Grier School

Grier School, a girls’ college-preparatory day and boarding school for students in grades 7-12, offers an individualized education in academics, dance, riding, music, the visual arts, theatre, and a great variety of recreational and team sports. The Grier School was founded in 1853 by the local Presbyterian Church. At the time, the small village of Birmingham, location of the school, was a thriving commercial centre for the region’s iron furnaces and mills. After running the school for only three years, the church sold the building and grounds to Lemuel Grier, an educator who had been working as a teacher in a school near Belleville, Pennsylvania. Today, the fourth generation of the Grier family, Douglas Grier Ph.D., holds the position of Director and plays an active role in administration and admissions. Grier School has retained many traditional aspects of its early boarding school years, while introducing new facilities along the way and evolving to meet the needs of today’s students. The Grier School is committed to the philosophy that each of their students should have the opportunity to achieve her individual potential. Their goal is to provide a warm, residential, home-like atmosphere where students from many nations and academic backgrounds gain knowledge, creative expression, responsibility, self-esteem, and leadership skills. Since Grier is a boarding school for girls that values privacy, there is only one sign indicating the school's entrance. For this reason, it is advised that visitors begin to slow down and prepare for the turn into the entrance just after they pass the small road sign for Birmingham. The small village of Birmingham is adjacent to the school.