“We want students to understand that Chicago isn’t everything, that we have a responsibility toward the larger world that we are a part of.”
— Head of School Mercedes Z. Sheppard
World Ready
From preschool to senior year, we show our students the world, integrating a perspective-widening, global focus throughout the MPA experience.
Scores of students travel abroad each year, and on campus we interpret events and ideas in their larger, global context, challenging students of all ages to step outside their comfort zones and their zip codes. Learning from and with peers from a host of cultures and nationalities, students prepare to meet head-on the challenges of an increasingly global world.
Study of world languages begins in PreK, and students explore French, Mandarin, and Spanish on a rotating basis before picking a language to focus on in fifth grade.



Exploration at Every Age
Lower School
Learning beyond borders.
Middle School
Stepping out into the world.
Upper School
Becoming global leaders.