of the 2008–09 school year. That same school year, Whitney was recognized as a California Distinguished School.
City Academy High School is a charter school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The school was created a year after charter school legislation in Minnesota was passed. As a charter school, it operates independently, but is sponsored by the College of St. Catherine. On September 7, 1992, City Academy became the first charter school in the United States to open.
St. Andrew's Schools is a private K–12 school in Honolulu, Hawaii. Made up of The Priory, an all-girls K–12 program with a college preparatory school; The Prep, the all-boys K–5 program; and a co-educational preschool for ages 2–5 years in the Nu'uanu valley. Founded in 1867 by Queen Emma Kaleleonālani, wife of King Kamehameha IV, the schools enroll students in preschool through grade 12 year round. The enrollment is about 550, with a student-teacher ratio of 8 to 1. Today, the school is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. It is administered by a board of trustees and is the oldest all-girls school in Hawai'i. More than half the faculty have advanced degrees, and virtually 100% of graduates attend four-year colleges and universities across the country.
Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School is a public charter high school in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was originally located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, but relocated to its present location 6 years later. It primarily serves students in nearby towns such as; Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield, West Springfield, Westfield, and South Hadley. It is set to close in the summer of 2023 after the Massachusetts Board of Education declined to renew its charter.
