Why Gordon?
At Gordon, children from nursery to eighth grade are challenged to become courageous learners and compassionate leaders. By educating the whole child, Gordon prepares students academically, socially, and emotionally to positively impact the world around them.
Flip through our viewbook or follow the links below to learn more about what makes Gordon unique.
A progressive school
Progressive education is about putting children, and their voices, at the center of their learning.
Why Nursery to eighth grade
By not having a high school, Gordon keeps the focus exclusively on younger students. Educational research and Gordon’s one hundred years of experience with this model have reinforced that it best serves the educational, social and emotional needs of children.
Early Childhood
Nursery, Preschool, Young Kindergarten and Kindergarten
We delight in the person a three-year-old is today: curious, joyful, expressive.
Lower School
First through fourth grade
These are the years when students find the courage, and the skills, they need to advocate for what they believe is right.
Middle School
Fifth through eighth grade
In Gordon’s Middle School, leadership starts sooner and childhood lasts longer.
High school and beyond
Eighth grade, not Kindergarten, is the ideal time to select a high school that fits best.
At Gordon, young people discover their unique gifts and learn how to use these gifts to make a difference in the lives of others. These children will change the world.
Dr. Noni Thomas López, Head of School
Academic innovation driven by our mission
Gordon’s faculty is full of smart, thoughtful and dedicated professionals.
Social and emotional learning
Children learn best when they know how to manage their feelings and personal relationships.
Athletics
90% of Gordon Middle School students play interscholastic competitive sports
Arts
Visual and performing arts are integrated into the curriculum beginning at age three.
At Gordon, we’re intentional about making space for students to pursue a variety of interests. They don’t have to be just an athlete, or just an actor, or just a musician.
Damon Ray, Athletics Director
The original open air school
Gordon was founded in 1910 by pediatrician Dr. Helen West Cooke as the Open Air School.
A more just and sustainable world
Students in every division get hands-on practice stewarding the earth’s resources responsibly, in Gordon’s classrooms, gardens, fields and wetlands.
Eighth grade Civil Rights Trip
Gordon’s Civil Rights Trip is the culmination of a social justice curriculum that begins in Gordon’s youngest grades, and it’s an experience that has shaped the lives of hundreds of Gordon graduates since 2002.
Service Learning
The annual eighth grade service learning project gives soon-to-be graduates practical experience as they leave Gordon to become forces for positive change in the world beyond the schoolhouse doors.
A place to belong
Creating and maintaining an inclusive community requires ongoing, active work. As Gordon’s community expands, the school has continually created new ways to support students, teachers and families.
Family Individualized Tuition
Family Individualized Tuition is Gordon’s forward-thinking and mission-driven tuition model.
Full day programming
Gordon's day extends from 7:15am to 5:30pm for all ages, every day.
Learn more about before and after school programming at Gordon
Parent engagement
Gordon's calendar is packed with events that connect families with one another, and keep the conversation between the school and parents lively and relevant.
