All girls HS was good for me because I focused on my studies, not boys and make up etc.

It was bad for me because I got to a co ed college and had no idea how to deal with boys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Single sex education has been better than we ever expected. Zero “dating” distractions. Zero preening and competition regarding the same. More opportunity and better environment to form strong personal relationships within the group. A program aimed at the gender in question, it’s strength and it’s weaknesses, which makes the environment more cooperative and fulfilling. The idea that boys and girls have to stew together in the same pot when their hormones are raging and their learning differences most apparent, just to be able to function in a coed workforce, is ridiculous.

This post screams heteronormativity. Not all people are attracted to the opposite sex (or solely to the opposite sex).

Thats’s right, ignore everything else in the post about why kids can do better in same sex schools and jump right into outrages, labelling and virtue signaling. The quickest estimate I found was that about 4.5% of the US population identifies as non-heterosexual. Meaning 95.5% of students would be less likely to be romantically distracted in a single sex school, not to mention all the other reasons a parent might choose such an environment.

This post said nothing about the other reasons parents choose same sex education. But, if the reasoning here is to prevent “distraction” because they don’t need to worry about “hormones” or being attracted to classmates or whatever that says much more about the parents than the value of same sex education and the type of environment kids are growing up in.

Btw, percentage of 13-17 year olds who identify as LGBTQ+ is about 10%: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBT-Youth-US-Pop-Sep-2020.pdf

It is definitely more than 10% LGBTQ+ at Madeira.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Single sex education has been better than we ever expected. Zero “dating” distractions. Zero preening and competition regarding the same. More opportunity and better environment to form strong personal relationships within the group. A program aimed at the gender in question, it’s strength and it’s weaknesses, which makes the environment more cooperative and fulfilling. The idea that boys and girls have to stew together in the same pot when their hormones are raging and their learning differences most apparent, just to be able to function in a coed workforce, is ridiculous.

This post screams heteronormativity. Not all people are attracted to the opposite sex (or solely to the opposite sex).

Thats’s right, ignore everything else in the post about why kids can do better in same sex schools and jump right into outrages, labelling and virtue signaling. The quickest estimate I found was that about 4.5% of the US population identifies as non-heterosexual. Meaning 95.5% of students would be less likely to be romantically distracted in a single sex school, not to mention all the other reasons a parent might choose such an environment.

This post said nothing about the other reasons parents choose same sex education. But, if the reasoning here is to prevent “distraction” because they don’t need to worry about “hormones” or being attracted to classmates or whatever that says much more about the parents than the value of same sex education and the type of environment kids are growing up in.

Btw, percentage of 13-17 year olds who identify as LGBTQ+ is about 10%: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBT-Youth-US-Pop-Sep-2020.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Single sex education has been better than we ever expected. Zero “dating” distractions. Zero preening and competition regarding the same. More opportunity and better environment to form strong personal relationships within the group. A program aimed at the gender in question, it’s strength and it’s weaknesses, which makes the environment more cooperative and fulfilling. The idea that boys and girls have to stew together in the same pot when their hormones are raging and their learning differences most apparent, just to be able to function in a coed workforce, is ridiculous.

This post screams heteronormativity. Not all people are attracted to the opposite sex (or solely to the opposite sex).

Thats’s right, ignore everything else in the post about why kids can do better in same sex schools and jump right into outrages, labelling and virtue signaling. The quickest estimate I found was that about 4.5% of the US population identifies as non-heterosexual. Meaning 95.5% of students would be less likely to be romantically distracted in a single sex school, not to mention all the other reasons a parent might choose such an environment.

Girls do great at single-sex schools. For boys, it depends on their maturity level and temperament. Also, keep in mind that any tendencies toward same-sex behavior will be more likely to be expressed at a single-sex school. That's neither good nor bad, it's just science, but parents should be aware.

We were on the fence and visited all boys just to see and were very surprised.

