Overview & Mission
Overview
At Girls Athletic Leadership School in Denver (GALS), students and teachers learn together, lead together, move together, and laugh together.
At GALS, the GALS Pledge shapes both our culture and curriculum. While humans are always evolving, we aim for every student to leave GALS confidently living—and believing—its words.
Our Mission
The mission of GALS is to empower students to succeed academically, lead confidently, live boldly and thrive physically.
We provide an environment that fosters the academic mastery and personal development necessary for every student to become a powerful advocate for themselves and a leader in their community. Our school model includes a movement (physical wellness) module in which all students and staff participate, incorporating movement into pedagogy, a team of therapeutic counselors to support all students and families as they navigate barriers to academic and life success, a core course focused on social, emotional, and leadership development, and an intentional, wellness-focused culture and curriculum for all students.
Founded in 2010, GALS Denver became Colorado’s first tuition-free, public, gender-based middle school—designed to uplift and empower girls during their most formative years. After expanding to include a high school in 2014, we’ll be returning to our founding purpose in the 2025–2026 school year: championing the growth, voice, and leadership of middle school girls in grades 6–8.
According to Dr. Carlo Cerruti’s research at Harvard University (Exploring Girls’ Attitudes about Math), middle school is a critical period when girls often experience a decline in both their math performance and their attitudes toward the subject. However, studies suggest that girls’ schools can help mitigate this decline compared to co-educational environments. Research by Goodman Research Group (The Girls’ School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools) further shows that attendees of girls’ schools are six times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology fields than their peers from coeducational schools.
GALS continues to be the only public all-girls school, inclusive of gender non-binary and transgender students, in the state of Colorado. Our model provides an avenue for students to discover and harness their ambitions, and a community in which they can thrive.
