Boy Meets Girl—Not!
The single sex option is still an option…
There are only two single-sex high schools in the Twin Cities—Convent of the Visitation for girls and St. Thomas Academy for boys. Both are in Mendota Heights. Both are Roman Catholic. And, since Cretin merged with Derham Hall in 1987 and Benilde with St. Margaret’s in 1974, both represent the last bastions of what once was the norm for Catholic high schools. “Having all girls is really wonderful,” enthuses Dawn Nichols, the Head of Visitation. “It is a remarkable opportunity for leadership development and instilling in young women a real can-do attitude. There is definitely something to be said for having young women in a classroom where they can be themselves and not compete with men.”
But how does this relate to later life, when they will have to compete? Nichols notes that there are plenty of opportunities for mixing with men, especially with the St. Thomas boys just down the road. There are social events planned with St. Thomas, the students attend each other’s sporting events, they are in band and orchestra together, and so “in the outside-of-school activities, they are getting plenty of practice.” But, she emphasizes, “We appreciate not having the potential distraction of the social scene during school. It is very freeing for girls to be studying just with each other. They are more willing more often to take risks in their learning.”
NEXT: School Athletics