St. Paul’s School for Girls (SPSG) established just over 50 years ago, is a relatively young school compared to some of the other girls’ schools in the Baltimore area. Yet, in it’s lifetime it has grown and thrived, formed partnerships with institutions in Baltimore and beyond, and remained astutely aware of the needs of the families it serves. In fact, this school year, in response to the current economic downturn, the Board of Trustees voted to lower tuition and provide textbooks at no additional charge, making SPSG the only school in the area to respond to the rising cost of an independent school education.
Take a look at SPSG and you will notice the school is connected, not just to the boy’s school on the shared Brooklandville campus, but also to schools and organizations around the country and the world. Here are a few of those partnerships:
- SPSG signed a sister-school agreement with Entel Foreign Language School in Hangzhou, China, in May 2011, making SPSG the first independent school in the area to have an official exchange program with a school in China. Active in promoting global initiatives to better prepare girls for life in the 21st century, SPSG has cultural and language-based exchange opportunities with Argentina, Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, and Mexico. Middle-school students at SPSG have the opportunity to help sea turtles in Costa Rica and fight world hunger at Heifer International’s Overlook Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts.
- SPSG is one of the original eight members of the Online School for Girls (OSG), a program that gives students the opportunity to take online courses with students from around the world. Several SPSG faculty members teach courses for OSG, sharing their expertise in teaching girls online with students and faculty.
- In the 1960s, St. Paul’s School for Girls established a partnership with Goucher College to teach upper-school girls about computers and bought a computer – making SPSG one of the first schools in the area to have a computer on campus for student use. Today, SPSG continues to be in the forefront of technology for students, providing free access to computers for all students.
- St. Paul’s School for Girls offers a unique three-year Scholars Program in which girls can work independently on specific projects, often in partnership with Johns Hopkins University. Last year, two students presented their work at the Innovative STEM Conference and the Intel Regional Science Fair. One student won an award for Women in Science from the Society of Excellence in Biogeography.
- St. Paul’s School for Girls is the only school in the area to share an arts space – the Ward Center for the Arts – with a boys’ school, St. Paul’s School. Each year, the students produce several joint projects, including the annual fall musical and the middle school play, as well as art exhibits. At SPSG, girls get the best of both worlds – single-sex education and coordinated activities, including some academic classes.
- From cradle to college, girls have a place at the St. Paul’s Schools on the Brooklandville campus. St. Paul’s School for Girls supports St. Paul’s Plus, a top-rated preschool in the Baltimore area. Girls can start as young as six weeks on the SPSG campus, spend kindergarten through Grade IV at nearby St. Paul’s School, and then begin at SPSG in Grade V.
Of course, students at St. Paul’s School for Girls are successful in the classroom, on the field and in the community. Here are a few examples:
- St. Paul’s School for Girls is not only a member of the prestigious Cum Laude Society, an SPSG student has won the highly coveted Cum Laude Paper Award, sponsored by the Cum Laude Society, for four of the last six years.
- St. Paul’s School for Girls was recognized more than five years ago for its environmental efforts and named a Green Schoolby the state of Maryland. The school supports many environmental efforts, including a community garden and greenhouse, maintained by students.
- As a school in the Episcopal tradition, St. Paul’s School for Girls is a strong supporter of outreach and service to others. Students participate in several projects each year, including an on-going summer program to help the Holy Cross Anglican School in Belize. Last year, the school collected over a ton of food for the Emergency Food Pantry in Towson and the Claremont community in Baltimore, and raised over $13,000 to fight breast cancer as Team Gator in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
- Members of the Class of 2011 received more than $5 million in scholarships and honors from well-known colleges and universities.
- St. Paul’s School for Girls’ premier singing ensemble, the Saints, travel abroad every other year – this year traveling to France and singing in the Cathedral at Notre Dame. The Middle School Choral Group won first place at the Music in the Parks Competition at Hershey Park, Pennsylvania. The school sponsors Dance Élan, an after-school dance program for the entire Baltimore community.
- Nine athletes from SPSG were named IAAM All-Stars and three seniors signed to play sports in college, including swimming at UVA, lacrosse at Cornell, and field hockey at Hofstra.
- St. Paul’s School for Girls routinely has high scorers on the national language examinations, including a 2011 winner of the National Spanish Exam Junior Travel Award.
Are you a SPSG student, alum, parent or faculty/staff member? Leave a comment above about what you think people should know about your school.
