Baylor students experience Colorado in a nationally recognized Walkabout Program
Just peek into an eighth-grade classroom at Girls Preparatory School during any school day and you can understand the rise in enrollments at Chattanooga’s leading private and independent schools. At GPS, you’ll notice class sizes smaller than those typical of public schools. You’re apt to see wide-eyed students enthralled by a teacher passionate about curriculum, and feel the positive energy. And you’ll notice each pupil uses a laptop.
“We began integrating laptops into the classroom in 1998,” says Tommy Hudgins, assistant headmaster for institutional advancement at GPS. “In today’s world of instant access to information, we embrace technology and encourage its use so that it can become second nature to our students.”
On the 35-acre campus alongside the Tennessee River in North Chattanooga, a wireless network enables students to connect and work from anywhere. An array of advanced, brain-stimulating technology classes are offered, including computer animation, programming, robotics, graphic design and digital storytelling. Hudgins says GPS is already discussing integration of the next big technology trend-e-readers like iPads, Kindles, and Nooks. “That’s definitely in our future,” he says. “But for now, we are waiting on the text book companies.”
The Tennessee Association of Independent Schools (TAIS) estimates between 15,000 and 25,000 students are enrolled in area nonpublic schools. In addition to rigorous academics, private institutions are often the pioneers of innovative approaches, integrating proven instructional practices with nontraditional and sometimes unorthodox teaching methodologies. This amalgam often creates flourishing learning environments and boundless opportunities for students, helping to tip the scales for parents contemplating a private education for their children.