Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools

by Ilana DeBare

A history of the phenomenon of girls' schools in America is accompanied by the author's personal account of building a school that celebrates the benefits of single-sex education, an insightful overview of the modern-day debate over single-sex education, profiles of girls' schools across the country, and interviews with alumnae about their experiences. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Education

400 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2004

About the author

Shaken Free, the sequel to Ilana's debut novel Shaken Loose, will be published by Hypatia Press on June 3, 2025.

A former newspaper reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee, Ilana has also worked in non-profit communications. She was one of the founders of the Julia Morgan School for Girls—an all-girl middle school in Oakland, California—which spurred her to write "Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004).

Ilana lives in Oakland with her husband Sam. Her
web site is https://ilanadebare.com, and she blogs at https://ilanadebare.substack.com.

Reviews

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book of history about girls schools. I had no idea I would like this so much! The author covers information such as the very first girls schools in America, the founding of schools for girls of color, integration, co-education, and stereotypes. This history covers girls schools from when they were radical and progressive, to when they stagnated, to the current revival. Very interesting.

[stormagnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book an extra star for being literally the only scholarly treatment of the oft-derided "finishing school" that I could find.

[🍥 · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was an interesting, thorough, well-written book. i don't read non-fiction (with the exception of memoirs, and even then i read fiction waaaaay more), but this book has opened my mind to exploring non-fiction more. i really appreciated the way DeBare wrote and i think it's because she was a reporter, rather than, say, a historian.
with the except of university, i've gone to public schools all my life. i've never had any interest in going to a single-sex school, not that i could afford one. so i was quite surprised by how much i enjoyed this book, and how engaged it kept me! i am also interested in reading more about single sex schools now, in 2020. has the rise in visibility of transgender and non-binary youth brought a new wave of change to the culture around single sex schools, or is it pretty much the same? i'm definitely going to look into this more. what a great read!

[Westminster Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book of history about girl’s schools. I had no idea I would like this so much! The author covers information such as the very first girl’s schools in America, the founding of schools for girls of color, integration, co-education, and stereotypes. This history covers girl’s schools from when they were radical and progressive, to when they stagnated, to the current revival. Very interesting.

Find Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools in America at the Westminster Public Library!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember where I read a review or article about Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools, but it sounded interesting enough that I added it to my library list. It's a history of girls' schools in the U.S., intermingled with the story of the author's own experience founding an all-girls school in California.

While the book does go into theories of difference between sexes (providing some fascinating insights and trivia) and some of the process of planning a school, it was much more history-heavy than I expected. The stories about girls' schools in the 1800s and the history of Catholic schools in this country were interesting, but didn't leave me with much to take away, and I looked eagerly for the sections about the author's experiences starting a school, and the sections about psychology and theory of gender and education.

I did find myself getting minorly bogged down or frustrated with certain sections of the book, but on the whole it was an engaging read, leaving me interested in studying up on several other topics. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to very many people, but it was a good jumping-off point for me to direct me toward other areas that I would probably enjoy researching.

[Carolyn Kost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that does many things simultaneously and does them well. As one of the founders of the Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland, California, the author narrates steps in the process of creating that school at the beginning of each chapter. She clearly identifies with an inspiring herstory as she traces the "rise, fall, and surprising rise" of girls' schools in the United States, from the Ursulines in New Orleans in 1720 and Prudence Crandall's school for African-American girls in 1833 through the various well-known schools like Emma Willard, Spence, Madeira, and Foxcroft, to the present, clarifying the legacies of finishing schools versus college preparatory academies as she goes. She presents the evolution in the various academic, scientific, pseudo-scientific, social, and political rationales, dimensions, and challenges of single sex schools for girls. This is a wonderful read and is recommended not only for parents considering the educational opportunities for their daughters but for anyone interested in women's herstory.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a proud alumna of an all-girl's school and as a former employee of another, my interest in the topic is long-standing. For the most part, this is a good overview of the history and development of all-girl's schools and the wide range in styles and missions. Where this fails is that there are several areas left uncovered and schools unmentioned. Example? Georgetown Visitation, the oldest school (albeit not as academic in its earliest centuries as it is now), or the Sacred Heart network, which marched to such a unified drummer that a student (Cokie Roberts) could leave a school in Maryland on Friday and pick up without a pause at the New Orleans school on Monday. Still, until someone updates this, it's a great entry in to this world.

[Klwycoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who is interested in gender and education, this book gives a great historical account of the revival of all girls schools in American culture. As the product of an all-girls school, the book has a special meaning. It was well researched and gives a nod to the courage and determination of the women who were the original founders of many of our countries all girls schools.

[Nicole C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting look at the history of all girls' schools; it documents their beginnings as "finishing schools" and the ever-constant debate today about whether single-sex schooling has more benefits.

[M.E.]

Because this is a favorite topic for me, I'm enjoying its history of girls' schools.

[Carrie]

education

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kind of dry, but fabulous argument for gender based education.