The Girls' Middle School

The Girls' Middle School, commonly known as GMS, is an independent nonsectarian middle school for girls located in Palo Alto, California, United States. The school educates approximately 200 girls in grades 6-8 and is one of only two all-girls middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Background GMS was founded in Mountain View in 1998 by Kathleen Bennett. The school began with the aim of providing a girl-centric environment for a diverse group of girls during their critical adolescent years, free from the limits of what they think of as feminine, and building positive experiences with math, science and engineering. The school is recognized for its "low-key vibe with an entrepreneurship-heavy curriculum". The school's original location was at St Athanasius Church in Mountain View, and later moved in 2011 to its current location in Palo Alto. Academics The student-to-teacher ratio at GMS is 6:1, lower than the national private school average of 13:1 and public school average of 15:1. In addition to Humanities, Spanish, Arts and Media, and Science, the school's math curriculum includes the equivalent of a Common Core State Standards High School Algebra I course, and an optional Geometry class, to prepare girls well for high school. The school is also unique in providing a Computer Science curriculum across all three grades, and was noted positively by the Association for Computing Machinery and Computer Science Teachers Association in its report about significant gaps in K-12 Computer Science education in the United States. GMS assesses student performance through narrative evaluations rather than traditional letter grades, which is designed to reduce the pressure of performing, offers growth strategies and identifies what students have mastered, and helps students develop a love of learning. The school also has dedicated Social and Emotional Learning classes. The school is accredited by the ACS-WASC and the California Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the International Coalition of Girls' Schools. Notable programs Extracurricular GMS offers a number of distinctive extracurricular programs to students, including: African dance Ceramics Metalworking Robotics Skateboarding (the school has its own skateboard ramp) Surfing Ukulele Video production Woodworking Twice a year, the school pauses classes for a week to run its "Intersession" program, where girls are encouraged to explore new interests and activities from a wide range of offerings, including community service, rowing, debate, gardening, crochet, chocolate making, and songwriting. In eighth grade, students participate in self-defense classes. Entrepreneurial Program In 7th grade, girls engage in the Entrepreneurial Program, where teams of girls form a small company with seed funding from the school, and are responsible for developing a business plan and ultimately designing, manufacturing, and marketing a physical product. In the process they learn about accounting, forming a business, developing and selling a product, market research, and pitching their product to real investors, all while receiving year-long mentorship and support from the Silicon Valley business community. Scholarship The school operates the Bennett Scholars Program, funding full three-year scholarships each year to ten high-achieving girls who are often the first generation in their families to be heading to college. On an annual basis, the school holds The Bennett Scholars Breakfast as part of its fundraising efforts and to celebrate the school and its many alumnae. Past speakers at the breakfast include Kamala Harris, Barbara Boxer, Condoleezza Rice, Cecile Richards, Sheryl Sandberg, Stacy Brown-Philpot, Mary GrandPré, Diane Greene, Sylvia Acevedo, and Tara VanDerveer. Future site In July 2025, it was announced that The Girls' Middle School will relocate to a new larger location at 3950 Fabian Way in Palo Alto, set to open in fall 2027. The new site will feature dedicated spaces for the school's robotics, woodwork, ceramics, and art programs, and accommodate an increased student body. Notable alumnae Julia Shapiro, guitarist/vocalist in Chastity Belt and Childbirth References External links Official website