EXCELLENCE
Girls’ Learning Advantage
Do all-girls’ environments measure up to their co-educational counterparts?
This is a question many parents and guardians consider when looking for the most supportive and enriching educational setting for their daughter. Young women, like their male peers, are social beings and with a growing focus on social media and equality issues, it’s difficult to separate myths from science when it comes to finding the best educational home for their child.
Holy Name of Mary College School
Richard A. Holmgren, Ph.D.
Vice President for Information Services and Assessment at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, helped tackle these questions by surveying over 2,000 high-school students. Results showed girls are more likely to experience supportive learning in an all-girls’ school as opposed to co-ed environments.
These figures point to the ability of all girls’ schools to nurture each unique learner, while also breaking down tired stereotypes. Findings show “virtually all students at all-girls schools expect to earn a four-year degree” and many have greater aspirations, like graduate studies and pursue professional degrees.
These findings align with the fact that 100% of the graduates of the HNMCS Class of 2021 were accepted into university, including 60% pursuing STEM-related studies.
The task of motivating young women to believe in their abilities and set higher expectations is a responsibility the faculty at HNMCS takes to heart. Through co-curricular programs, like robotics and Destination Imagination, students at HNMCS are encouraged to break out of their comfort zones and pursue new opportunities. They discover strengths and interests they were not aware of. Holmgren’s research showed female students in single-gender schools are more motivated and hold greater aspirations than those reported by their co-ed peers. The study also found that girls’ school students expressed they feel more challenged to achieve than co-ed schools counterparts.
The report highlighted that girls feel less encumbered to pursue a variety of educational activities when they are among young women. This boosts their belief in attaining new-found abilities, which better prepares them for real-world challenges.
Girls Schools
Create opportunities for appropriate, educational risk-taking.
Teach collaborative as well as healthy competitive skills. Promote excellence in math, science and technology.
Promote athletic participation to encourage both leadership and team play.
In a girl’s school, learning takes centre-stage. Teach strategies to maximize girls’ verbal/writing critical literacy.
The girls’ school culture offers strong female role models. The curriculum emphasizes life skills such as financial literacy, digital citizenship, leadership and service to community.
Curriculum promotes mass-media literacy, encouraging identity and self awareness in the 21st century.
A girls’ school environment reinforces a ‘can-do’ philosophy.
Contemporary. Customied.
Committed to the development of each girl’s love of learning.
Emphasis is placed on fostering creative problem solving and developing analytic skills.
Developing a Growth Mindset
HNMCS students are challenged daily to think innovatively and passionately take risks in their learning, that challenge them to think outside of the box about solutions that have yet to be developed.
Developing 21st Century Skills
HNMCS students are engaged in classroom lessons rooted in promoting the use of real-world problem-solving skills.
The Design Process
The design process is at the forefront of HNMCS teachers’ philosophy. Engaging students in the process develops resiliency and a deeper curiosity of the world.
Innovation Time
Innovation Time is a regularly scheduled period in the timetable where small teams of students meet with a teacher mentor to plan and execute cross-curricular projects. Each project focuses on a big idea and meets curriculum expectations across a broad range of subject areas. Innovation Time enables students to work collaboratively, use technology in creative ways, and engage in critical thinking and problem solving with real-world applications.
Students work in groups and select from categories such as Coding and Programming, Wellness and Mindfulness, Environmental Inquiries, Performance and Theatre, Social Engagement and Activism, Conceptual Design, My First Start-Up, and Media and Societal Trends, to design, create, and make an impact. Girls employ critical thinking skills, while taking things apart to learn how they work before developing market prototypes in the school’s design lab. The lab houses 3D printers, laser cutters, and 3D scanners, encouraging students to disassemble things to learn how they work.
Middle School
Fostering a Growth Mindset
In her book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck explored the power of personal beliefs. She identified two types of mindsets: a fixed mindset, which assumes our character, intelligence, and creativity are impervious to change. Conversely, a growth mindset flourishes on being challenged and how failure helps growth. According to Dweck, these mindsets manifest at an early age and shape our future behavior.
A Growth Mindset Environment
At Holy Name of Mary College School, our environment fosters a growth mindset. Students benefit from small classes, where individual learning needs are met by dynamic and caring teachers, who create a friendly and cooperative classroom setting. Students are challenged to develop as young Catholic women, become critical and reflective thinkers, strive for academic excellence, develop personal leadership skills, and become responsible citizens.
A Focus on Literacy and Mathematics
Literacy and mathematics form the foundation of our Middle School programme, paving the way for success in all academic areas. Students are exposed to a variety of cross-curricular opportunities that create unique perspectives and critical-thinking skills.
Junior Leadership Programme
The Junior Leadership Programme assists Grade 7 and 8 students in developing a sense of self and leadership ability. By embodying the core values of HNMCS each day, participating students are encouraged to actively engage in school activities and initiatives. Through this program, they will develop leadership skills, inspire their peers, and help foster a vibrant, inclusive, and supportive Middle School community.
Senior School
Academic, University Planning
HNMCS prepares girls to pursue their passions, become leaders, and impact the world. High school is a pivotal time in a young person’s development, in terms of character and acquiring the skills necessary for lifelong success. Our university preparatory curriculum, in a supportive learning environment, fosters a sense of belonging and challenges each student to reach their potential.
Achieving Academic Excellence
Our Senior School programme encompasses grades 9 to 12. It was designed to enable students to better understand themselves and develop a growth mindset, in which they embrace challenge, adapt, and achieve success. Our thoughtful teachers, passionate about their areas of expertise, are mentors and advisors to our students, encouraging academic excellence.
Comprehensive Course Offerings
HNMCS follows the Ontario curriculum and offers all required courses (and many other course options) to successfully complete the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Because our students are preparing for university, the curriculum primarily consists of academic courses, complemented by a select number of open courses. Academic courses are designed to deepen students’ understanding of core disciplinary concepts, while also introducing related ideas. These courses foster intellectual growth by emphasizing theoretical and abstract frameworks, and by integrating practical applications that reinforce and extend learning.
Departments
Arts, Business Studies, Canadian and World Studies, English, Guidance and Career Education, Health and Physical Education, International Languages, Mathematics, Religious Studies, Science, and Social Studies & Humanities.
Clubs, Athletics and Service
While academic excellence and university preparation are our primary focus, we encourage students to participate in a variety of co-curricular clubs, athletics, and community-service related activities. Guest speakers, workshop presentations, and educational field trips enrich the academic programme. Assignments, culminating tasks, and community service assignments help develop the whole student and ensure the curriculum comes to life. We believe academics alone don’t prepare a student for life success. We ensure that the whole person is developed during these critical years of study.
Guidance
The guidance programme includes academic and career guidance, time management, study skills, and university preparation. Canadian and American university representatives are invited here to help students explore post-secondary options. Students visit universities and attend open houses to learn more about their university choices. Job shadowing, guest speakers, and meaningful volunteer work prepare students for their future careers, allowing them to explore a variety of career options.