Traditions
Longstanding traditions at GPS are not found just in the events that are celebrated every year: the Cat/Rat experience, the May Day celebration, the Winterim break, and Robin Hood, the week of fundraising for community service. Traditions are also found in the values of the institution itself, in the codes of conduct supported by a respected Honor Council, or in the courage of a senior giving her chapel talk before the student body.
As GPS Headmaster Randy Tucker says, "Traditions tie us to our past and also give us a course for our future." And in a sea of technological changes altering the educational landscape, traditions bind the most recent graduates with the students of 1906.
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"A girl’s honor is her most valuable possession." With these words as the keystone for the development of the honor system at GPS, the Honor Council is easily the most cherished tradition of the school. Students are proud of an honor code which provides the guidelines for a student community while allowing individual freedom. Each student bears the responsibility to abide by the system and maintain the trust upon which the system is built.
Violations are addressed by an elected council of class representatives and involve counseling as well as necessary and prescribed disciplinary action.
Winterim is an opportunity to learn outside the customary classroom setting. The traditional February break from classes gives students and faculty a chance to get to know one another in a more relaxed atmosphere, and it also provides a chance for a student to learn a little more about herself.
On-campus instruction involves everything from auto engine repair to lifeguarding. Community service at Chattanooga-area elementary schools and organizations such as Habitat for Humanity are other opportunities for students and faculty during the February break.
Several out-of-town trips offer museum tours in Chicago, Atlanta, or New York City; hiking in the Appalachians, a senior trip to Disney World, and college tours.
A much-anticipated event in the lives of seniors and sixth graders, the Cat Rat tradition provides a welcome to the newest members of the GPS student body.
Seniors ease the journey for sixth graders into the new GPS traditions and surroundings; sometimes lasting bonds of friendship result. Seniors and sixth graders participate in a retreat at Alpine Camp that is filled with art projects, ropes course challenges, and camaraderie. A themed parade at the beginning of the school year introduces the sixth grade rats to the student body. Past parade themes have included cartoons and television shows from the 80s.
Other activities include two luncheons hosted by the sixth graders for their senior "cats" and an ice cream social or dance sponsored by the seniors for their sixth grade "rats."
May Day is one of the most time-honored traditions at GPS, a special day that honors seniors and celebrates the beauty of the 
spring season.
The presentation of the seniors on the front lawn of the school also includes the introduction of the May Court, a group of six seniors who have been chosen by the school to best represent the class.
The selection of the court by the senior class is based on the following description: We believe that our May Queen and Court should be representatives of the Senior Class in the highest sense. They should be gracious, friendly and loyal to friends and to GPS. They should be actively and enthusiastically involved in the life of GPS, eager to give of their time and their talents. They should stand for the highest ideals in character and integrity. They should be respected and admired by fellow schoolmates and faculty alike.
Celebrated with dancing and the traditional winding of the May Pole by members of the sophomore class, May Day is a treasured memory for every alumna. With family and friends in attendance, the presentation of seniors is seen by some as more special than commencement.
Aptly named for the figure who gave money to the less fortunate, Robin Hood Week at GPS is an all-school fundraising drive coordinated by elected class representatives.
The week involves the sales of food and crafts on the school patio as classes compete to raise the most money for community and national charity organizations. The Robin Hood committee reviews the funding requests and selects the recipients. Generous donors, hard-working students, and creative salesmanship are the keys to the annual success.
In 2007, after reading Greg Mortenson’s best-seller, Three Cups of Tea, students were inspired to focus their goal on building a girls’ school in Pakistan. They believed that one person, or one school, really can make a difference on a global level.
With the theme of “Come Together,” the school community raised over five times the amount usually collected during the annual fundraising drive for community and national charity organizations. GPS students were delighted and proud to present a check for $60,000 to Mortenson in January at a national independent school conference at which he was the keynote speaker. Mortensen visited the campus in August 2008 to personally thank the students.
In 2008, the fundraiser turned its sights to the Chattanooga Girls' Leadership Academy, a new charter school, and the Robin Hood profits went to help with building renovations, laptop purchases, and other needs at the school.
