Earlier this week I had the opportunity to visit an exceptional school with exceptional students. Excel Academy is the first all-girls charter school in DC, opening its doors in 2008 by a tenacious CEO and founder by the name of Kaye Savage. I was lucky enough to sit down with Savage and hear her reasoning behind the drive for wanting to start a charter school, why in this particular area and why make it an all-girls school.
I have heard of single-sex schools but have never experienced them in my area growing up so it was compelling to walk in the doors of an elementary school and have the only male presence be some of the teachers and administrators. At first, I found it difficult to see how a separation of sexes could allow the girls to achieve higher standards than if they were to attend a school with boys but my position was changed by the time the visit was over. The gains the school has achieved over their six years in operation just goes to show how a single-sex school can be just as effective for its students as a multi-gendered school, if not more effective.
It was amazing to hear Savage speak of her passion for wanting to give young girls the focus they need to learn that they would not generally get in a traditional school that serves both boys and girls. Savage mentioned that to start a charter school, and especially an all-girls charter school, “you really do have to be crazy”. Even though I would like to work in the immense world of K12 education as a career, I could not begin to comprehend what the process of starting a charter school would be like.
I am very impressed to see what Savage has done with the school in such a short amount of time, giving the girls extracurricular activities that fit their emotional and developmental needs such as Girl Scouts and dance. The curriculum allows the girls to really embrace female power in every sense of the word. The school is truly a unique one and a pioneer for future charter schools to come.