School Mission
Gilman School is a diverse community dedicated to educating boys in mind, body, and spirit through particular emphasis upon academic excellence, athletic participation and aesthetic appreciation. Gilman seeks to produce men of character and integrity who have the skills and ability to make a positive contribution to the communities in which they live and work.
Profile
Gilman School is a pre-first through twelfth grade independent school located in Baltimore City. It serves families from a broad variety of neighborhoods in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area. There are three school divisions. Lower School, grades pre-first through five; Middle School, grades six through eight; and Upper School, grades nine through twelve. The programs and curriculum are specifically designed to be developmentally appropriate for boys and follow a logical sequential progression leading from one grade to the next.
Gilman School remains a boys’ school because boys and girls develop at significantly different rates and have substantially different developmental needs. A boys’ school is best positioned to offer boys a program designed to address their specific needs.
Gilman’s Upper School also offers a coordinate program that combines Gilman’s resources with those of two excellent girls’ schools, which are connected to this campus by a system of bridges. As a result, students can choose among an extraordinary array of electives and opportunities.
Statement of Philosophy
Gilman School’s educational philosophy recognizes the critical importance of developing boys in mind, body, and spirit. Each Gilman boy should have an excellent academic experience, a vigorous athletic program, a cultivated appreciation of the arts and significant attention to issues of character and spirit, in order to realize his full potential and become a contributing member of society.
Mind
Gilman School’s academic program stretches boys to reach levels of accomplishment they would be unable to attain without excellent teaching, high standards, and continuing encouragement. The program is college preparatory, designed to help boys gain admission to and then flourish at selective colleges and universities best suited to their talents and interests. Gilman School’s core curriculum is designed to promote a strong work ethic, effective oral and written communication, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, aesthetic appreciation and the enjoyment of intellectual pursuits. Beyond the core curriculum, boys are offered a wide variety of elective courses and other activities in which they can pursue a variety of personal interests in a focused manner.
Body
Gilman School promotes physical fitness and health through required participation in athletics. In addition to teaching healthy habits of exercise, participation in competitive team sports develops important qualities such as teamwork, resilience, discipline, humility, self-control, good sportsmanship.
Spirit
The term “spirit,” as Gilman School intends it, is broadly defined to include issues of religion and character.
Gilman School affirms the spiritual and ethical values of the Christian and Jewish traditions, while respecting other creeds and beliefs. Gilman has a school chaplain and recognizes the importance of spiritual matters, not only in an abstract, academic sense, but also in observation and practice to the formation of an integrated personality.
Above all else, Gilman School helps boys evolve to become men of character. The qualities of integrity, honor, leadership, humility, and service to others cannot be fostered separately by specific programs, but instead must be woven into all aspects of the school community. To that end, Gilman School emphasizes a strong and comprehensive honor system, a community service program, an assembly program that promotes respect for the dignity and rights of each individual, and significant leadership opportunities.
