A school in Baltimore, of Baltimore, and for Baltimore.
The Gilman School was founded in 1896 as The Country School for Boys by Anne Galbraith Carey, a Baltimore mother who did not want to send her son Frank off to boarding school, but wanted him to have access to the same kind of education. Nestled in Roland Park--the wealthiest neighborhood of Baltimore--Gilman originally served the sons of only Baltimore's elite white community, but socioeconomic and racial integration began in earnest in the 1950s and the School now strives to represent the city of Baltimore's rich history, diversity, and traditions in its student body. The one thing that has remained the same since 1896 is that Gilman is still an all-boys' school, though coordinated classes with the two sisters schools of Bryn Mawr School and Roland Park Country School are available for boys in the Upper School, allowing them the opportunity for a co-educational experience. Serving boys from the Maryland, Pennsylvania, and D.C. areas in grades kindergarten through 12th grade, Gilman seeks to produce men of character who are prepared to go out into their communities and be productive, valuable, and empathetic citizens.
Please read my paper on the public purpose of private educational institutions by clicking the button below.
Like many private schools of the day, Gilman was influenced by the progressive educational theory of John Dewey, who put a premium on student exploration in the classroom, rather than the rote memorization and the authoritarian lecture-style that was prevalent in the American educational landscape at the time. In fact, from 1911 until 1922, Gilman even practiced open-air classrooms, which were designed to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, within school buildings. Though the practice ended in 1922, Gilman has continued to maintained a commitment to progressive pedagogy, including online course offering through Global Online Academy, the use of laptops, tablets, and other personal computers, and curricula that emphasizes exploration, understanding, and self-recognition through supportive teaching and progressive models of student autonomy.
Because Gilman is a financially stable private institution, there is a lot of privilege that comes with it. In our first year of the program, Penn asked us to write a paper investigating privilege in our own schools. What I found is that oftentimes, privilege is conflated with wealth and that wealth is displayed in a variety of ways at Gilman. Deeply ingrained in the School's sense of privilege is the idea of service to the greater community; there is an idea that Gilman students should go out and do good for those around them because they have been afforded an education that will allow them to do so. Central to the School's mission is to educate young men in Baltimore who will later go on to serve the City of Baltimore.
Teaching in old, elite institutions steeped in history and tradition is a deeply rewarding and educational experience. Many schools feel that there is a disconnect between for whom the school was initially founded and the diverse student bodies that they now serve, which plays out in the continuation of certain traditions and practices. Nonetheless, these institutions are often hubs of innovative pedagogy and unique communities of passionate educators who strive to do what is right by the students with whom they interact every day. The institutions in this cohort are readily equipped to prepare young teachers for their roles in the educational world and Penn is an exemplary institution with which to partner. If you are looking to pursue the DSTR program at Gilman or any of the other schools, please read the letter to future Fellows I have written.