About Us
Our History
Innovators in Educating Girls
Girls Preparatory School was founded in 1906 by three school teachers—Tommie Payne Duffy, Eula Lea Jarnagin, and Grace McCallie—whose intrepid resolve changed history for girls in Chattanooga.
In the early 1900s, Chattanooga public schools denied girls the world language and laboratory science classes necessary for continuing their education beyond high school. As educational entrepreneurs, our three Founders each invested $100 and announced the establishment of a school for girls. On September 12, 1906, the school opened to offer challenging academics, public speaking, and physical activity. In 1907, Ruth Eleanor Teas received the first GPS diploma and went on to attend Western, an Ohio college for women. Since then, thousands of GPS students have gone on to impact their communities and our world.
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1907: The tradition of Cat-Rat begins with seniors welcoming new students. Girls learning to support one another is a tradition that continues today. -
1909: GPS spearheads the city’s first girls’ basketball league. -
1914: The first May Day celebration was a picnic with a Greek theme. Today’s spring tradition honors the seniors and their May Court with dances and a winding of the May Pole. -
1924: The regulation uniform is a linen dress with tucks, two pockets, and large black bow. That beloved dress is now in cotton and in a rainbow of colors. -
1955: Following a year in which GPS offers modern dance classes, Terpsichord, the state’s first high school contemporary dance company, is begun by Peggy Evans Thomas, for whom today’s dance studios are named. -
1994: GPS establishes rowing as a varsity sport, becoming the first school in the Chattanooga area to field a girls team. Over 20 girls have gone on to row at the college level. -
1999: GPS welcomes a sixth grade to the newly built Elizabeth Lupton Davenport Middle School. -
2005-06: Students, faculty, alumnae and friends commemorate the 100th anniversary of GPS with a walk from the campus to a celebration at Memorial Auditorium, passing the site of the original school. The walk is followed by a party to honor the contributions of the city’s only independent girls’ school.
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