Who went to a girls-only/guys-only school?

[Taualumna]

How did you find it? Do you sometimes wish you went to a co-ed school instead? Do you go back to visit often or are involved with the school's alum association?

I attended co-ed parochial school for grade school and junior high, and then Sacred Hearts Academy for 9-12 (the most prestigious school for girls on the island! ), so I experienced both.

To be honest, I miss it a lot. The Academy would gather every morning for flag raising and prayer (all 1200 of us in JK-12) in the courtyard, devotions in the oratory, we wore berets on Mass days. The Academy was founded by French Catholic missionaries and our uniforms resembled French sailor suits:




Aside from the tie that'd get stuck on doorknobs and desks, I thought our uniforms were unique and not your typical plaid.

I still attend the school fair every year so I keep in touch with former teachers. We also have an alumnae luau at the end of every school year that's fun -- last year I met our oldest living graduate...she graduated in 1919!

Once I start banking in the $$$ I'll probably start sending checks to the scholarship fund.

My nieces and little cousins now attend the Academy, following the tradition. My hope, is that one day if and when I have daughters, I'll be able to send them to the Academy. It was such a fine institution when I was there, and I'm sure it'll be even better in the years to come.

[Taualumna]

OTW, I can't see the picture too clearly, but are the girls wearing middy-style (sailor collar) tops? The uniform looks like the winter uniform used at my high school until the early 60s from what I can see. Our current uniform is still middy-style, but has been slightly modified. We wear ties like you see in Harry Potter and grey skirts now.

Originally posted by Taualumna
OTW, I can't see the picture too clearly, but are the girls wearing middy-style (sailor collar) tops? The uniform looks like the winter uniform used at my high school until the early 60s from what I can see. Our current uniform is still middy-style, but has been slightly modified. We wear ties like you see in Harry Potter and grey skirts now.

LOL, I enlarged it.

Yep, they're middy style alright. The collar buttons into the blouse, and the cuffs are velcro-ed to the blouse. Then there's the skirt, and the tie that goes around your neck under the collar, tied into a square knot on the bottom. Our awards and accomplishments are pinned to our ties. My senior year they implemented uniform socks because no one wanted to fold their socks down. Sucks because we only had to wear them one year...what a waste of money!

Originally posted by BetaRose
OTW, are you in that picture?

Yes ma'am!

[JennRN]

I went to an all girls highschool (Ursuline Academy) and I loved it!! My mom and aunt both went there as well. Granted our uniforms were ugly-what uniforms aren't-but the best part was being able to roll out of bed in the morning and not have to worry about doing make-up, or hair, or wondering what I was going to wear. I also felt like I could be myself alot better-without guys around you could be as silly with your friends as you wanted to. You didn't have to worry about impressing anyone. I also think there was alot of pressure taken off in the classroom not having guys there-instead of caring about having guys there, I could focus on school so much more. What was nice though, was that in Dallas, there are 3 all-boys schools that we did alot of stuff with, so we did interact with the opposite sex.
Is any of this rambling making sense? I've been sick for a week and am doped up on Tylenol cold and flu( aka crack).

I still talk to my best friends from school, but am not able to go to any young alum events, as school is in Dallas, and I live in North Carolina right now! I do donate money though, and would definately be involved if I were in the same city. If I ever have daughters and we move back to Dallas, I would definately send them there.

[AOIIalum]

Jenn, it makes a lot of sense because it sounds like me!

I went to a co-ed catholic grade schools and an all-girls high school (Presentation Academy). All but one catholic school in my hometown was single-sex education. The other one went co-ed my junior year of HS due to decreasing enrollments and geographical location. That one has worked out quite well, but I don't see any of the others in Louisville ever going co-ed.

I don't regret it a bit, although college was a major culture shock after 12 years of catholic school! Uniforms were a pain, especially since they were a navy polyester vest/skirt combo with a long sleeved white blouse. We could wear short sleeves until September 15th or 30th, and then again from around May 1st to the end of the year. Now, *that* was catholic school torture.

I'm registered with my HS's alumnae office, but since I live out of state I'm not really involved other than the occasional small donation.

[Taualumna]

I guess I should answer my own post. I loved going to my all girls' school, although I sometimes did wish I went co-ed (despite a boys' school being like right next to us....we have a love/hate relationship with them...). I guess I was influenced by movies and television. Watching tv kids go to public school with members of the opposite sex and wearing what we call "grubs" was something that I had sort of wanted. Anyway, after I graduated, I became involved with the alumnae association as a year representative, and I still go to our annual pub nights and to the yearly Nativity presentation. I was also at the opening of a new wing at the school this fall.

