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Mission, Philosophy, & History

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Our Mission

Educating and inspiring gifted students to think as individuals and to engage as a community with compassion for each other and this world.

Our Philosophy

Soon after they retired from the school, George and Annemarie Roeper documented the ideas that they considered foundational to the school’s principles and practices. The Roeper philosophy was adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1981. Since then, contemporary re-statements of the philosophy have been adopted, the latest in 2010.

1981
2010

The Core Tenets of the Roeper Philosophy

History

The Roeper School was founded in 1941 by German educational pioneers George and Annemarie Roeper.

Forced to flee Nazi persecution, they came to America in 1939 vowing to establish a school that would educate children to participate in the world as caring, humane adults. They originally settled in Detroit then moved the school to Bloomfield Hills in 1946.

In 1956, the Roepers focused their mission on educating gifted children, making it the oldest independent school for gifted children in the United States. In 1981, the Roepers added a second campus in Birmingham, Michigan, creating learning communities for students from preschool through grade 12.