North Park Elementary School

North Park Elementary School A PreK-8 independent school on Chicago's north side.

A small school with a big impact on academic and social-emotional development, with an engaging, collaborative, place-based inquiry approach to learning and a top-notch high school placement program. NPES offers a dynamic, nurturing community that cares deeply about its students and prepares them to be confident, critical thinkers. From the moment you walk through the front door, curiosity, energy

, and passion radiate throughout the school. NPES inspires lifelong learning and supports core values, such as honesty, responsibility, and concern for others. Through the active involvement of parents and caring professional staff, the school fosters self-motivation, self-discipline, and academic and personal excellence in every student.

Follow our new LinkedIn account for interesting events (including public programming offered by our independent school)...
08/31/2026

Follow our new LinkedIn account for interesting events (including public programming offered by our independent school), big-picture news, educational and parenting resources, employment opportunities, and more!

Welcome back, NPES!Here’s to a year filled with curiosity, connection, laughter, learning, and lots of special moments! ...
08/26/2026

Welcome back, NPES!

Here’s to a year filled with curiosity, connection, laughter, learning, and lots of special moments! We’re so happy to have our North Park community back together. Looking forward for the year ahead! 🎉

Shark Week 2026 was incredible, with students across JK through Middle School collaborating to use design thinking and p...
08/07/2026

Shark Week 2026 was incredible, with students across JK through Middle School collaborating to use design thinking and place-based learning to examine our neighborhood and identify how they might strengthen our community by building redesigned blocks.

Each group planned and constructed its block using found materials and low and high-tech tools—from cardboard cutters, glue, and paint to 3-D printers and laser cutters—culminating in a block party Friday afternoon for families. The resulting neighborhood included a library, a community theatre, a hardware store, cafe, music shop, park, grocer, and other elements. Our Early Childhood students designed and made the animals for the park. We’re proud of our students and grateful for NPES’ talented and dedicated Shark Week staff who made it happen.

Shark Week Program Manager Brad Riggs (NPES’ Director of Instructional Technology), was thrilled with how engaged and creative students were as thinkers and problem-solvers.

“They built it to help others,” Riggs said. “Taking the time to get to know people around them and to understand their needs is so important. This was a five-day sprint. The interdisciplinary experience kicked in for them when they started to build what they envisioned, and at a scale they could stand in. Our staff did such a great job letting the kids run with it while thoughtfully supporting what they were after and guiding all that energy. The enthusiasm for this project was off the charts.”

If you've passed by the school recently, you may be wondering about the exterior painting of our Annex next door. Made p...
08/07/2026

If you've passed by the school recently, you may be wondering about the exterior painting of our Annex next door. Made possible by a generous grant from the Faith and Peter Nielsen family, we commissioned a mural by two exceptional local artists of Indigenous descent, Noelle Garcia and Monica Rickert-Bolter, to commemorate our new performing arts studio in the Annex, celebrate Chicago’s diverse and rich history, give back to our local community, and help raise the awareness and visibility of our small school with a big impact.

The mural--which NPES students contributed to--tells the story of Kitihawa and her husband Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, Chicago's first couple. The mural will be the first in our city to recognize Kitihawa, a Potawatomi woman, for her crucial contributions to Chicago's foundation as co-owner and operator of the trading post and as an essential and trusted translator. You can learn more about the artists, the history, and the mural's creation process--including how students participated--at this link. Check it out!

NPES's new July Shark Zone childcare program (Preschool through fifth grade) combines imaginative play, water activities...
07/22/2026

NPES's new July Shark Zone childcare program (Preschool through fifth grade) combines imaginative play, water activities, walks to the park, building, reading, art, music, drama, story-telling, creative writing, plenty of exercise, and popsicles...LOTS of popsicles (not to mention a few World Cup watch parties).

We're grateful to Auxiliary Programs Manager Jami Allen and our outstanding Auxiliary Programs Associates for bringing Shark Zone to life this summer for our students. The NPES campus has never hosted so much fun and joy in July, when historically we've not offered student programming. It means a lot to us, this opportunity to positively impact child development and growth all year round. And the enthusiasm and energy they carry in every morning are beautiful. We're proud of and grateful for our students!

