Our Advisors Know Boys

Carefully selected by administrators, advisors serve as the point people for boys and their families throughout their time at Gilman. In the Lower School, homeroom teachers are their students' elementary mentors and advisors. Once a boy moves to the Middle School, he is assigned a specific advisor, and another when he moves to the Upper School.

These individuals are a boy's biggest advocate. Advisors are often the first to identify concerns and lead early implementation of supportive measures and interventions. Interactions reach beyond the transactional—along with handling course scheduling, writing end-year reports that capture each advisee's development in mind, body, and spirit, and holding parent conferences—advisors create peer mentor groups among their advisees, sit with them during daily assembly, and host bi-weekly advisory lunches. No one will know your son better than his advisor.

Ultimately, all of our faculty members serve as mentors to the boys at every opportunity, engaging boys in and out of the classroom, and each values his or her role in helping boys of promise become men of character. 

The Teacher-Coach-Mentor Model

Gilman is a school where boys may be learning algebraic equations or Shakespeare in the morning, discussing timely topics at lunch, and practicing zone blitzes or how to throw a lacrosse ball in the afternoon — all with the same adult in each setting. We take great pride in our teacher-coach-mentor model, which allows teachers to connect with the students through activities in and outside the classroom, whether on the athletic field, in advisory groups, in the student publications lab, or on the performance stage.

Gilman's approach is to find excellent teachers who know their subjects and who love teaching boys. Teachers are encouraged to pursue their interests — from writing a grant to start a robotics club to traveling through Italy to explore ancient mosaic techniques — in order to provide enhanced educational experiences for our boys. A mentor's work is never done.

Dynamic Curriculum for a Changing World

Whether teaching kindergarteners how to wash their hands, seventh graders how to healthily navigate social media, or tenth graders how to handle peer pressure surrounding drugs and alcohol, Gilman's health and wellness curriculum is appropriately tailored for the various physical, social-emotional, and social milestones they will reach.

HEALTH CENTER

The Gilman Health Center — located in the Lumen Center, just inside the double doors that face the Lower School — is open on school days from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is staffed by two registered nurses.

Gilman's school nurses provide care to students and staff who have been injured or present with acute illnesses. Care may involve treating problems within the scope of nursing practice, communication with parents for treatment, or referral to other providers. The school nurses are also responsible for the administration of medication.

In the case of students with special needs — such as allergies, asthma, or seizure disorders — the school nurses work with parents and doctors to develop an emergency plan and disseminate these plans to appropriate personnel. In addition, the school nurses assist students in monitoring chronic health conditions, such as diabetes. The school nurse also works with the school physician to develop treatment and medication administration protocols.

Health Center FAQ and Resources

Sports Medicine Office

Encouraging the health, fitness, and wellness of our student-athletes is a key element to teaching boys to develop lifelong fitness habits. A core part of Gilman's wellness initiatives, athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions within their scope of athletic training practice.

The history of athletic training and sports medicine at Gilman stretches back over forty years to 1981, when we became the first independent school in Maryland to have a full-time Certified Athletic Trainer (CAT) on its staff. Gilman continued to lead the way when a second CAT was hired in 1998. Today, our trainers continue to ensure that the School adopts current procedures and techniques to safeguard our student-athletes.

The Sports Medicine Office, working under the Athletics Department, cares for every student throughout the School but primarily works with Middle and Upper School students.

Learn More About Sports Medicine at Gilman

Because Victory is Nothing Without Values

Each interscholastic athletic team in the Upper School meets weekly for roughly half an hour as part of the Character Education Program. The goal of the program is to give students the time and space to consider their values as an individual and also as a member of a team.

Students have the opportunity to share stories, process successes and failures, journal, and set weekly goals for themselves. Discussion topics or introspective questions may include questions such as:

• What does it mean to be a great teammate?
• How can one more effectively manage pressure?
• How does one's body language impact those around us?
• How do we make judgments about others without fully understanding them?
• What legacy do we hope to leave behind to future teams?

Key Conversations, Brother to Brother

Twice a month during the fall semester, a group of 30 upperclassmen called peer educators present a lesson and lead discussions with a group of 10-12 freshmen related to their transition into the Upper School.

General topics such as "High School Success," "Freshmen Myths," "Pressure and Balance," and "Choice and Consequences" provide the foundation for more specific second-semester lessons such as "Digital Citizenship," "Alcohol and other Drugs," and "Relationships."

Equally important to the lessons themselves are the relationships that develop between the freshmen and their "big brothers" throughout the year in class and beyond.