The Value of a Girls' School Education
Brooke Trible Weinmann '75

By Hollis W. Duncan

According to a recent report by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools, 18 girls' schools were founded nationwide during the 1990's. Increasingly, parents and daughters alike are becoming convinced that single-sex education for girls works. "Absolutely, we are witnessing a renaissance in girls' education today," says Brooke Trible Weinmann (SMS '75) citing a front-page article on the subject in The New York Times (April 11, 1999). Brooke, a graduate of Harvard Business School, along with fellow Atlantans, Emily Ellison and Candace Springer, are the founders of an all-girls' day school scheduled to open the fall of 2000 in Atlanta. This endeavor will provide metropolitan Atlanta with a single-sex school option for girls, the first of its type in Atlanta's independent school market.

Brooke first publicly voiced her thoughts on the subject following a speech by Mary Brown Bulloch, President of Agnes Scott College, at All Saint's Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta. "I probably hit Ms. Bulloch from left field with my question since her speech was completely unrelated, but I stood up anyway and asked her why she thought that there was no single-sex school at the secondary education level in Atlanta?" After the ensuing discussion, fellow parishoner, Candace Springer, informed Brooke that she knew someone who was interested in starting an all-girls' school. That individual was Emily Ellison, who had been conducting research on girls' schools for close to a year. Soon afterward, Ellison contacted Brooke at her request and events quickly progressed.

At their meeting, Ellison offered Brooke a position on the proposed school's Board of Governor's. As the mother of four young children, Brooke was hesitant to accept such a responsibility. However, her husband, Winston, was very supportive of the idea and encouraged her to participate. After a brief period of deliberation, Brooke accepted. "It was as if this project reached its arms out, put them around me, patted me on the back and said, Brooke Weinmann, this is your project, you have to work on this," recollects Brooke.

Pictured (l. to r.) are: Headmistress Margaret Broad, Anne Davies Trible, mother of Brooke, and Winston and Brooke Weinmann at Commencement following Brooke's address to the Class of 2000.

Atlanta is one of the few cities its size that does not have a private, all-girls' school. Historically, the city has had such schools, but none exist today. However, a number of strong independent schools already exist in the Atlanta area. Population growth and increased interest in private school education have resulted in applications exceeding classroom space in recent years. The addition of an all-girls' school in Atlanta will help alleviate the backlog of applicants on waiting lists for private education.

Brooke says, "I believe that a city the size of Atlanta needs this option. The new school won't be right for everyone, but it represents a viable option for parents considering single-sex education for their daughters." Brooke is quick to emphasize that the intent of the new school is not competition with existing private schools, but instead to present another educational option from which parents and prospective students can choose. "We are trying hard to develop positive relationships with Atlanta's many fine independent schools," says Brooke. "We will offer a viable alternative for some girls. The whole intent is to make 'options' available. If this type of school appeals to a student whereas another school does not, then it offers Atlanta families a positive educational solution."

Brooke, along with Ellison and Springer, formed a Founding Board that began with nine Atlanta area business and community leaders. From the beginning the board believed that the first step would be to hire a school head. "Early on, we knew that we wanted a strong head of school," says Brooke. With no funding other than the investment of the three founders, Independent Education Services (IES), a national search firm, was hired to help locate a school head. Following IES's extensive search and interviews, Patty Crone, of California, was hired as head of the Altanta Girls' School (AGS). Crone, the oldest of nine children, possessed the requisite leadership ability. The former head of two schools, she is passionate about girls' education. "Patty truly built those schools and turned them around," states Brooke referring to the two California schools where Crone was headmistress. "She is fully aware of what she is getting involved in." Crone commenced working for AGS in July in order to be involved in the entire development process from planning until the doors open in the fall of 2000.

AGS will offer a college preparatory program, comparable to that of many of Atlanta's established prep schools. All students will be offered leadership opportunities and the chance to develop self-confidence. An integral part of the school's program will be a unique mentoring system. As envisioned, students will be required to select an individual, outside their immediate family and not associated with the school, from the local community to serve as their mentor for an academic year. The mentor will provide students advice and guidance, facilitating their growth and development. Students must select a different mentor each year. Only seniors will be permitted to choose a mentor whom they have worked with during a previous academic year. The program is intended to provide students exposure to others who are more experienced. A strong community service program is also envisioned so that, as part of her AGS experience, each girl will learn to see beyond herself and give back to the community as a servant leader.

An important challenge facing the new school is creating a diverse environment reflective of society. The founders feel strongly that religious, racial, ethnic, and economic diversity are essential developmental priorities; faculty and students will be selected with diversity in mind. "We believe that if we are able to create a diverse environment at this stage in a girls' life, she will be better able to interrelate and build relationships with people who are different. Girls will understand both others and themselves better as a result. Not only will individual lives be improved but community well-being will be enhanced also," says Brooke. "AGS does not bring with it the strengths of history that strong, established independent schools bring, but neither are we encumbered with 'the baggage of history.'" Our aim is to establish a diverse faculty from the school's inception and set the precedent for a new educational paradigm, one that not only accepts diversity but views it as the rule rather than the exception. I don't think for a second that it will be easy, but I do think that we have a fighting chance to move in the right direction." Brooke adds that economic diversity is the most difficult to achieve and is dependent upon the availability of school funding.

Brooke giving her Commencement address to the Class of 2000. Click here to read the full speech.

AGS will open as a non-sectarian college-preparatory school for girls grades 6 - 9 in the fall of 2000. The school will add one grade each successive year through the 12th grade; a total enrollment of 350 - 400 students is planned. The school's curriculum is designed to be strong in science and technology; however, these disciplines are only part of an integrated program also rich in the humanities.

Brooke first developed her leadership skills at St. Margaret's where she was the yearbook editor and president of the glee club. She realizes that she might not have had as many leadership opportunities in a co-educational environment. "Having a mother who is a graduate of a women's college and a former academic dean [at SMS] and my own wonderful experience as a student and member of the Board of Governors at St. Margaret's have culminated in my realization that this is what I need to be doing right now," says Brooke. "This needs to exist as an option for my daughters and those of other parents in Atlanta as well."

Brooke Weinmann is poised to set the stage early in the next millennium by establishing a school that will be around for a long time, providing young women an educational foundation that will instill in them self-confidence, ambition, and drive--attributes that will equip them well to function in the fast-paced environment of the future. Borrowing a line from Atlanta's own Emily Saliers, of the Atlanta-based folk/rock group, the Indigo Girls, sums things up nicely: "My life is part of the global life. I found myself becoming more immobile, when I think a little girl in the world can't do anything." AGS will provide young girls an environment to tap their full potential and realize they can do anything.

And that is certainly reason for the exciting buzz around Atlanta these days.

(A second version of this article appeared in the Spring/Summer 2000 Thistle)