Faced with a spirited eleven–year–old daughter, a concern about what therapists have called a ‘poisonous’ youth culture—especially for girls—and a conviction that parents need powerful tools to help their daughters realize their potential, educator–activist Diana Meehan was disappointed in the selection of schools available. So she decided along with two other mothers to create one, based on social science and brain research on how girls learn best. The result, The Archer School in L.A., has in only ten years become a model for girls’ schools nationwide.
In this entertaining, inspiring book, Meehan describes her obstacle–ridden journey to create a new institution to serve girls first and foremost, while laying out through vivid stories and examples what girls need to thrive. She explains why co–education so often doesn’t serve them (just as it doesn’t serve boys), takes sides in the controversy over male/female learning differences, and advocates for schools’ role in giving girls tools to navigate through our sexualized, materialistic culture. She also visits other schools around the country—private and public—to show how single sex education works, and how every girl everywhere can benefit from having a classroom of her own.
A Note from Diana Meehan
Twelve years ago, three mothers met for coffee to talk about starting a girls’ school. Motivated by a conviction that girls’ schools are good for girls, encouraged by recent research that bolstered that belief, and blinded by ignorant optimism, we opened our school in three rented rooms and a public park.
We had a clear mission: educating girls—all kinds of girls from all kinds of backgrounds—in the ways they learn best. We immediately got into trouble.
Eventually, we survived, the girls thrived, and the pioneer graduating classes won awards and scholarships and admission to every prestigious university in the country.
Although we were the first school founded on the latest research about how girls learn, thirty–five more—public and private—have since opened. From New York to Oakland, Seattle to Atlanta, Chicago to Dallas, I visited six of them. They, too, made mistakes and missteps. They, too, are succeeding.
In its tenth year, our school has 500 students on a beautiful seven-acre campus, a championship debate team, accomplished artists, a respected, nationally–known robotics team, even a winning tennis team. Learning Like a Girl is our story. I hope it inspires readers to look closely at their own communities to see if girls learn and grow and flourish.
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