GMS has grown a great deal these last twelve years, to the point that we have outgrown our original site. We are ready to have exclusive use of our space, to have more classrooms for our students, and to have more offices for our faculty and staff. We saw an opportunity in this economic environment to get great terms on a building, which we did. 

 

While we are making this move to be able to better do what we are already doing, we will have several exciting programmatic opportunities in the new facility and its environs. For example, the Science department hopes to make use of The Baylands Preserve to do field science projects. We will also be able to bring back some GMS traditions, like the woodworking program, thanks to the extra space. Most of all, we are excited to be the architects of our own educational process at the new site, and we are open to your ideas! Please send them our way by emailing newbuilding@girlsms.org.

 

While there will doubtless be some adjustment for everyone with the move, we expect that the move will only affect our community in positive ways. You and your daughter will have the chance to join us in reaching a new milestone—the first GMS girls in the new building. The entire GMS community will take part in shaping the conversation around how to carry on our cherished traditions, and what new traditions to begin. 

 

The new site offers us room to grow, both in terms of additional classroom space and programmatic opportunities. It gives us a chance to truly manage our own space, and to take full advantage of the creativity of our faculty and community. In both the long- and short-term, we expect to be able to offer even more exciting programs and opportunities to our girls as a result of this move.

 

The short answer is, it won’t! We are not moving sites because we want to change what we do; we are moving sites to be able to do what we do better. That said, we anticipate creating new memories and traditions, and adding to the culture of our school, throughout this process!

 

Financial aid will not be affected—the funds we are using for the move are completely separate from our financial aid program.

 

There will be no changes as a result of the move—we like our school day just the way it is!

 

Our Athletic Director plans to work with the City of Palo Alto to figure out using the nearby fields for some of our sports. We will also have some new programmatic opportunities, like volleyball, yoga, or basketball in the new gym / multipurpose room. Skateboarding will continue at the new site—and we expect to be able to continue all of our current Athletics programming, while adding new sports to the mix!

 

The actual move will begin when the school year ends.  We plan to make the move in such a way that it will happen quickly, and in the GMS spirit, with everyone pitching in—we are excited about the process of moving, and we hope the entire community will be too!

 

We will continue shuttle service to and from the Mountain View Caltrain station, and add a Palo Alto pick up to be sure that our girls all get to and from school safely and on time. We expect that this impact will be minimal, and we will do everything we can to be certain that it is!

 

Please let us know! There are two methods for getting in touch with us about the move. You can get in touch using our handy online form, which you can access by emailing newbuilding@girlsms.org.  If your question is urgent, feel free to get in touch with Deb Hof, our head of school, directly—at dhof@girlsms.org or 650-968-8338, x. 112.