Understanding and Celebrating Boys

In the engaging and supportive single-sex environment, students establish a foundation for making responsible decisions; they explore who they are and who they want to become; they learn to forge healthy relationships; they step out of their comfort zone to explore their full potential.

Each faculty member at Gilman has made a conscious choice to teach boys. They enjoy boys' irreverent humor and draw energy from their natural exuberance. Their passion for teaching boys requires a commitment to build relationships, craft a curriculum, and lead a classroom that engages each student in the way he learns best.

Faculty members also acknowledge the full range of boys' emotions and vulnerabilities, broadening their world and, ultimately, fostering their ability to interact meaningfully with girls and women. In the primary years, Gilman partners with its sister schools, The Bryn Mawr School and Roland Park Country School, to coordinate coed book clubs, school plays, social gatherings, and spirit days, to name a few. In the later years of Upper School, students can take coordinate program classes among all three campuses.

Learn More About the Value of an All-Boys Education

Fostering an Inclusive Community

We believe that our community is strengthened by the vibrant exchanges and courageous conversations that occur when individuals with different backgrounds, abilities, and heritages have the fortitude to share their various perspectives with one another. Part of our charge in preparing our boys to thrive in the world is teaching them to recognize injustice and to build a more loving and equitable society.

We are proud of our history as a school that has, for several generations, taken the lead on matters of diversity, community, inclusion, and equity. Gilman students and faculty come from many different backgrounds: 41% of students and 22% of faculty identify as people of color. We continue to build on that legacy through our steadfast commitment to inclusion and equity initiatives on local, state, and national levels.

Learn More About Community, Inclusion, and Equity (CIE) at Gilman

Building Character and Skills

Since its founding in 1897, Gilman has been dedicated to educating boys in mind, body, and spirit. Integrated in this effort are the values we hold deeply as a community: The Gilman Five, which provide a framework of expected behavior for all our boys, include honor, integrity, respect, humility, and excellence.

These core values inform the excellent teaching and transformative learning that take place at Gilman. The result? Boys develop what we call the Gilman Skills: the abilities to think critically and expansively about our complex world, to communicate effectively with diverse audiences, to collaborate in order to solve problems and affect positive community impact, and to create works of self-expression that serve and inspire others.

Learn More About the Gilman Five and Gilman Skills

Developing a Lifelong Love of Learning

The talented and dedicated faculty at Gilman support each boy in developing a strong character, a lifelong love of learning, and the drive to be his best self. By graduation, Gilman men have become critical thinkers, thoughtful creators, and innovative problem solvers who attend top-tier colleges and go on to make positive contributions in their careers and communities.

Gilman's Lower School helps boys develop foundational knowledge, learning skills, and personality traits necessary to prepare them for success in school and beyond. We nurture the innate curiosity, wonder, and desire to learn in each boy.

As boys begin to spread their wings in the Middle School, they discover their interests in an encouraging, cooperative, and caring environment. They learn to take risks as well as responsibility while building study, communication, and leadership skills through community involvement, teamwork, and physical fitness.

In Upper School, we prepare young men to make a positive difference in our world. Students engage in a college-preparatory program that emphasizes a strong work ethic, critical thinking skills, effective oral and written communication, and lifelong enjoyment of learning. Gilman offers the best of both worlds: single-sex education combined with coeducation in the junior and senior years.

Health, Wellness, and Support

In line with our mission to support the mind, body, and spirit of every boy, Gilman's Health, Wellness, and Support Program works to ensure that students receive the appropriate support to nurture their physical, emotional, and academic well-being, recognizing the impact that the relationships among these different components have on student success.

Learn More About Health, Wellness, and Support at Gilman

Preparing Boys for Their Future

Applying to college is an extension of the Gilman educational experience: a journey of reflection, growth, self-empowerment, and discovery. Gilman graduates are well-prepared to become successful undergraduates at some of our country's most prestigious colleges and universities. Eighty-three percent of the class of 2022 attend a Top 200 School ranked by The Wall Street Journal.

Gilman boys and their families have the advantage of a strong College Counseling Office staffed with four full-time counselors to guide them through the college application process. The College Counseling Office provides students with the tools, information, and support necessary to identify their goals and pursue them with confidence. They help each young man find his best fit by identifying colleges where he will flourish intellectually, socially, and emotionally, both in and out of the classroom.

Gilman boasts a strong global network of more than 8,500 alumni. From innovators and entrepreneurs to doctors and educators, Gilman graduates have the skills and abilities to make a positive difference in our world. Many recall the strong, lifelong relationships with teachers, mentors, coaches, and classmates and building excellent character as foundations for their success. Our talented alumni stay actively connected with the School — and with each other — through networking opportunities, speaking engagements, social gatherings, and more.