Established in 1848, it was one of the first public schools for women. It is a magnet school in the School District of Philadelphia with a competitive admissions process. Vincit qui se vincit (she conquers who conquers herself) is the school's motto. The school is located at Broad Street and Olney Avenue in the Logan section of Philadelphia.
History
Girls Normal School, Sergeant St. above 9th, 1853Girls High School, 17th and Spring Garden Sts., 1876New Girls Normal School, 13th and Spring Garden Sts., 1893The previous Girls' High campus, now Julia R. Masterman School, which housed the school from 1933 to 1958
In 1848, the Girls' Normal School was established as the first secondary public school for women in Pennsylvania. It was also the first municipally supported teachers' school in the U.S. The first instructional session was held on February 1, 1848. By June 1848, there were 149 enrolled students, an incredibly large enrollment for a school at that time. The school continued to grow, forcing a move in 1854 to Sergeant Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets.
In April 1854, the name of the school was changed to the Girls' High School of Philadelphia. By June 1860, 65 graduates had received diplomas bearing the Girls' High School name. In 1860, the name of the school was again changed to The Girls' High and Normal School to better define the "design of the institution" as a school for an education confined to academic subjects and for future teachers.
In October 1876, a new school which "for convenience and comfort will probably have no superior" was constructed at Seventeenth and Spring Garden Streets. At the time it was surpassed in size only by Girard College and the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1893, the High School and Normal School were separated into two distinct institutions. It was at this time that the institution became known as the Philadelphia High School for Girls. The school offered three parallel courses: a general course of three years with a possible postgraduate year, a classical course of four years, and a business course of three years. In 1898, a Latin-Scientific course "was designed to prepare students for the Women's Medical College, Cornell, Vassar, Wellesley, Smith, Barnard, or such courses in the University of Pennsylvania as were open to women."
In the early 1930s, the school survived attempts to merge it with William Penn High School. Alumnae, faculty and friends of the school dedicated themselves to its preservation.
In 1933, a new school was erected at Seventeenth and Spring Garden Streets to replace the one which had stood on the site since 1876. This historic building, now the site of Julia R. Masterman School, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
In May 1976, Vice Principal Dr. Florence Snite sued Katherine Day for libel because she had organized a demonstration protesting the administration's policy which barred lesbian alumnae from attending the prom.[2]
In 1958, the school again outgrew its location and moved to its current site at Broad Street and Olney Avenue. Located down the street at Ogontz and Olney Avenue is Central High School, which, until 1983, was an all-male school. Prior to Central turning co-educational, the two schools had a partnership.
Big Sister, Little Sister – Seniors are paired with incoming freshmen and act as their "big sisters". The "big sisters" provide transitional support to their "little sisters".
Freshman Day, Sophomore Day, Junior Day – Each class is given a day to honor it. Students of the honored class generally sport flowers in their class color, host an auditorium show, and have a tea or other social gathering.
Senior Day – Graduating seniors are given awards for their academic and extracurricular achievements. After the awards ceremony, they have lunch, often on the Spirit of Philadelphia or at the Chart House.
Contest – started in 1913 and has evolved over the years. The seniors and freshmen team up to compete against the sophomores and juniors in a variety of competitions that span a few weeks.
County Fair – A schoolwide all-afternoon fair in which each advisory class contributes food, games, and entertainment. All the money earned during county fair is given to a charity of choice by the winning advisory.
Songs of the Season – The school's holiday show. The program begins with the procession of members of the school's Treble Clef Choir through a completely dark auditorium. Each choir member carries a single lit candle and chants "Hodie Christus Natus Est" by Benjamin Britten. The show continues with holiday performances by the school's various extracurricular groups and ethnic clubs. Jill Scott (a Girls' High alumna) made an appearance at Songs of the Season in 2006.
Graduation – ceremony at the Academy of Music, and now at the Kimmel Center. All graduates wear white dresses and carry a bouquet of red carnations.
School song
The school song has two parts. Alma Mater was written by Grade Gordon (1906) with music by F. Edna Davis (1906). Fidelitas was written by Emily Loman in June 1915.[3]
School seals
Tree of Knowledge, Original School Seal
Nike of Samothrace or Winged Victory, School Seal
Tree of Knowledge, School Seal
Notable alumnae
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (December 2020)
Hafsah Abdur-Rahman, a Muslim student, was denied a diploma on stage by the school principal after performing the Griddy dance during the graduation ceremony on June 9, 2023. [11]
^ abc"Girls HS". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
^HQ75. P55x. Philadelphia Gay News. January 3, 1976 – March 25, 1978. Vol. 1. No. 1 – Vol. 2. No. 6. Special Collections Research Center in Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
^"School Songs." Philadelphia High School for Girls.
^Creese, Mary R. S. (1998). Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of Their Contributions to Research. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN0-8108-3287-9.
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