Twenty years ago, all-girl schools seemed headed for extinction, a footnote in story of American education. Today they are experiencing an extraordinary renaissance. Between 1991 and 2001, more than 30 new girls’ schools opened throughout the United States from Harlem to Silicon Valley, Atlanta to Seattle.

Why this renewed interest in girls’ schools? What are they like today? And what were they like in the past — what was the reality beneath the stereotype of the finishing school, the convent school, or the young ladies’ seminary?

Award-winning journalist Ilana DeBare answers all these questions and more in this groundbreaking book. Where Girls Come First is the first comprehensive history of American girls’ schools, from the early 1800s through the present. It also recounts the story of DeBare’s own involvement helping start a new all-girl middle school in Oakland, California, in 1999 – the Julia Morgan School for Girls.

Feel free to wander through this site. Add your own story. And please share this site with your friends, classmates, families… with anyone who cares about educating the confident, capable young women of tomorrow.