Why an All-Girls School?
News: TMLA called "model for every high school seeking accreditation" by Middle States Association
The advantages to an all-girls school are clear. All-girls schools provide the ideal environment for intellectual development and personal growth. The all-girls environment is free of the powerful age-old ideas of popularity, attractiveness. Girls can explore and nurture their interests, talents and leadership in an environment that provides support and inspiration for their unique creativity.
Girls in single-gender schools are surrounded by role models: every top scholar, extra-curricular leader, newspaper/yearbook/literary editor, team captain and student council president is a girl. A girls’ school focuses on the distinct learning styles of girls. All-girls schools dedicate all their resources, physical and financial, towards the education and development of girls. There is no distinction made between those services, clubs, athletics and events for boys versus those for girls. It all goes to girls.
Research continues to support the advantages of single-sex education for girls, citing higher test scores, superior reading, writing and science skills; higher numbers of math and science college majors; higher number of doctorates; higher number of graduates who pursue careers in math, science and technology; and a more positive approach to learning than their counterparts in a co-educational school. Young women leave girls’ schools with the skills and confidence necessary for academic and personal success in college and beyond.
A Harvard Graduate School of Educational Research concludes that single-sex education is a proven advantage for girls. Here are their key findings:
- Young women attending an all-female high school show greater educational and personal gains than young men and women in co-educational schools.
- According to the study, young women enrolled in all-female schools:
- set higher educational goals;
- perceive themselves as being in control of their own choices;
- hold more positive attitudes about school;
- achieve at significantly higher levels in reading and science;
- overcome traditional gender stereotypes;
- have fewer absences and discipline problems; and
- do more homework and watch less television.
Reports such as the American Association of University Women’s How Schools Shortchange Girls and David and Myra Sadker’s Failing at Fairness conclude that:
- Girls are not as well served by the coeducational learning environment as boys are.
- They receive less teacher attention and find fewer reflections of themselves in the curriculum.
- Their unique learning styles and ways of knowing are often ignored.