Since 1910, Garrison Forest has been educating girls and young women. Within its 110-acre campus, the school endeavors each day to inspire its day and boarding students to lead and serve with lives of passion, purpose and joy.
The preparation begins with encouraging students from kindergarten through 12th grade to find their voice and use it to create and make change. Girls become leaders, for one another and the future. In the process, they learn what lies at the heart of a Garrison Forest education: a lasting sense of friendship and community that unites students, faculty, and administrators.
Senior Ryleigh and junior Annie are teammates, friends, and school leaders.
Elected as the 2019-2020 co-spirit captain, Ryleigh embodies the enthusiasm that permeates Garrison Forest and the traditions that tie its rich history with its forward-facing curriculum. At all-school events, games, and celebrations, Ryleigh will don her spirit tunic, decorated by generations of Garrison Forest spirit captains, to rally school-wide pride. As a leader of the field hockey team, Ryleigh carries her devotion to the school onto the athletic field as well, encouraging other players to give their all and do their best. For her, Garrison Forest has been home for 13 years, and she looks to her senior year with mixed emotions.
Like Ryleigh, Annie competes on the field hockey team and also plays lacrosse and squash, experiences that fuel her school pride. But it is the violence prevention non-profit the One Love Foundation, focused on preventing domestic abuse, that inspires Annie’s quest for change. As a co-leader of the One Love club, Annie increases awareness about relationship abuse and rallies support for this vital cause. She also shares the Garrison Forest experience with prospective families as a Grizzly Guide for the admissions office.
At Garrison Forest, leaders wear many costumes and take on many roles — from spirit tunics to athletic gear, from vocal advocates to dedicated scholars, embracing each one and growing empowered to use their voices in meaningful ways. Visit gfs.org for open house dates at Garrison Forest School.
