When it came time to choose a kindergarten for her daughter, Natalie, three years ago, Carmen Avila found plenty to like about Uncommon Excellence Girls Elementary School in Brooklyn.
But what stood out most about the free public charter school was that it offered a high-quality education in an all-girls setting designed to build confidence, leadership, and academic ambition without the social pressures typically found in a co-ed setting.
“I chose this school because only girls come, and you know sometimes boys are a little more mischievous, and they don’t focus on what the teacher is saying in class and everything,” Avila said.
[Click HERE to watch an interview with Carmen Avila in Spanish]
Avila was already aware of the value of a single-sex school. Her son, Joel, is an eighth-grader at Uncommon’s high-performing all-boys campus, Excellence Boys, also in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
Through the 1970s, single sex schools were far more commonplace in American education. Today, most K-12 schools are co-educational.
But single sex schools like Excellence Boys and Excellence Girls offer a distinct advantage for students.
Schools like Excellence Girls can build confidence in young women, giving them an edge as they continue their academic pursuits.
Research collected by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools found that students who graduated from all-girls schools were more likely than those attending coeducational schools to impact their communities, perform better academically, consider majoring in math, science, or technology, and have higher aspirations and greater motivation.
Kim Perez, the Principal of Excellence Girls, sees the impact every day.
“Every time I enter my school, I see the girls walking with so much pride and confidence,” Perez said. “In our school, we teach our girls to see their friends more as sisters rather than just friends.”
Perez said what makes the school unique is that teachers ensure every student is at their level and that they progress to the next level through tutoring and small-group instruction.
“We push them to grow more by closing the learning gaps specific to every student,” she said.
Students who attend the school exceed the state exam averages by wide margins and are projected to outperform the state’s highest-performing subgroup. Between 2024 and 2025, third graders, for example, improved their state test scores by 10% in math and 22% in English Language Arts.
Some of the students who attend the school come from families where Spanish is the first language. The school is particularly well prepared to support students in becoming multilingual learners.
“We help students who speak Spanish because we have a teacher who teaches English as a new language, and we also have materials that we translate into Spanish for the students and also for the parents,” Perez said. Both Perez and Delta Reyes, the Director of Operations at the school, are also bilingual and support families.
Avila, who immigrated from Ecuador, said she feels supported by the staff.
“Latina mothers are always supported,” she said. “The teachers are always calling. They are always very, very communicative and focused on the parents.”
Avila said her daughter spoke little English when she started at Excellence Girls as a kindergartener, but now has mastery of the English language.
Avila said she is delighted with the education her daughter is receiving at Excellence Girls.
“I tell parents to try Excellence Girls, you won’t regret it,” she said. “I would advise parents to bring their kids to this school because it’s a very good school.”
To learn more about Uncommon Excellence Girls Elementary School, visit https://nyc.uncommonschools.org/excellence-girls-school/ and sign up for a school tour.
