[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO GIRLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ZACH WAMP

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 19, 2006

  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, in the spring of 1906, veteran educators in 
Chattanooga, Tennessee--Tommie Payne Duffy, Eula Lea Jarnagin and Grace 
McCallie--boldly resolved to create an independent school to prepare 
girls for higher education. With indomitable fortitude and spirit, they 
committed their finances, time, and energy to establishing Girls 
Preparatory School, which they opened on September 12, 1906. This year, 
Girls Preparatory School celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the 2006 
graduating class of 102 girls joined over 7,000 women as alumnae of the 
school.
  In a modest, four-room schoolhouse, the three founders laid the 
foundation for what is now one of this Nation's great secondary schools 
for girls. Today, on a 60-acre site overlooking the Tennessee River, 
the school is an impressive complex of technology-rich academics 
buildings and superb athletic facilities that serves some 750 girls 
annually in grades 6-12.
  With an honor code that provides an environment of trust, a community 
service program that teaches that service to others and by providing a 
superior education with opportunities for personal growth to students 
of diverse backgrounds from 40 communities in Tennessee, Alabama, and 
Georgia, colleges and universities across America have come to 
recognize Girls Preparatory School as among the best preparatory 
schools in the Nation.
  Named the National School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of 
Education, the school has been honored by the national Character 
Education Partnership and received the Award of Excellence from the 
National Endowment for the Arts. Its students have been named 
Presidential Scholars, National Merit Finalists, and National AP 
Scholars.
  I am proud to stand on the House floor today to say that Girls 
Preparatory School is poised for another 100 years of greatness, 
committed to graduating independent girls with a lifelong love of 
learning.

                          ____________________