Mission: Empowering girls to succeed academically, lead confidently, live boldly, and thrive physically
The Girls Athletic Leadership High School was founded in 2014, four years after the Girls Athletic Leadership Middle School was founded in 2010. The founders, Liz Wolfson and Nina Safane, sought to build on the successful and innovative middle school program and believed a GALS high school could offer a unique, important, and academically demanding option for students outside of the conventional secondary education model. We believe high school should be a place where students are given access to a personalized and holistic education that provides them with the skills, knowledge, and self-determination to succeed in college and to develop as leaders in their communities and the world.
GALS offers a post-secondary focused education in math, science, humanities, and the arts with intentional service learning, mission aligned intensives, a competitive athletics program, and a selection of co-curricular activities. With an exceptional staff, GALS combines its in-house academic programming with a mission-concentrated use of the city of Denver as an educational resource. Through field-work, community service and internships, students explore and contribute to our own community and the greater Denver area.
GALS offers Advanced Placement coursework as well as concurrent enrollment opportunities with Community College of Denver Auraria Campus. Students have the opportunity to earn college credit through both options.
Our student body is a diverse representation of the city reflecting the ethnic, racial and socio-economic diversity of Denver. Both in and out of the classroom, locally and globally, we instill in our students a consciousness of social justice centered on equity and anchored in the belief that each of them matters and that they can impart change in our world.
Emily Kieny | Class of 2018 | Currently attending University of Puget Sound
“My experience at GALS has instilled a love of learning within me and has pushed me every day to be the best version of myself. My world has been entirely altered and significantly improved because of my GALS education.”
Graduation Requirements
GALS requires 24 credits for graduation, distributed across the curriculum. One credit is equivalent to a year-long course. GALS curriculum provides an exceptionally strong foundation for a post-secondary education in addition to our mission-aligned coursework in the GALS Series (see below).
English: 4 credits Spanish: 1-4 credits (preference informed)
History: 3-4 credits (preference informed) Arts: 1-4 credits (preference informed)
Math: 4 credits Movement: 4 credits
Science: 3-4 credits (preference informed)
GALS Series: 4 credits (coursework to include service, intensives, & internships)
*an alternative language can satisfy the language expectation; GALS offers Spanish
Each student’s coursework may vary depending on their post high school interests and areas of focus. Each content listed above shows the minimum credit expectation.