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By Sharon Aschaiek
"It's kind of easy to be yourself here - you pretty much don't have to worry about what other people are thinking, or about impressing boys," says Alison, a student at St. Clement's School, an all-girls school in Toronto, Ontario. The Grade 8 student, who's attended the school since Grade 1, says she enjoys the strong sense of camaraderie she enjoys with her peers, and the ability to focus on academics without any interruptions.
"I like all the house spirit. At a coed school, it might be uncool to be spirited, but here, everyone is," Alison says. "It's also probably a bit easier at an all-girls school because you get rid of all the distractions and the gossip, and it minimizes the drama."
The social and academic benefits to which Alison is referring are backed up by the facts. A March 2009 study released by the University of California, Los Angeles found that female graduates of single-sex high schools in the United States were more academically oriented, intellectually confident and politically engaged.
"In an all-girls learning environment, girls are encouraged to express themselves and to take healthy risks they might not otherwise try in a coed environment," says Susan Beck, executive director of The National Coalition of Girls' Schools. "They're also surrounded by other girls performing at the highest level in every area, so there's lots of positive reinforcement."
When it came to academics and career ambitions, the study found that the single-sex school grads were more comfortable with their abilities in traditionally male-oriented areas: they had greater confidence in their math and computer skills, and were more likely to begin college aspiring to become engineers.
Science happens to be Alison's favourite subject, one she says she'd like to pursue further upon graduating: "I'd like to study it at Queen's University or the University of Toronto, and then possibly go into the health sciences field."
Alison's success at school and beyond is bolstered by LINCwell, an innovative female-oriented student enrichment initiative at St. Clement's that's designed to help students achieve their academic, co-curricular and personal goals. Customized to the developmental needs of girls, the holistic program includes yoga, tai chi and Pilates classes, school-life balance support, study skill-building seminars, and nutrition and brain development workshops.
"What we're hoping to do, through LINCwell and through girls' education in general, is to affirm that the unique strengths these girls have in communication, emotional connectedness and relationships are valuable to being leaders," says Dr. Leanne Foster, director of the LINCwell program. "We're laying the foundation that allows them to launch themselves and go further."
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