Our mission drives everything we do.
GFA engages students as partners in an innovative, inclusive, and globally minded community to prepare them for lives of purpose.
Our mission envisions a community where everyone is a learner, where together we make sense of our world, and where we each share in the responsibility to create an authentically inclusive community where we can engage in that learning together. The strength of GFA has always been in the relationships that grow here among students, teachers, and ideas. Our motto: Quisque Pro Omnibus, or "Each for All," underscores the idea that we are connected; to one another, to those who have come before us at GFA, and to those who will follow.
We're ready for tomorrow.
At GFA, we empower students to do the hard, thrilling, essential work of shaping their own world, of building their own future. Living up to our motto, “Each for All,” each one of our 770+ students, joining us from 30 towns in Fairfield and Westchester Counties, is seen, known, and valued. Our dedicated teachers partner with students PreK through Grade 12 to make our core values of passion, integrity, empathy, curiosity, and excellence come to life, every day.
Our rigorous, responsive and dynamic academic program is built around small class sizes as well as a mentoring partnership with faculty, and it provides real-world learning opportunities on campus, in our local communities, and abroad. Founded in 1925, GFA’s Centennial celebrates 100 years of graduating courageous, purpose-driven, and passionate students. When you visit GFA, you will discover that you and your voice, you and your ideas, you and your future—belong here too.
GFA Almanac: Eight Things That Make Us Who We Are
1. Our Motto (and the way we live up to it)
Our motto, in English, is “Each for all.” We live up to it by lifting each other up. This is a school where everyone—students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni—is seen, and known, and valued. This is a place where you can be your full self—and where everyone supports you as you change and grow. We work across generations, across differences, and beyond stereotypes. The result is a powerful and empowering community.
4. Inquiries and Advanced Inquiries
We developed Upper School Inquiries and Advanced Inquiries by asking: What do students need to be ready for tomorrow? They need global vision and global experience. They need the capacity to solve cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural problems. They need the skills to understand—and transform—the ways in which humans interact with the natural world. And so, from PreK–Grade 12, we offer coursework and programming that allows students to explore topics in greater depth than they would in traditional courses, working alongside faculty mentors to gain a new skill or new knowledge about a topic that is not covered in the curriculum. This is paradigm-shifting work.
7. The Greens Farms Metro-North stop
More than 200 students arrive here every morning and, in a lively procession, walk a few hundred yards to school. The ride can be both social and studious, a bonding ritual and a mark of independence. The stop itself is a metaphor for who we are: A school that’s connected to the world. A community that comes together every morning, bringing different histories and experiences, ready to discover what’s possible.
2. Our Faculty
Setting modesty aside for a moment: They’re amazing. They’re smart, they’re compassionate, they love what they do, and they’re always looking for ways to make education more alive. They take seriously our mission to be partners with students and parents in the education of children. Most of all, they’re human: soulful and surprising, generous and goofy, open-hearted and multi-dimensional. They see—and honor—the humanity of their students.
5. Our campus
It’s a 44-acre working lab, situated on three ecosystems: a salt marsh, Audubon woodlands, and Long Island Sound. The views are breathtaking. There’s tradition here, starting with a magnificent Gilded Age mansion. But the future is here, too. There’s a stunning Performing Arts Center, including a state-of-the-art theater, a scene/STEAM shop, and an art gallery—all topped by solar panels and a living roof. There’s also a squash center, a wrestling gym, and a fitness center. What matters most is that when you come here, you feel like you belong.
8. You belong at GFA
At GFA, the unique nature of our PreK–12 school offers meaningful opportunities that foster a sense of inclusion and belonging. Cross-divisional events such as GFA Voices, an evening where GFA students and families share the rich dimension behind family stories, student affinity groups that strengthen bonds between middle and upper schoolers, and our annual apple-picking tradition with Kindergarteners and Seniors bring this all full circle. Each student has a voice and a place here.
3. Our very real commitment to innovation
Our Lower School students wear uniforms, many of our Middle and Upper School classes gather around a Harkness Table, and we have a school crest that seems to have come from the Middle Ages. And yet: We do not stand still. We experiment. We take bold steps (see #4 and #6!) in response to the needs of our students and to the demands of the wider world. We’re not trendy; we’re relevant, engaged, and looking forward.
6. Our dynamic schedule
Tomorrow’s school shouldn’t be bound by yesterday’s routines. We re-engineered our schedule to make our time together more flexible, more collaborative, and more productive. A few examples: Upper School classes that meet three times a week, in 65-minute periods. Intensive mini-term courses where students and teachers explore a single topic in depth. This is a school week built for the future.
Philosophy
Partners: Our students partner with teachers to develop their agency, discover their passions, and to become lifelong learners.
Innovative: We make time and space for students and faculty to engage in collaborative learning, design, and innovation.
Inclusive: GFA strives to create a diverse community that values the identities, perspectives, and experiences of all its members.
Globally Minded: We empower our students to discover their place in the world and help them to become globally competent citizens engaged in building a sustainable future.
Core Values
Passion
Integrity
Empathy
Curiosity
Excellence