The Roeper School brings internationally renowned expertise to the Detroit area and beyond.  

As the oldest preschool through grade 12 school for the gifted in the nation, we have always prepared children, not for the next grade, but for the world. We seek to serve as many students as possible through generous financial assistance.

At Roeper, students come to understand and embrace all they are, learn to use their voices, and gain the confidence to reach out compassionately to others. 

Highlights

• Founded in 1941 and designated a school for gifted children in 1956
• First integrated independent school in the nation
• Highly individualized, inquiry-based program
• Coed with students from diverse ethnicities, races, and socio-economic backgrounds
• 76 faculty members, selected for their ability to understand the needs of gifted children
• Collaboration with The Roeper Institute, an international nexus for advances and advocacy in gifted education
• 13-acre Lower School campus with creek, Community Center, gymnasium, library, and playgrounds
• Middle & Upper School campus featuring science and technology labs, black-box theatre, dance studio, learning commons, and full-service kitchen
• Integrated college counseling and academic advising program built around each student’s goals
• Extensive parent involvement, including parent educational seminars and workshops

ROEPER HISTORY

After fleeing Germany to escape Nazi persecution, they established a school in Detroit with the goal of educating children to become thoughtful, humane adults. The school moved to Bloomfield Hills in 1946, and in 1956, Roeper focused its mission on educating gifted children.

• Roeper’s archives hold documents that uniquely share what gifted education looked like in the 1950s and 1960s when George and Annemarie were pioneering a nascent field.  

• The Roeper School History site brings together many of George’s and Annemarie’s writings and presentations in audio, video, and written form, with links to other relevant sites. It covers the school’s history and philosophy from its founding to the present. The site is a work in progress. More material will be added over the coming year.