Garrison Forest School

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.

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. 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 and won Nationals in 2017.
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.