Research confirms that an all-girl learning environment creates a culture of achievement. Girls in single-sex schools develop stronger self-esteem, are exposed to broader leadership opportunities, and graduate from high school with higher aspirations and greater self-confidence.

At Stoneleigh-Burnham, we are proud to be a girls’ school and know that research shows connectedness, competence, and confidence are the core elements of self-esteem in girls. Armed with this knowledge, our curriculum encourages our students to develop essential leadership and self-advocacy skills that will allow them to thrive in college and their careers.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what others have to say about the girls’ school advantage:

Girls are more likely to
take risks in their learning.

“As a college professor, I could identify students from girls’ schools with a 90 percent accuracy rate on the first day of class. They were the young women whose hands shot up in the air, who were not afraid to defend their positions, and who assumed that I would be interested in their perspectives.”

– Robin Robertson, Ph.D.

 

“Single-sex programs create an institutional and classroom climate in which female students can express themselves freely and frequently, and develop higher order thinking skills.”

– Rosemary C. Salmone, Ph.D., Columbia University

Girls prioritize academics.

  • Girls at single-sex schools surpass their co-ed peers in reading, writing and science. They also demonstrate higher educational aspirations, spend more time on homework and are more likely to aspire to careers in engineering and science. 
  • 84 percent of all-girl school graduates felt they were better prepared for college writing assignments than their co-ed peers.
  • Girls who attend all-girls’ schools outscore their co-ed counterparts on the SAT by an average of 28 to 43 points.

Girls learn to lead.

  • At Stoneleigh-Burnham, leadership opportunities are ample. Our girls aren’t competing with boys for resources, teacher-attention, or leadership roles. And the numbers show results: though graduates of all-girls schools represent only a small fraction of all secondary school graduates, 25% of the women in Congress and 33% of women Fortune 500 board members attended girls’ schools.