Academics

Academics at GPS

Our Academic Approach

Learner-Centered. That’s how we approach academics at GPS.

In a learner-centered classroom, students take an active role in creating the learning experience. They use their voices, collaborate, and make choices about the ways they engage with classroom material. Through this approach, they gain both knowledge and skills that not only give depth of understanding in an academic environment but also stretch across disciplines and beyond the academic realm. This competency-based and interdisciplinary approach equips girls to be successful in the wide world.


The GPS Difference

WHY A GIRLS' SCHOOL STILL MATTERS

In 1906, GPS was founded by three visionary female school teachers who believed that girls deserved the same educational opportunities as their male classmates. When their requests for equality were dismissed by the local school board, our three Founders took matters into their own hands and established a school dedicated to preparing girls for higher education.

While one might argue that coeducational schools offer equal opportunities today, a learning environment designed specifically for girls provides the tailored support they need to become their best and most authentic selves. There is a difference.

At GPS, our teachers understand how girls grow and develop. Our coaches recognize the importance of athletics in building confidence, leadership skills, perseverance, and healthy habits that last a lifetime. Every club, every group, every sports team is led by a girl. Our art rooms, dance studios, study spaces, design and innovation lab, and classrooms are all designed with girls in mind. Even our weight room is tailored for female athletes. There is an intentionality at GPS—an understanding and appreciation for the power of a girl that is unparalleled.

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  • + What We Know About Girls

    Research shows girls mature sooner than boys; their verbal skills also develop earlier than their male counterparts. They tend to be more emotionally and socially perceptive and expressive than boys. At GPS, students are free to develop emotional intelligence, support and respect each other, and develop and communicate their own thoughts and beliefs.

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  • + How Girls Learn Best

    Because of their brain development, girls tend to thrive while working closely with their peers and form relationships more acutely with their teachers than do boys. At GPS, teachers come alongside their students to help them make personal connections to what they’re learning. This nurtures a girl’s curiosity about her world and helps her discover her purpose.

    Sources: Boys and Girls Learn Differently! A Guide for Teachers and Parents by Dr. Michael Gurian; Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood by Dr. Lisa Damour; The Confidence Code for Girls: Taking Risks, Messing Up, & Becoming Your Amazingly Imperfect, Totally Powerful Self by Claire Shipman & Katty Kay

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  • + What Girls Need to Thrive

    When girls feel safe, comfortable, and supported in their environment, they can begin to take risks and discover their interests and passions without fear of failure. At GPS, teachers reframe a girl’s mantra from “I’m not good at this” to “I’m not good yet.” This intentional growth mindset helps foster the confidence they need to succeed in life. 


“I feel like GPS does a really good job at letting girls succeed in the things they are best at. A lot of projects we do in classes are allowed to be done in many different ways, and we get to pick which way we like best.”
—Sara Kate ’24


Browse Our Curriculum

Discover opportunities for girls at GPS.



Girls Preparatory School

PHONE (423) 634-7600    HOURS M-F 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.