[sigmagrrl]

I went to an all girls' high school: THE Mary Louis Academy. It's the best all girls' Catholic HS in Queens, NY. We are a very proud pedigree. You are a Mary Louis girl for life and you never forget it.

I posted this somewhere else on here, but I wouldn't trade that education for ANYTHING! In fact, I wish I had taken more advantage of it. I loved the spirit of sisterly love in my HS and it's what made me want to be in a sorority. The nuns were nice. My dean and principal were nice. I loved uniforms. I was a very overweight kid, so uniforms minimized the inevitable clothes problem I would have had, trying to fit in with the popular styles. I was liked for who I was. Being smart was an asset, and there was never any backstabbing. We felt confident to excel. There wasn't the pressure to not answer the teacher b/c "boys" were around.

I don't think I missed out on anything at all. My kids will go to a single sex school. I HIGHLY suggest it. I think this is the best time to separate the kids. We did interact with the all boys' school, all the time, matter of fact. We went over there for club exchanges, play auditions, everything. It wasn't a boarding school, so we weren't sheltered. We were praised for being intelligent women and the teachers wanted to see us succeed. That's what I loved the most!

GO SINGLE SEX EDUCATION!!!!

[TNPhiMu]

I went to an all-girl catholic high school in Nashville (St. Cecilia Academy). It was a great school. I love all my friends from there, and and pretty glad I went there,but I do hate that I missed out on some of those "normal" high school experiences. I mean, I don't know what it's like to go to my own high school's football game. We didn't have homecoming. It's the little things I guess that I wish I'd had, but overall a great experience. The guy-factor wasn't that bad though. I mean really, when you have a cute lil' plaid skirt on when you get out of school, you attract alot of attention!

[bcdphie]

I went to an all girls school (the top in Western Canada & number 1 school in BC for many years) for Grade 1-12. I really enjoyed it, but it would have been nice to do more things with our brother school once we were in the Senior school. At that time there were no coed private schools in Vancouver's westside. Now there's one.

The nice thing about being in an all girls school was that there was no pressure to impress the boys. You could more or less be who you were and concentrate in class. But it was definately lacking when it came to social interaction with the opposite sex.

I really liked my uniform : gordon tarten skirt, navy sweater and navy blazer - I missed it when I started university. Wearing a uniform everyday was great - didn't have to think about what you were wearing.

[Taualumna]

bcdphie,

You're what my school calls a SURVIVOR (any day girl who started in junior kindergarten to grade 1 or any boarder who started in Grade 7 to Grade 9 are called survivors)!!!!! Also, did your school ever go to Toronto for the ISMF? We had a few schools from out of province come, and I recall a couple of girls from BC being billeted to my house. They went to a co-ed school though.

[dekeguy]

I had a double helping of guys only schools. I was in a Jesuit Prep School in the US for Pre-freshman, freshman, and senior year and two years at a British Public School (thats Brit Speak for private boarding school) while my dad was stationed over there. Both schools were demanding, disciplined, and really great experiences. Social life was not bad as both schools arranged a lot of mixers. In the US there were plenty girls schools who also had mixers so we could count on activities every week ranging from dances, to field days, to joint activities like drama, debate, and non-contact sports like rowing, etc. In the UK it was a little more cloistered but with reasonable free time in the afternoons/early evenings and plenty of structured activities.
Anybody else have memories of British school experiences? I remember a similar thread a few months ago but it died before it really got started. Please join in and share thoughts.

[bcdphie]

Originally posted by Taualumna
bcdphie,

You're what my school calls a SURVIVOR (any day girl who started in junior kindergarten to grade 1 or any boarder who started in Grade 7 to Grade 9 are called survivors)!!!!! Also, did your school ever go to Toronto for the ISMF? We had a few schools from out of province come, and I recall a couple of girls from BC being billeted to my house. They went to a co-ed school though.

We were called Lifers at oru school for making it through all 12 years. I don't know if CHS every went to the ISMF.

We also callled our 13 year students "LIFERS", but the more formal name was "Daughters of the Sacred Hearts" or "Daughters of the Academy".

We had Homecoming, but that was held in the Spring during basketball season. Obviously we didn't have our own football team, but we had two fabulous brother schools -- Damien Memorial and Saint Louis (the not-BF's alma mater, and they were only one block away from my campus). There was another all-girls' Catholic school on the island, St. Francis -- but they were nowhere close to our status! Girls from the Academy and St. Francis were cheerleaders and colorguard members for our brother schools. I was a St. Louis Crusader Cheerleader for 4 years. In addition to my school's gold and white, I also bleed red and blue! All my prom/dance dates were from St. Louis!