For over 100 years, Baker Demonstration School has been educating preschool – 8th grade children hailing from Chicago, the North Shore and around the globe. Our community is committed to our evidence-based approach to progressive education.Our child-centered approach ensures that each child is uniquely nurtured—creating expressive, compassionate students that are eager to help shape the world and truly love learning at Baker.

It was the late 19th century, and the world was undergoing dramatic changes. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing. It was rapidly creating new technologies and workforce opportunities for which educators needed to prepare their students. But how do you prepare young people for such an unpredictable future?

Progressive Education arose as an answer to that question. Its proponents, such as American psychologist John Dewey, Italian physician Maria Montessori and our first director, Clara Belle Baker, suggested the best way to prepare children was to focus more on teaching them through experience how to learn rather than merely what to learn. That would prepare them to adapt and thrive regardless of what the future brings.Independent schools like Baker are leading the way, providing a truly progressive educational experience that prepares them for a world that is changing more rapidly than ever before. Here, at Baker, your child’s natural love of learning will grow into the confidence they need to solve problems, adapt to whatever life brings them, advocate for themselves and ultimately thrive in whatever they choose to do.