Applications to The Mary Louis Academy (TMLA), a 90-year-old Catholic girls’ school in Queens, are up 18% for next year. And we’re not alone. Across New York City and the country, many all-girls schools are experiencing a renaissance. Some of the city’s independent girls’ schools now receive hundreds of applicants for a few dozen seats. More public all-girls schools are opening and succeeding as well. Families are discovering what so many alumnae already know: when girls learn in an environment designed specifically for them, they thrive.
In all-girls schools, every leadership role, every star athlete, every top math student is a girl. Research shows that girls who attend all-girls schools report higher confidence, greater leadership skills and stronger academic performance. According to a UCLA study, they’re six times more likely to consider majoring in math, science and technology. Nearly 90% say they feel their voices are respected in class.
But as interest grows, so must our sense of responsibility. For all their benefits, all-girls schools have not always been accessible to all girls. Historically, private girls’ schools were often out of reach for working-class and immigrant families, and for students of color. Many families still assume these schools are too expensive, too exclusive or simply “not for us.”
That perception needs to change because it no longer reflects reality.
Today, more all-girls schools are opening their doors wider, offering scholarships, building partnerships and doing the outreach necessary to ensure that students from all backgrounds feel welcome. In fact, some of the most exciting growth in all-girls education is happening in schools that are deeply diverse, inclusive and mission-driven.
At TMLA, our students now come from more than 80 zip codes. Over two-thirds are girls of color, and many come from working-class and immigrant families, including Muslim, Palestinian and West Indian communities in neighborhoods like East Flatbush and Brownsville. They’re daughters of nurses, MTA workers and first responders. Nearly half receive scholarships or financial aid.
Take Carin, Erica and Erin Hennis—three sisters whose parents emigrated from Egypt. Their father drives a taxi, and their mother is a pharmacist. Carin (TMLA ’23) and Erica (TMLA ’25) are now studying at CUNY’s highly selective, honors-level Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education and will earn MDs. Their sister Erin (TMLA ’29) is not far behind. Their journey is one of many that show how all-girls schools unlock talent, nurture ambition and open doors.
One hundred percent of TMLA students go to college, often as the first in their families to do so, and many attend elite institutions, like Harvard, Barnard, Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt. These are girls who arrive at TMLA with big dreams—to be doctors, lawyers, engineers—and leave prepared to achieve them.
This model works beyond private institutions. Public all-girls schools in New York, like the Young Women’s Leadership Schools, have also shown what’s possible when this model is brought to underserved communities. They consistently achieve near-perfect graduation and college acceptance rates.
The point is not that coeducation doesn’t work. It’s to expand choices for families that want them and ensure they know about the unique benefits of all-girls education. In these schools, girls are free to raise their hands, take risks and speak up without fear of being overshadowed or underestimated. They’re unapologetically smart, ambitious and themselves.
Most New York City families have already submitted high school applications for next fall. But many schools, including TMLA, offer rolling admissions and continue to consider applicants into the spring. And for current seventh graders and their families, now is the perfect time to start exploring all-girls options for the next application cycle.
Every girl deserves a learning environment that sees her potential and calls her to lead. As we celebrate the resurgence of all-girls education, let’s make sure every girl in New York City has the chance to benefit from it.
Livia Angiolillo is President of The Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates, Queens.
