History
In 1906, Miss Duffy and Miss Jarnagin, two public school teachers, asked the city school board to provide a fourth year of high school studies, including modern language and a lab science, so girls, as well as boys, would apply for college. When their request was denied, they decided to create an independent school to prepare girls for higher education and convinced their friend Grace McCallie to join them. The school opened on September 12, 1906, in a four-room schoolhouse at 106 Oak Street.
The school house had been Grace McCallie's home. The three founders used all of their money, $300, to equip and launch the school. In twelve weeks they converted the house to a school. The ground floor contained rooms with second hand desks. There was an alcove library and tiny cloakroom, along with a staircase so narrow students turned sideways to pass.
The school accommodated the 45 students who enrolled for the first day of classes on September 12, 1906. Each girl paid $80 tuition per year and at the end of the first year one of the students was accepted to and enrolled in Randolph-Macon Woman's College. In 1915 the school had to relocate to a larger brick building on Palmetto street.
Tuition is now $20,000 per year. Currently 50% of the student body receives need-based financial aid. Every year one rising senior is awarded the "Grace McCallie Scholarship" which pays the tuition for their senior year.
The school is the second largest girl's school in the country and the largest day school(non-boarding school).
Girls Preparatory School celebrated its 100th anniversary during the 2005-2006 school year. The tagline for the celebration was "Beyond the Dream." On September 12, 2005, the school held a "Founder's Day" to celebrate those 100 years and honor the alumnae, faculty, and current students. It was held at Memorial Auditorium on Oak Street, about 20 feet from the original school house. Over 700 GPS students marched across Veterans Memorial Bridge to the auditorium to commemorate the walks that the first students had taken 100 years ago to stay healthy.
There have been five heads of the school, and the current Headmaster is Stanley Randolph "Randy" Tucker Jr.
Read more about this topic: Girls Preparatory School
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