Single-Sex Education

Brain-based educational research has shown that young men and women learn differently. Boys and girls differ in brain development, structure, and function at this age, as well as in their social maturation. This research guides Webb’s singular approach to education. Courses for freshmen and sophomores are taught to all-boy or all-girl classes, so Webb students discover the benefits of single-sex education right away: faster and sharper focus in the classroom, improved learning, confidence-building, and the opportunity to expand their educational limits in a supportive setting.

The Webb Schools also recognize that young men and women need to grow alongside each other in a setting where they learn to respect one another as social and intellectual peers. Our students experience the essential benefits of a coeducational school: boys and girls work and play together, socializing between classes, in the dining hall, during afternoon activities, and so on. Upper-grade classes are open to cross-registration, and by junior year most classes are coeducational.

Many parents are aware of the research that suggests girls flourish in some subjects – math and science particularly – if they are in a single-sex environment. However, what is not so widely known is that boys do better in specific situations as well. In English, for example, boys are far more likely to speak up, offer opinions, and take part in discussions if their classmates are all boys.

In single-sex classes, we cultivate girls’ willingness to take intellectual risks and to participate actively in all aspects of the learning process. At the same time, we enhance boys’ organizational skills, detail orientation, cooperative learning skills, and their ability to self-manage in more traditional classroom settings. Later, when both boys and girls are more comfortable and confident, students transition to coeducational classes where they come to respect – and appreciate – each others’ differences.