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5 strengths your pre-teen daughter should gain in high school

All-girl high schools report additional academic benefits compared to coed options

Marian High School. (Image provided by Marian High School.)

The four years of high school are some of the most formative of a person’s life.

Many students arrive with one set of interests and leave with another. Many create friendships that last a lifetime. And many discover themselves and their dreams for the future.

To get the most out of high school, your daughter will need the right support system. When she has a nurturing environment, stimulating coursework and inspiring surroundings, she’ll leave the high school halls with:

  • Confidence in herself and her abilities. From the first day of freshman year through graduation, she’ll ask countless questions, push boundaries, pull late-nighters, succeed, stumble and pick herself back up. And thanks to it all, she’ll gain confidence in herself and her intellect.
  • A well-rounded set of interests. High school isn’t just for academics. There are opportunities to pursue athletics, extracurriculars, volunteer trips, STEM, faith formation and more. Because she’s given the chance to explore these avenues from a young age, your daughter will start reflecting on her interests and discovering her passions.
  • Worldly knowledge. Your daughter will gain worldly knowledge on volunteer trips and in classroom courses like world religions, world history and music. She’ll also live it firsthand in her peers. High school brings students together from different communities, ethnicities and walks of life. She’ll form friendships with these students and learn invaluable lessons from them.
  • Intellectual curiosity. Students are encouraged to speak up if they agree -- or even disagree -- and to ask questions. This is a time of open dialogue between students and teachers. When candid, respectful conversations occur in the classroom, everyone leaves having learned something.
  • Passion to lead in the classroom and in her future. Every student is different, but whether your daughter is shy or outspoken, she’ll learn to lead in her own way (whether it’s a group project or student government). By the time she’s wearing her graduation gown, she’ll be ready to be the leader in her own future.

Your daughter has the chance to discover these strengths nearly anywhere, but a study by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools shows there are additional benefits to attending an all-girls high school, compared to coed options.

Studies show:

  • Graduates of all-girl schools rate their confidence in subjects like mathematics and computer science 10 percentage points higher than those of their peers from coed schools.
  • Graduates from all-girl schools are three times more likely than their coed peers to major in engineering.
  • Women graduates from single-sex high schools outscored their coed peers in composite SAT scores by 43 points.

Marian High School has been supporting strong women and preparing them for their futures for the last 60+ years. Recently, Marian students have won state championships for athletic achievements, become valedictorians of their universities, created a name for themselves in their careers and left their mark on the world.

No matter where they are now, these women all trace their strengths back to one strong experience: Marian.

Learn about a Marian High School shadow visit for your daughter, and save the following dates:

  • Sept. 28: Fall information night
  • Nov. 7 Fall open house

The study commissioned by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS) is titled: “Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College.”


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