Spirit

Blue was the favorite color of our school’s founder, Mary Moncrieffe Livingston. Thus, her selection of the school's colors was simple: light blue and dark blue. In keeping with tradition, each student and faculty and staff are sorted into spirit teams of Light Blue and Dark Blue. Since the beginning of the spirit team tradition, students have earned points for their team through service and leadership, as elected officers and behind the scenes, as well as through Light/Dark athletic competitions and official Spirit Day events.

Sorting Day: Every student from Kindergarten through 12th Grade and all faculty and staff are “sorted” into one of two spirit teams: The Light Blues or the Dark Blues. These teams compete in fun, very friendly competitions throughout the year to earn spirit points for their team. At Commencement each June, that year’s winning team is announced.

Spirit Days: On Spirit Days, we dress up in decorated tunics and don hats, wigs and other costume accessories to show our spirit and showcase our team!

Commencement is, of course, the highlight of the end of our year and the end of the Senior Class experience. This ceremony, like the others at the end of the Senior year, has been shaped to reflect both the traditions and the innovations in Garrison Forest School’s history. The structure of the ceremony also reflects the importance of the relationship between the teachers and students, a hallmark of the Garrison Forest education.

Members of the faculty join the Senior Class for this celebration, and we pause in the ceremony to honor a distinguished teacher. Similarly, we honor student recipients of the Faculty, Alumnae, Jenkins and Shriver Awards, who are chosen by the faculty. To confirm the importance of community in our shared educational endeavor, our School’s stewards and the President of the School give remarks, and Senior Class families and friends join the celebration. 

The Class of 1920 created the first GFS school ring, raising the funds to pay for their rings through a dance at the Baltimore Country Club. In the ensuing years, the ring design has changed, but not the tradition of juniors eagerly awaiting the giving of their rings by the seniors. In 1989, the Class of 1990 sponsored the first Ring Dance for juniors, seniors and their dates, a tradition that has continued. "It is more than a ring. It is a physical connection to the school and all the memories created here that every Garrison Girl is able to carry with her, no matter how far she travels from [school]," said President of the School Anisah Imani '09 in her 2009 Commencement speech.

Our Seniors enjoys various old and new traditions. Some favorite celebrations include Senior Sunrise and Sunset, 100 Days and Senior Story. Throughout each tradition, Seniors are celebrated and honored for their time at GFS.

Service is an important part of the GFS experience and embodies one of our core values, "Be Compassionate." Each year, service projects are conducted throughout campus, like the Lower School's annual food drive for Our Daily Bread, the Middle School's canned food collection for a local food pantry and our ongoing partnership with the Baltimore Hunger Project. The Upper School participates in the Annual Day of Service, where they participate in numerous service opportunities throughout the community. 

Service is also engrained within the co-curricular experience. During World War II, Garrison Forest students founded Service League, and ever since, students have been engaged in meaningful, student-led community outreach. Service League does programs from Lower School through Upper School and supports a number of causes, both local and global.

The Elsie Foster Jenkins ’53 Endowment Fund for Community Service program supports Garrison Forest’s Service League community outreach program, brings noted community service leaders to campus to speak and sponsors the Jenkins Fellows Program. Named for School President and community leader Elsie Foster Jenkins ’53, the fund was created in her memory in 1999 by her family and friends. The Jenkins Fellows Program funds five to six Garrison Forest students to do summer community service projects around the country and globe. Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors create their own project or connect with an existing program, apply for funding, and, if selected, perform the in-depth service project of their choice. Since 2005 when the program began, over 70 GFS students have made a difference in international and U.S. communities.