A Century of Spirit 1910 2010; Garrison Forest School

Owing Mills, MD: Garrison Forest School, 2010. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Very good/very good. 184 pages. Illustrations. Endnotes. References. Inscribed by author on fep. Garrison Forest School (GFS) is a college preparatory school, in Owings Mills, Maryland, near Baltimore, with a nationally distinctive educational model. The school offers a day school for girls, kindergarten through grade 12, as well as a coed program from ages two through Pre-K. The regional, national, and international residential program is for girls in grades 8-12. For Fall 2013, total enrollment is 650 students across four divisions: the Preschool, Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. The school averages about 60 boarding students per year. In 1910, Mary Moncrieffe Livingston, a teacher from New York, moved to Maryland to found a m primary through 12th grade school for the local community. Garrison Forest then was an all-girls' day school, Kindergarten through 12th Grade, with a residential program for older girls and a coed primary program. Miss Livingston chose the motto, Esse Quam Videri-To Be Rather Than To Seem, for her burgeoning school.In 1929, Miss Livingston passed the mantle to Co-headmistresses Jean G. Marshall and Nancy J. Offutt who led the school to thrive during the Great Depression. For 30 years, Miss Marshall and Miss Offutt guided Garrison Forest and under their leadership the school added new students, faculty and a highly competitive riding program.In 1960, the School hired its first male headmaster, Archibald "Tad" Montgomery IV, who expanded the residential program, campus and community outreach. Lawrence "Larry" L. Hlavacek served as Headmaster from 1968 to 1978. In the 1970s boarding school enrollments dipped nationwide and many girls' schools shut their doors or merged with other institutions. Garrison Forest returned to its founding model of educating boys and girls at the preschool level by merging in 1975 with the nearby Valley School, a local, coed independent preschool and elementary school.From 1978 to 1989, Agnes "Aggie" C. Underwood served as headmistress. Garrison Forest's reputation and enrollment grew through achievements such as the increased number of Advanced Placement courses and faculty members with advanced degrees, enhanced student diversity and depth of arts programming.After interim head Alexander A. Uhle's year-long appointment, Elsa "Midge" M. Bowman was named Headmistress. She began a formal international boarding program in the early 1990s. Today, 20 percent of the Upper School students hail from countries outside of the United States.In 1994, G. Peter O'Neill, Jr. joined Garrison Forest. He began as an interim, but was soon appointed to the position permanently. Mr. O'Neill led the School's largest campus expansion and the establishment of an experiential learning program for girls, the Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) program, an academic partnership with Johns Hopkins University. O'Neill retired in 2014, making his the third-longest tenure as head of Garrison Forest School in its 100-year history.