Pros and Cons of an exclusive girl/boy school to a Coed school

[newbeymum]

hello gt mommies hope someone here can give me some inputs on the pro and cons between sending your child to an exclusive boy/girl school or to a coed school. I just actually enrolled my daughter to an all girl school and she will just be in Pre K and so i am wondering if i made the right choice. I still have twin boys and they just turned 1 and as early as now I am already thinking of what school I should choose for my boys. I am of course aiming for ateneo, Xavier or La Salle Greenhills but I am also considering some coed schools like OB Montessori. Please give me some inputs and help me decide hehe

[j.adore]

No kids but I can share what my parents did..

Elementary was co ed
High school was exclusive
College co ed

I think the reason was pag teenagers wild stage hehe so "less risk".

[marose17]

Here's an article: http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/single-sex-education-the-pros-and-cons/

I think here in the Philippines, most of the great schools for elementary and high school (meaning, great academics, extra-curriculars, faculty, students and facilities) are all-boys or all-girls schools.  I don't really know why that is the case.  There are also good coed schools but if you are really talking about the top/cream of the crop/elite private elementary and high schools such as Ateneo, La Salle, Xavier, Poveda, Assumption, St. Scho, then you will notice that these are all exclusive to one gender.  I can only name a handful of coed schools with the same standing as the ones above, notably, DLS Zobel and CSA, and a Chinese school/school oriented for the Chinese-Filipinos, St. Jude, the latter has very very high standards and its grads traditionally top the entrance exams to universities.

Went to an all-girls school for elementary and high school (Holy Spirit) and coed for university and law school (UP Diliman).  My sons are now in Ateneo and I hope they will also get into UP or Ateneo for university.

[junetwentythree]

I have no kids but went to St. Scho for freshman year of HS (rest of my schooling was done here here in the States). All I gotta say is that I think it might be a bit worse to be in an all girls school. They're more repressed I'd say. All bottled up and when given the chance to let it all hang out, they definitely let loose. A lot of the girls I went to school with got knocked up pretty early. I never really believed in the concept of exclusive schools.

[marose17]

^ Girls from coed schools also get knocked up. It's not fair to imply that girls from all-girl schools are the only ones who do.  And honestly that repressed comment is an offensive generalization.  You wouldn't want me to label girls from coed schools as sexually liberated at an early age (even though that seems to be the case with most girls who go to coed schools because of access to teenage boys) now, would you?  I'd like to believe that the nuns raised us with proper values and if some "let loose" a few years later, that is their own decision and has nothing to do with the fact that they went to an all-girl school.

Most of my batchmates are professionals - doctors, lawyers, nurses, entrepreneurs.  A few got married or pregnant way too early but that's in the minority.  When we talk about high school, we are generally in agreement that we wouldn't have done as well in college if we went to another high school.

[junetwentythree]

^ You're right. Perhaps my posting was a bit skewed.

Perhaps it's my now more 'liberal' mindset but I just don't believe in the super strict, traditional rules that exclusive schools uphold (specifically Catholic schools). It may be a bit restricting. But I'm sure you're right... as you've said you've had plenty of success stories as well as coed non-successful stories. And then I have my stories.

But again, we're here to give our opinions, right? So that's mine.

[newbeymum]

thank you for all the inputs mommies..

[shenshen8]

My two cents:

My background:
Elementary: co-ed
HS: exclusive
College: co-ed

My husband also has the same type of background, all-boys siya high school. We went to the same college.

My thoughts:
HS is a crucial part of growing up. Not just academically.
For me, I was very shy and being in an exclusive school really helped me grow. It helped me focus on myself and realize what I can do without being hampered too much by shyness.
I mean, for a lot of adolescents, a lot of the awkwardness and shyness comes from the fear of embarassing yourself infront of the opposite sex. When I stepped into an all-girls school, I immediately felt the difference. An awkward, shy girl like me managed to try out different things infront of other people. I actually became great at public speaking  and even competed in debates. And I know it won't be the same if there were boys there
I know it sounds weird... shallow even, to those who are not as shy as I was or who never experienced exclusive school. But it worked for me
And if the school has good academic curriculum, then it's super worth-it Besides, meron din naman interaction with other all-boys school
I didn't really have much problems interacting with boys when I got to college. I was still a bit shy, but then so were a lot of other people

As for the liberated-conservative thing: honestly, I think that has more to do on how you are brought up. Your values taught at home and who your friends are. Our batch has 8 sections with 40+ girls each class and personalities, values and backgrounds vary so you can't really generalize.

(My husband shares the same sentiment as I do, from a boy's perspective naman daw)

[twelvth_goddess]

We still chose an exclusive traditional school for our daughter because we believe that this school has the same values that we want our daughter to have. At the same time, nothing beats traditional schools in terms of ingraining hard work among kids.

With regard to liberalism, that's the least of my concerns to be honest. I think that we are doing our best to raise our daughter with open communication and proper values so that she'd be able to make sound decisions even if we're not there. On sexuality naman, I know that this is a common concern for parents. Regardless of what she becomes, we will love and accept her. Right now, our focus is values formation and we think we have chosen the right school that has the same values as we do.

[MomsterTeacher]

Hello!  I have a 5-year-old, and if only there are good all-boys school near us, that's where I'd send him.

I have been a college entrance review (UPCAT, ACET, DCAT, etc) teacher for almost 15 years, and I have handled thousands and thousands of students from all over the Philippines.  Name the school, I've probably had a student from that school. 

Students of an exclusive all-boys school in San Juan made such a great impression on me and my colleagues.  These boys were respectful yet confident and friendly to teachers, and it's obvious how they hold women in high regard.  During classes, they obviously try their best to listen to the teachers.  Even the "bad boys" of this school were still great.  Actually, I noticed this same attitude in my other students from other all-boys' school.