All-girls schools have been around since women were first allowed equal education with men, but unfortunately, their popularity is beginning to wane for a number of reasons. Many women fear that their daughters may be better off in an environment where they can interact with men on a daily basis, rather than being subjected to a same-sex environment. However, girls who attend all girls’ schools still interact with men and boys on a daily basis in the form of some teachers, the men and boys in their families and neighborhoods, and at social events. While there are arguments for both forms of teaching, the following include a few of the benefits of attending an all-girls school.
All Girls Schools in St. Louis
| St. Louis All Girl Schools | Phone Number | Location |
| Cor Jesu | 314-843-8272 | Affton |
| Esther Miller Bais Yaakov | 314-863-9230 | University City |
| Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls | 314-361-5323 | St. Louis City |
| Incarnate Word | 314-725-5850 | Central County |
| Marian Middle School | 314-771-7674 | St Louis City |
| Nerinx Hall | 314-968-1505 | Webster Groves |
| Notre Dame | 314-544-1015 | Lemay |
| Rosati Kain | 314-533-8513 | St. Louis City |
| St. Josephs Academy | 314-965-7207 | Central County |
| Torah Prep School | 314-569-2929 | Central County |
| Ursuline Academy | 314-984-2800 | Kirkwood |
| Villa Duchesne | 314-432-2021 | West County |
| Visitation Academy | 314-625-9100 | St Louis City |
Benefits of Attending a St. Louis All-Girls School
Girls are more Academically Focused: Girls are actually more focused, better at paying attention, and therefore better at learning. In school, girls are more academically focused, and even in boy-girl schools, often outperform the male students. This rate holds through for both young students and for college goers, where women have a 36% graduation rate and men are hanging back at around 27%. Because girls are more interested and focused on their studies, putting them in an all-girl classroom means less interruption, less distraction, and less chance of them being bullies or pushed into not learning in order to fit in.
Girls have Unique Learning Styles: Another thing to consider is that both boys and girls learn in entirely different ways. Studied gender differences show that girls are better at verbal emotive processing and boys excel at spatial mechanical strengths, so in a boy-girl classroom, the study and learning methods are more likely to be geared towards male learning patterns as they historically have been. In female classrooms, learning methods are geared towards women and only women.
Schools for Girls in St. Louis
Establish Female Confidence and Role Models: By attending an all-girl school, girls can learn that women can and do take part in every function of a society. Because in all girl schools, girls take on even traditional masculine roles as needed, they can learn to approach society and the world as a person rather than as a woman who perhaps shouldn’t be doing that. Learning in a female environment ensures that they are exposed to women taking on leadership roles in learning, education, and the classroom, and are therefore more open to doing so themselves. Because it is becoming more and more important for women to take on leadership roles and close the gender gap in employment, learning confidence is a definite plus.
Girls Compete With Each Other: Girls are naturally competitive and a little bit of competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing when it means studying for tests. Competition can lead to increased scores on tests, in sportsmanship, and in other areas, which more than makes up for any negative repercussions. While female competition is present in any school, it only really reaches the academic level in all-girl’s schools, where girls aren’t competing for boy’s attention. This shift is definitely beneficial to most learning environments.
Girls Change Learning Based On Perception: One very important thing to consider is that on average, 74 percent of teen girls aged 12-14 are interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) careers, but only about 24% of them actually go on to take that career path and only 13% list it as their first career choice. The reason is usually peer pressure, as they are told by traditional schools that they aren’t expected to go into those careers or that it’s ‘unladylike’. By sending a girl to an all girl’s school, she avoids these negative influences, which allows her to study and aim for the educational and career path of her choice. Girls are more than smart enough to excel in these careers, and most of them are among the highest paying in the country, which means that it only makes sense to encourage and allow them to pursue STEM.
All girls schools do have their pros and cons, but there are a lot of good reasons to send a girl of any age to an all-female school. Women are currently establishing roles in leadership, entrepreneurship, and STEM, and sending girls to an all-girl’s school is one of the easiest ways to get them started down the path to self-sufficiency, confidence, and learning.
