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Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School

Why all-girls education?

An all-girls education offers something vital for today's young women. We know the middle school years are pivotal because of the rapid development of girls academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. Villa Duchesne’s program for grades 7-12 was created with girls at the forefront. Our students are taught by 21st century educators well-versed in the philosophy of how girls learn best and with the passion to bring that to the girls.

We teach girls that there is enormous potential and power in being a girl. 

“At a girls’ school, a girl occupies every role: every part in the play and every position on every team. Not only does she have a multiple opportunities for self-exploration and development: she also has a number of peer role models.” National Coalition of Girls’ Schools

At Villa Duchesne, we are intentional about creating the characteristics that girls will need to be leaders in a world that doubts the value of female leadership: courage, confidence, grit, and humor.

As a result, every student in the school sees role models of female leadership every day. Our students graduate with the expectation that they will be leaders. They are fully aware of the reality and the predominance of male leadership, but they are readied with the tools to needed to move into leadership roles once out of school.

At Villa Duchesne, our students move into a myriad of leadership roles: in the classroom, on the stage, on the athletic field, in STEAM programs, and in areas like student government. The girls are both leaders and participants giving our students opportunities to lead, to communicate, and to grow. We have partnered with the National Coalition of Girls Schools’ and The Gurian Institute to apply the growing research on brain development in boys and girls. 

Girls’ schools create a culture of achievement in which academic progress is of great importance, and the discovery and development of a girl’s individual potential is paramount. 

“In the end, girls’ schools should not be judged by the absence of boys, but rather by the presence—the self-assurance, poise, and deering-do—of the girls themselves.” National Coalition of Girls' Schools

The National Coalition of Girls Schools (NCGS) offers these benefits of attending an all-girls school:

  • Nearly 100% of girls’ school grads go on to college.
  • Three times as many alumnae of single-sex schools plan to become engineers.
  • Girls’ school students spend more hours a week doing homework, attending study groups, tutoring others, and working with their teachers than coed school students.
  • In a single-sex school, a girl can comprehend her value and her capabilities in ways that have nothing to do with how she looks or whom she dates. Not only is she not in a bubble, she’s utterly free to do anything and everything she wants. She can experiment and explore, trying out new things and trying on new identities.
  • At a girls’ school, a girl occupies every role. She has a wealth of avenues for self-exploration and development and a school full of peer role models.
  • While girls’ schools may succeed in drawing out the socially underdeveloped, they tend to attract the girl who is a misfit of another kind: one who is bold, socially independent, and smart as can be. She is untroubled by and indeed thrives in a single-sex environment.
  • In her close-knit community, her individuality is nurtured and fed. As a result, a girl becomes more and more comfortable making her own decisions and determining the course of her own life. She becomes accustomed to speaking up and, more importantly, being heard.

The Girls' School Advantage: By the Numbers

The Girls' School Advantage: By The Numbers

NCGS is proud to present an updated version of "The Girls' School Advantage: By the Numbers," which highlights the unique benefits of all-girls schools by providing quantitative and qualitative research from third-party experts.

Raising Girls' Voices Blog

Raising Girls' Voices Blog

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