Protect the future education of women; Keep AWS all girls
- Target:
- Annie Wright School Board of Trustees and Administration
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- www.facebook.com
Annie Wright School’s Board of Trustees announced January 4, 2017 that it will allow boys into the Upper School beginning with ninth grade in the Fall of 2017. As you know, Annie Wright’s upper school has been an all-girls educational and boarding program for 133 years. In 1881, Charles Wright outlined his vision for our school:
"The school will provide education for the rising generation of daughters of the
pioneers, children who will lay a firm foundation for the great state that is to
be, a state which will require them to have kind, not callous hearts; joyous, not pampered spirits; broad, not petty minds; refined, not tawdry tastes; direct, not shifting speech – women who will meet wealth with simplicity, and poverty with dignity, and face life with quiet strength – developing from strength to strength; contributing to the righteous up-building of this great country."
There are no comparable single-sex educational opportunities for girls in the Northwest region.
1. They are eliminating an important resource for the community
a. After this decision, there will be 1 all girls boarding high school per 7.062
million in Washington state and 21 all girls boarding high schools per 318.9
million in the United States. This means that Washington is only serving
7,062,000 of the population while the rest of the nation is serving
15,185,714.3; that’s less than half of the national average;
b. If this decision is carried out, then young women in Washington state will be
underserved in this area;
c. There are a multitude of educational options for boys in a private school
setting in Washington state
2. There is is tremendous benefit of an all-girls education, as documented in the
following:
a. http://www.ncgs.org/Pdfs/Resources/sax_final%20report_sing_1f02b4.pdf
b.
http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/statistics_show_benefits_of_single_sex_education
c. http://www.ncgs.org/Pdfs/Resources/Athletics.pdf
We the undersigned, ask the Annie Wright School Board of Trustees and the administration for the following:
1. A reversal of their decision to enroll boys in the Annie Wright Upper School;
2. That no facilities for boys grades 9-12 be established on any part of Annie
Wright’s current campus;
3. That the “Annie Wright School” name not be used for any institution serving
boys grades 9-12th, whether it be on or off campus;
4. That the Board of Trustees acknowledge that they agree to not allow boys in
the Upper School, nor share the Annie Wright School campus site in any way
and they will not attempt this in the future without substantial input from
current students, families, faculty and staff, and former students,
families, faculty and staff.
We believe this will reaffirm Annie Wright’s commitment to educating and cultivating thoughtful and powerful women.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Protect the future education of women; Keep AWS all girls petition to Annie Wright School Board of Trustees and Administration was written by Annie Wright School Alumnae Action Group and is in the category Gender Rights and Issues at GoPetition.