Fourth through Eighth Grade Spanish Teacher FrankO Mansilla, recipient of a 2025-26 LEAPP enrichment grant award, comple...
07/21/2026

Fourth through Eighth Grade Spanish Teacher FrankO Mansilla, recipient of a 2025-26 LEAPP enrichment grant award, completed a cultural-immersion journey to Mexico this month to enhance Spanish and world cultures instruction at NPES and deepen the integration of cultural studies into Spanish language acquisition experiences in the classroom. Entitled Viva Mexico, this purposeful educational excursion brought Sr. Mansilla together with others also seeking to experience first hand--and gain a deeper understanding of--the country's diverse and rich indigenous heritage and contemporary life.

WHAT IS LEAPP
LEAPP is "Learners Exploring a Professional Passion," a new NPES enrichment grant program that empowers our faculty, managers, and administrators to “dream big” and pursue meaningful professional growth through educational travel and other non-traditional means, bringing fresh and potentially transformative perspectives and ideas back to our school. We recognize that without a talented, passionate, and dedicated faculty and staff--who themselves continue to grow during their time at our school--we would not be able to foster and sustain the student academic and personal growth of which our small school with a big impact is so proud.

Our 3rd–8th grade art teacher, Luo Wang, is spending an inspiring week at the TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) Summe...
07/16/2026

Our 3rd–8th grade art teacher, Luo Wang, is spending an inspiring week at the TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) Summer Institute at MassArt, learning alongside passionate art educators from around the world. The institute offers grade-level cohort groups, engaging mini-demo sessions, presentations by visiting artists, and dedicated studio time that encourages educators to strengthen their own artistic practice and build lasting studio habits.

TAB is a student-centered approach to art education that empowers students to think and work like artists. Rather than following the same step-by-step project, students are encouraged to make meaningful choices about what they create, the materials they use, and how they bring their ideas to life.

Luo looks forward to bringing back fresh ideas for balancing structure with student choice, meaningful new connections with fellow educators, and renewed excitement for the school year ahead.

We appreciate how dedicated NPES teachers are to their professional growth all year long!

Wishing all in the NPES community a safe and happy Independence Day weekend. We're excited to launch our new Summer Shar...
07/02/2026

Wishing all in the NPES community a safe and happy Independence Day weekend.

We're excited to launch our new Summer Shark Zone program Monday morning at 8:30 for campers whose families registered for week one. Welcome back!

Happy Juneteenth! NPES is closed today in recognition of this federal holiday celebrating freedom.My humanity is bound u...
06/19/2026

Happy Juneteenth! NPES is closed today in recognition of this federal holiday celebrating freedom.

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." Desmond Tutu

Early Childhood through Second Grade Art Teacher Anna Nardulli, recipient of a 2026 NPES LEAPP Enrichment Grant, is in R...
06/16/2026

Early Childhood through Second Grade Art Teacher Anna Nardulli, recipient of a 2026 NPES LEAPP Enrichment Grant, is in Reggio Emilia (in northern Italy) for "The Language of Computation Constructing Modern Knowledge Conference," a five-day international experience bringing educators together to explore the intersection of the Reggio Emilia Approach to teaching/learning and modern computational thinking. Through hands-on, project-based learning experiences, the program emphasizes innovation, creativity, and learner-centered education. Anna's purpose is learn by doing and carry new perspectives, ideas, and practical strategies back to the NPES classroom. On her first day, the group visited the Taste Atelier for a pasta making lesson, preparing a regional Emilian tortellini with spinach after a full day of learning at the Malaguzzi Center.

WHAT IS LEAPP
LEAPP is "Learners Exploring a Professional Passion," a new NPES enrichment grant program that empowers our faculty, managers, and administrators to “dream big” and pursue meaningful professional growth through educational travel and other non-traditional means, bringing fresh and potentially transformative perspectives and ideas back to our school. We recognize that without a talented, passionate, and dedicated faculty and staff--who themselves continue to grow during their time at our school--we would not be able to foster and sustain the student academic and personal growth of which our small school with a big impact is so proud.

Address

2017 W Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL
60618

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 5:30pm
Thursday 8am - 5:30pm
Friday 8am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+17733273144

Website

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