In the summer of 1968 a Grace Church School parent,  Elinor Ratner, and a Grace Church parishioner, Cree Harland, were struck by a confluence of need and resources in Manhattan's Lower East Side- the academic challenges faced by the neighborhood's less-fortunate students and the availability of Grace Church School on Saturdays and during the summer. After initial consultations with the school's board and a $3,000 grant from Brooke Astor, the GO Project launched its first program with 15 students and two teachers in donated space at Grace Church School.

The program grew organically, adding services, educators and partners to address the needs of students: GO served 120 children by 1998, lengthened its programming to full days in the summer of 2002 and in 2004 linked its Saturday and Summer programs by requiring students to attend both. In 2004, GO launched a bold initiative to increase enrollments and services by 20 percent each year and formed a partnership with Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School. Today, GO is a comprehensive, multi- disciplinary program that serves more than 450 underperforming but joyful students and their families in four locations, including new partner sites at Friends Seminary and City & Country School.