Why a Girls' School?

New Research!  UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies released the results of a well-documented, national study which shows the statistically significant edge girls' school graduates have over their coed peers. Learn More!

Julia Morgan School for Girls is the first all-girl middle school in the East Bay. The founding of the School was based on research which demonstrates that many girls attending coeducational schools do not receive equal opportunities to excel academically and socially. According to the American Association of University Women, “curricula continue to reflect inequities, as materials by and about women remain peripheral, and teaching approaches continue to favor predominantly male interactional styles. Girls’ self-esteem and confidence in their competence, particularly with regard to math and science, drop precipitously during their middle school years, narrowing their later choices of course work and career path.”(1)

Research published by The National Coalition of Girls’ Schools shows that in coeducational classrooms, girls often contend with:

  • Fewer opportunities to participate
  • Pressure to conform to stereotypes
  • Lowered teacher expectations
  • Limited encouragement in math & science
  • Unequal sports opportunities
  • Insufficient female role models

In contrast, at a girls’ school, girls find not only equal opportunity, but every opportunity. Girls experience the freedom to speak out, ask questions, debate issues, and defend points of view. Girls fill every role at an all-girl school; they are the speakers, thinkers, writers, singers, artists, scientists, athletes, actors, and leaders.

We know that girls at single sex schools flourish academically. In general, graduates of girls’ schools are more motivated, more accomplished, and have higher aspirations than their peers at coeducational schools. Girls at single-gender schools plan careers in math, science, and technology four times more often than their peers from other schools. They will typically score 30% higher on SAT tests than the girls’ national average. In addition, almost 100 percent of girls’ school graduates go on to college and are twice as likely to earn doctorates.(2)

1. How Schools Shortchange Girls, AAUW, 1995.
2. We gratefully acknowledge the research and statistics published by The National Coalition of Girls’ Schools on which we relied in producing this information.