All-girls Education Advantage
Huakailani offers the only all-girls school setting on the Windward Side. Our program offers a strong large school academic curriculum in a nurturing, small school setting. It is a safe, supportive place where girls can express themselves, excel academically, flourish creatively, build friendships and self-confidence.
Huakailani develops your daughter’s foundation for future academic and life success, whether she attends an all-girls school or a co-ed school after Huakailani.
The most compelling benefits of an all-girls education include:
- Increased academic and self-confidence
- Increased academic performance
- Increased academic engagement
In the 1990s, a national study of secondary schools and colleges, The Case for Single-Sex Schools showed that single-sex schools for females provide greater opportunity for educational attainment as measured by standardized cognitive tests, curriculum and course placement, leadership behavior, number of years of formal education, and occupational achievement.
Two leading experts, Professors Myra and David Sadker, summarized their ten years of research in one sentence: “When girls go to single-sex schools, they stop being the audience and become the players.”
Research of the past two decades backs up the Sadkers’ statement. In all-girls settings, girls participate more in class, emulate their female role models and have the chance to assume leadership positions at their schools. Their academic performance improves because teaching methods and classroom styles fit the female model of learning.
UCLA Study on Single-Sex Schooling
Due to the ongoing debate over single-sex education and its benefits, UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute was commissioned in 2009 to study and compare the attitudes, behaviors and achievements of roughly 20,000 women Freshmen, 6,552 of which graduated from private all-girls high schools and 14,684 of which who graduated from private co-ed high schools. Below are some key findings based on their study. You can view the entire report here.
Fact or Myth: Girls from all-girls schools score higher on the SAT.
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FACT.
Women who attended all-girls schools tended to outscore their co-ed counterparts on the SAT an average of 35 composite (verbal plus math) points.[/toggle]
Fact or Myth: Girls from all-girls schools spend less time on academic activities.
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MYTH.
Women graduates from all-girls schools spent more hours studying, engaging in group study, tutoring other peers and talking to teachers outside of classrooms.[/toggle]
Fact or Myth: Girls from all-girls schools are less likely to speak their minds (e.g. express their political views.).
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MYTH.
The number of females that went to all-girls schools who reported that they frequently discuss politics was 10% more than those who attended co-ed schools. [/toggle]
Fact or Myth: Women graduates of co-ed schools have more interest in engineering careers.
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FACT.
There were three times as many women graduates of all-girls schools than of co-ed schools who intended to pursue a career in engineering.[/toggle]
Additional Resources
We strongly believe in the advantages of an all-girls education, but don’t just take our word for it. Here are some additional links to information on single-sex schooling (note: the following links go to independent website not affiliated with Huakailani. We are not responsible for any content on those sites. Linking to these sites does not constitute endorsement on our part and only provided for convenience. Please proceed at your own discretion.)
- National Coalition of Girls’ Schools
- Girls Learn Differently
- National Association for Single-Sex Public Education
- Serious Play for Serious Girls
- Single Gender School Research
Educational Leadership
In a time when all-girls schools seem to be dissolving as an educational option for families, Douglas and Kaori Brown opened Huakailani School in 2008 to fill the need for an all-girls elementary school in Hawaii. Douglas Brown, with masters degrees in Psychology and Computer Science and Kaori Brown, a master teacher and curriculum specialist with over 20 years of teaching and leading educational organization experience, used their expertise, experience, and drive to create an innovative and powerful learning environment that maximizes the learning potential for young female students during the formative school years.