During its founding in 1912, Francis Parker School was heavily influenced in both name and educational philosophy by the work of Colonel Francis Wayland Parker, a teacher, school administrator, civil war veteran, and pioneer of progressive education in the United States. Born in New Hampshire the mid 19th century, Colonel Parker was influenced by
pedagogical views of many philosophers of the
Enlightenment, particularly those of
Johann Friedrich Herbart. Much of his educational values and approaches are demonstrated through his development of the
Quincy Method, which de-emphasized rigid discipline and memorization, instead focusing on critical thinking, collaboration, and holistic development of students. In 1901, the Francis W. Parker School was founded in Chicago under Parker's liberal educational views. He died in 1902, but the school served as a model for the Francis W. Parker School in San Diego.
William Templeton Johnson, an architect originally from New York, and his wife Clara Sturges Johnson moved to San Diego in 1912 after the architect's education at the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The couple founded Francis Parker School in San Diego in 1912. The original campus opened in December in a
Mission Hills bungalow with an enrollment of 3 students, two of the Johnsons’ sons and one other child. Originally located on what's now the Mission Hills Nursery on Fort Stockton Drive, the school subsequently moved less than a year later to its present location on nearby Randolph Street. William Johnson planned the Mission Hills campus; it was designed in a Spanish Mission style, and the central quadrangle and open-air classrooms attempted to foster a collaborative physical environment that would serve the aims of the school's educational philosophy In 1971, Parker purchased its current 43-acre Linda Vista campus from The San Miguel School for Boys, which was moving to La Jolla to merge with the Bishop's School for Girls, what is now the
Bishop's School. Today, the Mission Hills campus is home to the Lower School, with classes from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 5. The Linda Vista Campus is home to the Middle School, Grades 6 to 8, and Upper School, Grades 9 to 12. == Academics ==