WINTERIM

EACH YEAR, OUR TEACHERS jump at the chance to plan educational itineraries that encapsulate enrichment experiences you can’t find in the classroom. These offerings, which run the gamut from local volunteer days to worldwide travel, comprise Winterim, a week of learning in February. During Winterim, students are free to participate in the opportunity that interests them, allowing them to experience hands-on learning while also building new relationships and making memories.

This year’s Upper-Schoolers had incredible options to choose from, varying from staying on campus and #adulting (read: learning about money management, legal rights when they turn 18, and car maintenance) to traveling across the country and even abroad!

Students always look forward to Winterim, making the most of their experiences, displaying pride in GPS, and forming lasting bonds with girls across grades.

Don’t worry, it’s not only UpperSchoolers who get to enjoy Winterim! Our Middle School students participate in experiences curated at the grade level by class deans. This provides an opportunity for girls to get to know their classmates better while expanding their horizons and taking what they have learned in the classroom and applying it in the real world. Our sixth-graders spent time in and around the Chattanooga area learning all about the heart, the seventh grade class traveled to Gatlinburg for thrills (a trip to Wonderworks), hills (hiking), and chills (fun in the snow!), while our eighthgraders ventured to Atlanta to learn about the civil rights movement.

From full-scale film production to visits to a local fiber farm to a culinary cook-off with VIP judges (hello, Mrs. Cover, Ms. Brotton, and Ms. Betts!), there was no shortage of artistic opportunities for the ladies who chose to stay local for Winterim. But that wasn’t all! Additional opportunities included giving back to the community. Whether hosting a Valentine's Day party at a nursing home, cleaning up a local park, or volunteering at the Food Bank or Lula Lake, girls nurtured their hearts for service during Winterim! There were even options for learning life skills in offerings like driving school, lifeguard training, and learning the ins and outs of being an adult!

From East Coast to West Coast, some of our students chose to travel the U.S. for Winterim. It was all tech, all day for those visiting Silicon Valley, while our Louisiana ladies had a blast down in the bayou learning all about New Orleans' rich history and culture! In Arizona, the dude ranch girls spent time riding horses, biking, herding cattle, and getting to know the landscape, and in NYC, gals dined in Little Italy, rode the subway, saw Broadway's Aladdin, toured Wall Street, walked the Brooklyn Bridge and were even featured on the Today show! Last, but certainly not least, our Disney girls spent the week at the happiest place on Earth!

This year students were able to truly travel abroad again for the first time since 2020, and they sure took advantage of the opportunities! Our Chilean adventurers engaged in a variety of outdoor activities and learning opportunities around the conservation, cultural, and societal impacts of mega-hydropower, while several of our Upper School students took a true Italian adventure! They enjoyed gondola and ferry rides, basked in the incredible architectural design of the city, and worked in some shopping during downtime. We even had ladies head to the Bahamas for a SCUBA expedition upon a research vessel that’s been featured on The Discovery Channel and National Geographic.

Lynne Macziewski

what one can accomplish in six years, you’d better be prepared to stay a while to hear her response. She accepted the role of Head of Middle School in 2017, added Associate Head of School to her title in 2021, and will depart GPS to take the helm as the ninth Head of School of The Baldwin School (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) the summer of 2023. When she arrived on our campus, Ms. Mac taught Middle School science classes and began her work, along with her team of faculty and staff, to implement a plan that would move GPS’s program, policies, and procedures from a “junior Upper School” to a full-fledged Middle School. “We worked hard to create our own program that was developmentally appropriate and still prepared girls for the Upper School and life beyond Island Avenue,” she says. “From redesigning our curriculum to offering new classes such as STEM electives, to the sixth-grade interdisciplinary program, recess, Middle School retreats, Winterim trips, and more, everything was designed to enhance the experience for girls.” The result? “I wish I could have gone to school here!”

In her role as Associate Head of School, she led the way to rethinking our grading policies with an eye on equity, consistency, scaffolding, and what is best for girls. Ms. Mac guided our faculty through research, individual and group pilots, gathered feedback, and worked with others to create all-school assessment policies that allow girls’ grades to truly represent what they know and reflect what they understand and are able to do.

But she made sure to make fond memories along the way. Some of her most impactful experiences happened during Middle School Winterims—spending the night at the McWane Science Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, and taking part in activities and discussions at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. Teaching eighth-grade science also made the list of her favorite GPS moments.

“I was so lucky to have the opportunity to build relationships with amazing young women, be humbled daily by some of the best and brightest students around, and see their confidence, skills, and abilities grow exponentially from sixth to eighth to 12th grade,” she says. “Our dream team of Middle School faculty cares deeply for this school and for the girls, who are at the heart of it all. I will forever know how lucky I am to have had this group of amazing faculty to work with. They have made every year here better than the last.”

With Macziewski through this journey has been her daughter, Grace, who started GPS as a sixth-grader and will finish her last two years of high school at The Baldwin School. “Watching my daughter wrap the maypole this year and to see all she’s accomplished here as a student and an athlete has been incredible,” she says. “I am so very proud of her.”

“ There is no greater honor for those of us in the field of girls' education to foster and launch future leaders. Lynne truly believes in the power of educating the whole girl and embraces all aspects of school life with gusto and optimism. Known for her problem-solving skills, warm smile, and signature phrase, It'll be great!, she is present and committed in all she does for GPS. She has certainly left her legacy on the middle school, creating and building an interdisciplinary program that cultivates curiosity and a joy of discovery among students and her peers. Lucky for us, Lynne will continue her good work at the Baldwin School, where I know our paths will cross again. We wish Lynne, Nate, Grace, and Jack all the best in this next chapter! Here's to you, Ms. Mac!”

—MEGAN D. COVER, HEAD OF SCHOOL