Are all-girls schools losing their appeal (for high school) ?

[Anonymous]

I know many elementary school girls who have left their schools for Holton or Stone Ridge. Although, in elementary, that’s the parents deciding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Short answer is yes. There will always be kids and families drawn to single sex but way more want coed. My daughter was 100 not interested. My son was ambivalent but preferred coed. From our k-8 the majority went coed. But the upside of many single sex schools for high school is that the entire class is new. So less “breaking in” social. But my kids wanted dances and football and homecoming and the normal high school stuff that really comes from coed. And I think most kids want that as well.

Not my experience at all with 4 different single sex high schools. 2 boy, and 2 girl. The girls school cheered for the boys high school football games, they had joint homecoming dances, several mixers, and even some classes overlap like orchestra and theater. If there was a class offered and one but not the other they could take it. Pretty much a normal high school experience except most of the day to day classes are single sex of which there are many advantages.[/quott


This might be possible at NCS and St Albans but when we asked at NCSif they did homecoming with St Albans, they made it very clear it’s a separate event. Not connected. So maybe there is overlap but not connected. I know they do some athletic and performing arts together as well. Madiera doesn’t have an obvious brother school. No idea how Visitation handles it. Holton and Landon do stuff together but it has always felt forced. Not as welcomed as might have once been.

Longtime cathedral school parent here, the homecoming dances are separate events but open to both schools, regardless of whether kids are invited or not. Some go with dates, some with groups of friends. Two different events on different weekends, but definitely open to both schools.

Some sports (xc, track, swim, rock climbing) are co-ed as well as performing arts. Some classes are open to the other school, but this is becoming more limited. My daughter definitely interacts with boys at school more than friends at other area girls’ schools. She has been happy at NCS (albeit stressed as an upperclassman) but would never consider a women’s college under any circumstance.

[Anonymous]

We are considering Madeira for DD who'd be applying out for 9th because she's really into STEM and needs the confidence to excel. She does well anyway, but it's nice to surround herself with girls who are more nerdy or stem-oriented like herself.

[Anonymous]

All single sex schools are losing attendees. All boys are hurting even more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All single sex schools are losing attendees. All boys are hurting even more.

From what I’m seeing they are still very competitive to get into. Many more applicants than spots, for both the girls schools and boys schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All single sex schools are losing attendees. All boys are hurting even more.

From what I’m seeing they are still very competitive to get into. Many more applicants than spots, for both the girls schools and boys schools.

Relative to co-ed they are hurting but still doing fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our k-8 sent/sends girls to Madeira, NCS, and/or Foxcroft every year (NoVa school, so while I can’t say no one considers Holton, I don’t recall any attending it during our time at the school). I’d guess more than half the girls at least consider/apply to all-girls HS each year, and a handful attend.

But I’ll add, as a graduate of NCS myself, we didn’t consider a girls school for DD. Madeira’s mod system was not a good fit, NCS would be a terrible commute and I had a bad experience so am not inclined to push it on my kid, Holton too far, we are not Catholic, and not interested in boarding. Which effectively removed all the girls schools from consideration (we did look at Madeira, but realized quickly it would be a bad fit).

This sounds like me/us. So out of curiosity where did your daughter go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All single sex schools are losing attendees. All boys are hurting even more.

This simply isn’t true. At least not in this area. Tell that to all the families waitlisted at Gonzaga, Prep, and DeMatha last year for 9th. We know of several who are trying to apply again this year for 10th.

[Anonymous]

What is the mods schedule like at Madeira? What makes it a good fit for a student?

[Anonymous]

All girls schools are really popular with my daughter’s friends, but I think that’s because the boys in her grade are particularly annoying and distracting. They all want a school where they don’t have to tell with the distributive boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All single sex schools are losing attendees. All boys are hurting even more.

Source for this?

At my kid’s northern VA Catholic grade school, (literally) EVERY girl is applying to Visi, and (just about) EVERY boy is applying to Gonzaga. Everyone realizes only a subset will get into those schools given how competitive they are and how many applicants each school has had the last several years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:59 here again. Also no one chose NCS.

You mean no one from your K-8 can get in?

No, they meant what they said, but your insecurity is noted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the mods schedule like at Madeira? What makes it a good fit for a student?

It is seven five-week periods. The girls take three classes at once. A lot of material is covered daily. There is occasionally time during the day to do homework, depending on the advisory schedule. It's a good fit for students who are organized and diligent. DD likes it because she has a new schedule every five weeks, which means new teachers and a new mix of classmates.

The core courses are spread over three mods. So, you end up having 15 weeks total of math, science, English, history, foreign language, and math. It gives them time to have a five-week internship during 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. 10th grade it's in service to others; 11th grade it's on the Hill; 12th grade it's self-determined. The internship program is a unique experience that really teaches the girls a great deal.

The final part of every school day is a mandatory sport or activity.

It's a lot of work, but it mimics a college schedule to some degree, so the transition to college by all accounts is quite seamless for the students. DD absolutely loves the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know multiple girls who said no to all-girls until they toured/shadowed. Then they picked all-girls.

I wish I would have pushed my daughter to at least consider. She went to a K8 school and swore she didn’t want all-girls (her older sister went to NCS). She ended up regretting her decision (at very well regarded co-ed school) after getting better perspective once she started upper school.

I’m a huge fan of the all-girls experience.

[Anonymous]

If a girl wants to be a leader, she would benefit from an all girls school.