Wound up at co-ed but was shocked that single sex middle school jumped to our #2 choice. After visits I realized they worked with the class in ways that engaged them where they were at the time - as opposed to a mixed class room where there is a distribution of girls that have gone through puberty and have a different classroom readiness.

2nd child considering both single sex and co-ed. I think visits are critical in the decision making process. Go in and be curious.

Anonymous wrote:Single sex education has been better than we ever expected. Zero “dating” distractions. Zero preening and competition regarding the same. More opportunity and better environment to form strong personal relationships within the group. A program aimed at the gender in question, it’s strength and it’s weaknesses, which makes the environment more cooperative and fulfilling. The idea that boys and girls have to stew together in the same pot when their hormones are raging and their learning differences most apparent, just to be able to function in a coed workforce, is ridiculous.

This post screams heteronormativity. Not all people are attracted to the opposite sex (or solely to the opposite sex).

There is probably a degree of pros of single sex education for every kid. However, how long and to what degree the pros will out weigh the cons is very kid specific. There are some kids who truly thrive and grow in both confidence and maturity in single sex education. Similarly there are also kids for whom single sex education would be draining over time. You’ll really have to see what works best for your child.

IME (mine and my child's) being in a single sex school for a while helps you learn to deal with people of your own gender. Dealing with people of the opposite sex often comes more naturally and is easier.

Single sex education has been better than we ever expected. Zero “dating” distractions. Zero preening and competition regarding the same. More opportunity and better environment to form strong personal relationships within the group. A program aimed at the gender in question, it’s strength and it’s weaknesses, which makes the environment more cooperative and fulfilling. The idea that boys and girls have to stew together in the same pot when their hormones are raging and their learning differences most apparent, just to be able to function in a coed workforce, is ridiculous.

My kids are still too little but my experience has been that kids from co-ed privates are nicer and better adjusted kids once they get to college.

We have a DD in a single sex school. We were never considering private until at least middle school. When we realized there were certain social emotional challenges that impacted her confidence and attitude about learning, we only considered a move to single sex. DD was enthusiastic about the opportunity. In a matter of weeks, DD was more confident and engaged in learning. DD now can articulate that she knows she was not bullied intentionally but it was difficult to be around boys both in respecting personal space, being loud and rowdy outside of recess and physical Ed, and interrupting during learning. Through our process of applying I was blown away by the alumni panels explaining the level of confidence they have from single sex education for learning and leading in college and career. My opinion is my kids are in co-Ed sports and extracurriculars. In school there’s intentional learning about women’s contributions to the world. I believe that the single sex environment will ultimately help them thrive while young and vulnerable (along with very strong parenting of course). I can’t ever say it’s better for everyone. For us I know it is. There’s data about teacher implicit bias toward boys and white students. But I would not just rely on research. We were strongly seeking single sex so it was easy for us. I can say many of the parents I spoke to were female at a single sex school and get strongly their DD would be in single sex. This boosted confidence in our choice, but the biggest factor was DDs strong interest in the opportunity.

The counterpoint to PP’s post is that boys and girls brains develop at different rates, especially as it related to impulsivity and executive functioning. Most traditional co-ed schools cater to the areas where girls are stronger (able to sit still for longer) and boys are seen as “defective girls” who are a distraction to normal classroom functioning. It’s true they will need to function together eventually, but as adults those differences should be behind them.

You will get lots of different opinions about this one. Here's my 2 cents. Our kids will have to compete, live, and work in a society with all gender identities, races, and thought backgrounds. Why not expose them to as much of this as possible in a safe structured environment. I send my kids to a (relatively) diverse co-ed private. I say "relatively" diverse mainly because I don't think any top tier private school is very diverse in terms of SES.

I’ve read a bit (okay, a little bit) about the pros and cons of single sex education. Just curious if people think it benefits both sexes similarly or does one sex get disproportionate advantage one over the other. There is the obvious drawback of it not being a good fit for non-binary, gender-fluid, etc., but I’m more taking about the ones who do identify as either male or female.

Which schools around here do it best/worst?