The advantages of an all-girls education are well documented, but equally important is the lived experience of those directly involved in educating young women. We asked our faculty and staff about their experiences working in a girls’ school, and their responses reflect the broad range of benefits our students enjoy in an all-girls learning environment—from leadership development and empowerment opportunities to advantages in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and strengthened community connections. Their testimonies offer powerful evidence of the transformative impact of all-girls education.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

“By default, there are no boys to run for this office or do that job. Girls have to step up to get the jobs done, and so their leadership opportunities are more numerous. It is always important to see girls and women in various leadership roles and positions, so that as they grow up, they can envision themselves in those very roles.”

–Ms. Patty Millar, Middle School Math Teacher
 

“Students are empowered to speak up when they feel it necessary. They see their peers giving presentations, standing in front of a podium, and making decisions for student government, and as a result, they feel more confident to speak or step into leadership roles.”

–Mr. Nick Hitchens, Director of Arts

INDIVIDUALITY
 

“It is important to make space and time for all students to share. In a girls’ school, the stage is always available for our female voices, but we still need to be sure we are paying attention to our girls’ needs as individuals. Girls are not a monolith, and we need to make space for individual differences in our learning communities.”

–Ms. Renee Karlin, Assistant Head of the Middle School for Academics

“Each time a young woman leads her own learning, solves her own problems, and trusts her own voice, she takes one more step toward closing the gender gaps that still shape our world. The work is incremental, but it matters.”

–Dr. Bridget Riley, Middle School Social Studies Teacher and Chair of K–8 Social Sciences Department

STRENGTHENED COMMUNITY-BUILDING

“Students in an all-girls school are more likely to rely on each other for support rather than compete with each other for rank. They are invested in each other’s success and benefit from this paradigm, both academically and socially.”

–Ms. Kathleen Flood, Upper School Science Teacher and Chair of Upper School Science Department

AN EDGE IN STEM
 

“At Stone Ridge, girls never doubt if they belong in STEM fields; they know they do. STEM education is about developing habits of mind that translate into leadership. For our students, that is not simply about mastering content; it’s about empowering them to ask bold questions, strategize how to test a hypothesis, revise their thinking, and most importantly, persist through challenges.”

–Ms. Tameka R. Farrell-Bowman, Assistant Head of School for Academics

“In an all-girls environment, girls get to learn science, technology, engineering, and math without having to wait for their turn. It becomes a community where girls see each other as sisters or friends learning and discovering things together.” 

–Ms. Ida Pablo, Middle School Math Teacher and Chair of Middle School Math Department 

“Community and belonging are imperative in girls’ education and, later, in their professional experiences. Since women remain a minority in computer science, all-girls education provides a critical foundation for young women to develop not only technical expertise but also the essential social and leadership skills they’ll need to thrive in male‐dominated fields.”

–Ms. Kelly Brandon, Upper School Computer Science Teacher

“Girls who have spaces to create sisterhoods of technology are confident in their space and their skills, have practice with supporting each other collaboratively and being supported, and are ready to stake a claim to their technical expertise. They are more ready to take risks, share failures, and learn from each other because they know they will still be respected. They are emboldened, and they become powerful women who can create these spaces for other women, because they know they can exist and that they are worth building.”

–Ms. Jaime Chao Mignano, Director of Educational Technology and Innovation

Sources: Steeped in Learning; Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools; The Girls’ School Experience; The Positive Effects of the Girls’ School Environment