Assessment

GMS assesses student performance through narrative evaluations rather than traditional letter grades. This approach fosters a love of learning, reduces performance pressure, and promotes greater flexibility in the classroom. The evaluations are comprehensive, personal, and informative.

We believe that assessments should give students a rich and constructive sense of their current understanding and provide concrete guidelines to take their learning to the next level. GMS teachers use detailed narratives to identify the skills each student has mastered, offer strategies for growth, and help each student move toward mastery.

Central to assessment at GMS is the opportunity for student self-reflection. Before receiving their final narrative for any class, students are asked to reflect on their growth, mastery of skills and content, and ways they want to improve. Students shift from worrying about what it takes to get good grades to viewing themselves as ready and able to take ownership of their learning in a profound way.