The All Boys School Conundrum

[Anonymous]

Our son attends a Big 3 school that is single gender. That being said, many of the HS honors classes are co-ed with the adjacent sister school, especially STEM classes like AP Chem, Advanced Bio electives.

The culture of the school is also set by faculty. In that case, although the school's faculty are about 45 % female, it is nice for boys to be able to also have many male teachers during their MS/HS years to show them what men are capable of intellectually.

Most other schools we found its hard to find a male role model in the classroom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son attends a Big 3 school that is single gender. That being said, many of the HS honors classes are co-ed with the adjacent sister school, especially STEM classes like AP Chem, Advanced Bio electives.

The culture of the school is also set by faculty. In that case, although the school's faculty are about 45 % female, it is nice for boys to be able to also have many male teachers during their MS/HS years to show them what men are capable of intellectually.

Most other schools we found its hard to find a male role model in the classroom

Oh my God for the millionth time just say sta. There is only one all-boys big 3. Make it stop

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want boys to be respectful towards girls and not misogynistic make that a focused effort at home. Don't rely on schools to foster this. Any school. IMO my friends from all-boys score higher than many elite athletes from any school, including PS. Don't fool yourself into thinking this stems merely from all boy schools.

I can’t say whether misogyny is worse at all-boys schools, but I can sure speak to how bad it was/is at my co-Ed school. Every type of school needs to deal with issues of misogyny unfortunately... including, ironically, all-girls schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our son attends a Big 3 school that is single gender. That being said, many of the HS honors classes are co-ed with the adjacent sister school, especially STEM classes like AP Chem, Advanced Bio electives.

The culture of the school is also set by faculty. In that case, although the school's faculty are about 45 % female, it is nice for boys to be able to also have many male teachers during their MS/HS years to show them what men are capable of intellectually.

Most other schools we found its hard to find a male role model in the classroom

Oh my God for the millionth time just say sta. There is only one all-boys big 3. Make it stop

My son attends a co ed big three school that is Quaker. But I won’t say which one.

[Anonymous]

My son attends a big 3 school but only our family thinks it’s in the big 3.

[Anonymous]

many times in a co-ed school the boys yield the classroom to the girls when the subject is English Lit, poetry, history.

We like that our son at his all boys school can't cede the ground to the girls and has to read a part in Hamlet in class just like everyone else- even if its Ophelia or Desemonda and that their mentor in these pursuits is much more likely to be a male role model than in your typical school where 99% of teachers are female.

Of course, having a lot of male teachers also delivers the silver lining of a higher pay scale for ALL teachers.

[Anonymous]

If some of the higher level classes at STA and NCS are co-ed, I have a question about one of the reported benefits for girls of a same-sex education being that girls have confidence, exhibit leadership, and aren’t shy to speak up in front of boys. So does the STA/NCS model diminish that benefit and affect the way the girls are in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dcum is not real life. I wouldn’t let anything here impact your real world decisions.

The Instagram posts about racism in these schools are real though, and recent dcum discussions center on those posts. There are many lovely all-boys schools in the country. I’m not sure why the ones in dc seem particularly problematic on matters of race.

Ummm. Many all boys schools in other parts of the country have issues with race too. It might not be as apparent but it is there, most likely.
DC is a very racially divided city, more so than other parts of the country.

Not !

PP, best of luck to you in your search for the perfect school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If some of the higher level classes at STA and NCS are co-ed, I have a question about one of the reported benefits for girls of a same-sex education being that girls have confidence, exhibit leadership, and aren’t shy to speak up in front of boys. So does the STA/NCS model diminish that benefit and affect the way the girls are in the classroom.

You’re not supposed to ask questions that cause cognitive dissonance. All the students are above average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is St Anselm's doing right? In other words, what is it about the school that has helped it avoid the Lord of the Flies or racist/misogynist fates of Landon, etc?

The administration and teachers are kind. Many have been there for a long time. The monks and abbey bring a very calm presence to the school. The expectations of the students is high, but the environment is non-competitive. The administration and teachers work hard to support the interests of the students.

As the parent of a graduate, I agree with the poster who said it is a gem.

Would highly encourage families to check it out!!

It has probably been spared the status conscious PITA parents and has also probably kept their tuition reasonable.

And maybe the Monks and not the Advancement people run the place.

How refreshing. Most of DC: please leave the school alone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our son attends a Big 3 school that is single gender. That being said, many of the HS honors classes are co-ed with the adjacent sister school, especially STEM classes like AP Chem, Advanced Bio electives.

The culture of the school is also set by faculty. In that case, although the school's faculty are about 45 % female, it is nice for boys to be able to also have many male teachers during their MS/HS years to show them what men are capable of intellectually.

Most other schools we found its hard to find a male role model in the classroom

Oh my God for the millionth time just say sta. There is only one all-boys big 3. Make it stop

My son attends a co ed big three school that is Quaker. But I won’t say which one.

Oh wow! Is it located on Wisconsin Avenue? I can’t say for certain but I think mine attends the same one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If some of the higher level classes at STA and NCS are co-ed, I have a question about one of the reported benefits for girls of a same-sex education being that girls have confidence, exhibit leadership, and aren’t shy to speak up in front of boys. So does the STA/NCS model diminish that benefit and affect the way the girls are in the classroom.

You’re not supposed to ask questions that cause cognitive dissonance. All the students are above average.

Probably but at least they meet cute boys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If some of the higher level classes at STA and NCS are co-ed, I have a question about one of the reported benefits for girls of a same-sex education being that girls have confidence, exhibit leadership, and aren’t shy to speak up in front of boys. So does the STA/NCS model diminish that benefit and affect the way the girls are in the classroom.

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If some of the higher level classes at STA and NCS are co-ed, I have a question about one of the reported benefits for girls of a same-sex education being that girls have confidence, exhibit leadership, and aren’t shy to speak up in front of boys. So does the STA/NCS model diminish that benefit and affect the way the girls are in the classroom.

No.

If you knew any NCS girls- or graduates working in this town that are now in their 40's you would know better than to seriously ask this

[Anonymous]

Setting aside the apparent urge of the commenters to put their personal equitable or political spin on specific schools, and focusing on the educational and developmental experience, in my experience the all-boys route was great for my son. We noticed very quickly that (i) the boys were more willing to try and do activities that might not be considered as cool in two-sex settings, (ii) the boys actually supported each other, regardless of the nature of the activity, and those bonds have lasted across the usual "cliques", and (iii) the SS environment enabled teachers to be able to teach in ways that boys responded to, the result being that they truly enjoyed learning.