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Owings Mills, Maryland, USA All Girls, No Religious Affiliation
Guided by our motto, Esse Quam Videri—To Be Rather Than To Seem, Garrison Forest School's college preparatory program balances high standards within a welcoming, spirited atmosphere that enables each student to flourish intellectually and individually. Since 1910, Garrison Forest has prepared young women has empowered girls to realize their full potential and to live lives of purpose.Our diverse student body and boarding community brings together young women from seven states and five countries. Interim Head of School Lila Lohr and a dedicated faculty, administration, and staff pride themselves on close faculty/student relationships and a classroom environment focusing on personal achievement and collaborative learning. All students follow a college preparatory track and matriculate to a four-year college. Advanced Placement (A.P.) courses are offered in every discipline. We also offer a 1:1 Tablet PC program on our fully wired campus. Located on 110 acres outside of Baltimore, the school’s park-like campus offers collegiate-quality academic, athletic, arts, and residential facilities. Our innovative partnership with The Johns Hopkins University, the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, matches students with a Hopkins professor and lab to conduct research in science and engineering. Students may apply to be a Jenkins Fellow for an in-depth service learning project of their choice. Our new Equine and Veterinary Science program, expanded Robotics program, arts offerings, competitive interscholastic athletics (including riding and Polo at the national levels) and many clubs meet every interest, broaden horizons, and provide leadership development. With Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City and other Mid-Atlantic cities and states nearby, students enjoy a variety of weekend activities. Garrison Forest is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the Association of Independent Maryland Schools.
300 Garrison Forest RoadOwings Mills, Maryland, USA 21117 (410) 559-3111
Director of Admissions: Alison Greer Admissions Phone:(410) 559-3111Fax:410-363-8441 Email: Admission@gfs.org Website: www.gfs.org
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Summary: Upper School is the culmination of the Garrison Forest School experience, supported by an expert and committed faculty dedicated to every aspect of a girl's growth. Thorough, individualized preparation for college and for a successful and meaningful life is the hallmark of the Upper School experience at GFS. Upper School students come to know themselves as learners as they move through a rich core program into honors and Advanced Placement options and as they become leaders in the school community. Special programs such as the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, the James Center: Programs and Partnerships with a Public Purpose, and the Elsie Foster Jenkins '53 Community Service Program encourage students to develop their passions; extensive co-curricular, arts, and athletics programs bring students together to cooperate, collaborate, and compete. Through four challenging, exciting years, Garrison Forest girls find their voices through an educational experience that will make them life-long learners, lovers of the arts and athletics, and leaders in their communities.
Department Director: Reema Khanchandani
Average Class Size: 16
Full Time Teachers: 90
Teachers Holding Advanced Degrees: 73.00%
Student/Teacher Ratio: 1/9
Academic Schedule: Semester
Number of AP Courses Offered: 19
Summary: Campus life at Garrison Forest is as simple—and as meaningful—as hanging out with friends in the dorm to enjoying the rich offering of clubs and weekend activities. Our three dormitories provide the comforts of home and the camaraderie of friends. Residential faculty live in the dorms as advisors and extended family. Each weekend's chaperoned activities are open to both boarding (grades 8-12) and day to further bond as classmates and friends. Taking full advantage of nearby Baltimore and the Mid-Atlantic region, Garrison Forest outings include museums, plays, concerts, and other cultural offerings, as well as mixers and events with other regional independent schools through the Boarding Schools Social Activities Committee (BSSAC). Students also explore a variety of athletic, social, and volunteer interests, from movie outings to skiing and snow tubing, to participating in the school's student-run Service League, the student-run community service program. Student-led Upper School clubs cater to different interests. Also, Garrison Forest has numerous traditions that underscore the school’s spirit, including "school color teams" (Light Blue and Dark Blue) that compete throughout the year in a friendly competition and Ring Sisters during junior year.
Department Director: Tara O'Neal
Number of Dorms: 3
Average Students Per Dorm: 20
No. of Girls Dorms: 3
Dorm Amenities:
Dress Code: Uniform
Facilities
Clubs and Organizations
Summary: Garrison Forest places high value and strong emphasis on the arts and athletics. Our arts program and talented faculty offer substantive, varied, and sequential curricular and co-curricular choices programs in the Visual Arts, Dance, Music and, Theater. Our exceptional arts facilities include the Hathaway Fine and Performing Arts Center (studio and rehearsal space, recital hall, arts classrooms, and facilities for sculpture, jewelry-making, and traditional dark-room and digital photography). The 400-seat Garland Theater offers performance and class space for theater and dance, with two separate dance studios on campus. All students are required to participate in interscholastic sports or the Physical Education program. Garrison Forest fields 16 sports of 42 teams, including Indoor Track, new for 2010-11. Garrison Forest is a member of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM), the national Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), and the U.S. Polo Association. In the past four years, Garrison Forest "Grizzlies" have won a collective 29 championships in field hockey, lacrosse, indoor soccer, and equestrian sports, including national championship titles in Equitation and Polo. As one of only two girls' schools in the nation to offer polo, our teams and players are consistently among the country's best. Athletic facilities include the Elizabeth B. Searle ’74 Athletic Center, a top-flight facility with three courts, a running track, weight room, training and locker rooms, and a dance studio. The school has four athletic fields including two turf fields, and six tennis courts. The D. & J. Smith Equestrian Center and the Sheridan Indoor Polo Ring provide exceptional facilities for Equitation, Showjumping, Eventing, and Polo and the boarding of horses.
Arts Department Director: Hannah LeVasseur
Athletics Department Director: Traci Davis
Notable Achievements: Member of the U.S. Women's Lacrosse team for 10 yr, All-American in both field hockey and lacrosse, Member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Summary: At Garrison Forest School we view college counseling holistically—it is the next in a series of opportunities for us to better know our students. By virtue of being a college preparatory school, Garrison Forest naturally guides students towards the next educational step. Through personal contact with academic advisors, teachers, and weekly classroom guidance lessons with the school counselor, Garrison Forest students are challenged intellectually and nurtured emotionally. College counseling at GFS applies that same ethic of growth to the college search process, helping to guide our students toward making the best choices for themselves.
Department Director: Ann Marie Strauss
Percentage of Graduates Who Attend College: 100.00%
Colleges attended in the past 5 years by our graduates:
Beth Botsford (Class of 1999) 1996 Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist
Kerri Beiser (Class of 1992) Scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
E. Jane Albert Hubbard, Ph.D. (Class of 1977) Developmental Genetics Researcher, Columbia University
Sterett Gittings-Kelsey (Class of 1960) Internationally known sculptor
Adele Smith-Simmons (Class of 1959) First female Dean at Princeton University; President of the Global Philanthropy Partnership
Eve Pell (Class of 1954) Author
Shelia Eaton Isham (Class of 1946) Abstract painter; 1st American accepted to the (West) Berlin Academy of Fine Arts
Mandy Cabot (Class of 1972) Founder and CEO, DANSKO
Sara Bleich (Class of 1996) Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Elizabeth Littlefield (Class of 1978) President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC)
"Garrison Forest gave me opportunities to take risks, discover new interests, and nurture my passion to make a difference."
-Sara Bleich, Ph.D., Class of 1993, A international expert on obesity policy, Dr. Bleich has been widely published.
"Being a producer is a combination of being creative and being organized. Garrison Forest was pivotal in teaching me how to think creatively and analytically."
-Beth Sternheimer , Class of 1993, Documentary producer, writer and researcher for independent films
Summary: