TGS Dress Code
Within these pages, you will find important information about Geneva’s dress code for students. This includes information about the school’s uniform requirements for regular and chapel days as well as requirements for special events such as field trips. The code also includes information about matters such as length and color of hair, appropriate style and color of shoes, and approved jewelry and accessories for girls.
Most private schools have a dress code. And most private schools experience conflict with students over the dress code. This is not too dissimilar to the conflicts parents may have in determining what their child can and cannot wear. These conflicts often arise from children having rules and expectations placed on them that they have little say in creating and that feel stifling and burdensome. And yet, most children eagerly wear with pride the uniform of their favorite sports team or the team on which they have earned a place.
In the same way, we hope each Geneva student values being a member of our student body and wears the school’s uniform with pride. Being a Geneva student is a privilege. As such, we expect our students to know the uniform guidelines and attend to their dress each day so our faculty and staff don’t have to. This keeps our teachers from having to be the “police” and thus allows the student-teacher relationship to flourish.
We recognize that the requirements of a school dress code go against the preferences of many students who desire freedom to wear what they want in order to express themselves through their dress. While we acknowledge this reality, we also embrace the role that a uniform code of dress provides in helping students become part of a larger entity, the student body of their school. The dress code, when approached properly, can go a long way toward helping students see the virtue of self-denial for the sake of a larger good. Uniforms require a day-in and day-out commitment to a set of requirements that at times may be unwelcome or burdensome. In working through these struggles, children can move in the direction of maturity and even wisdom.
