Why An All Girls School?
Single-gender schools provide students with the most powerful, transformative learning environments. Carrollton’s tradition of excellence in all-girls education dates back to the founding of the first Sacred Heart School in Amiens, France, in 1801. For more than 225 years, Sacred Heart students have been held to the highest expectations and encouraged to become confident learners, critical thinkers, and self-starters. Carrollton’s all-girls environment yields rewards that last a lifetime.
Current research points to the effectiveness of single-sex education for young women. Graduates of girls' schools account for a significant percentage of women in leadership positions in industry, academia, public life, and other professions. Students describe their experience at an all-girls school as demanding, exciting, and life-changing. Their voices are heard, they're given opportunities to lead, and their accomplishments are numerous. They’re encouraged to focus on developing the very best in themselves while pursuing challenging coursework. Students in all-girl classrooms confidently voice their opinions, ask thought-provoking questions, and embrace new learning experiences and opportunities.
A growing body of research during the past decade has documented what all-girls school educators have long understood: All-girls schools give young women the best education to succeed in college and the world beyond. An example of this research is the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies' report on single-sex schooling and the transition to college. Based upon their nationwide blind study of female first-year college students, the UCLA researchers found that girls’ school alumnae start college with several significant advantages, including:
Confidence
Graduates of all-girls schools
demonstrate greater confidence
in STEM, with 48% reporting
higher math confidence and 36%
reporting higher computer skills,
than those of their co-ed peers.
Engineering
Graduates of single-sex schools are more likely than their co-educational peers to plan careers in engineering. Among independent school alumnae, those from all-girls schools are three times more likely to intend to pursue engineering careers.
Academic Performance
More than 80% of all-girls school’s graduates consider their academic performance highly successful.
Public Speaking
45% of all women graduating from all-girl schools rate their public speaking ability high, or among the highest 10 percent. 64% of girls’ school alumnae assess their writing skills as advanced, compared to their female alumnae of co-ed schools.
Outside of the Classroom
Female graduates of single-sex independent schools spend more time studying, talking with teachers outside of class, and tutoring peers.
Graduate School
Women who attend single-sex schools show a stronger focus on advanced academic achievement, with 71% saying they plan to attend college to prepare for graduate school. They are also more likely to choose a college based on its success in placing graduates into top graduate programs.