education to young women, and this principle has remained a beacon to head teachers, staff and trustees throughout its 100 years. However, throughout the educational world, there has been a significant movement toward educating boys and girls together, and because of this, many single-sex institutions became co-educational, or have even been forced to close. BHS confronted this question when the School was invited to join with Saltus Grammar School, then an all-boys institution, and become co-educational. The trustees made the decision to remain dedicated to the education of girls, and that choice has proven to be the right one. An ever-increasing stream of research and the tabulation of examination results, specifically in the United Kingdom, is showing that single-sex education is best for girls, both academically and in terms of their self-esteem. How bad is it for girls in a co-educational environment? A piece published in 1988 in Better Homes and Gardens by Mary Conroy on this subject pulls no punches. "The first day of school began with a simple request. The boys were asked to sit in the front of the room; the girls were assigned desks in the hall. Then the teacher closed the door on them and started the class. "The case may be fictional, but the pattern is not. For all the attention girls receive in school they might as well be confined to the hallway.'' Ms. Conroy explained that teachers praise boys more -- and give them more criticism -- than girls. Boys call for attention eight times more than girls, and they get it. If boys speak out of turn in class discussions, they are praised as contributing, while girls are told to raise their hand. Teachers will give boys detailed directions when they need help, but they will actually do the work of girls. On the other hand, in a single-sex environment girls are encouraged to develop their talents and to seek careers in the professions, industry and commerce, Enid Castle, the Headmistress of Cheltenham Ladies College (a School which opened many important academic doors to women) has stated recently. She said that girls excel academically and often combine examination success with high standards in music, art and sports. "It is no accident that many of today's most successful women were educated in all-girls schools. There is now much evidence, including examination results, to indicate that girls and probably boys do better if taught separately.'' This Headmistress went on to explain why girls do better without boys in the classroom. "Younger girls arriving at Cheltenham from mixed schools frequently claim that the boys in their classes were noisy. What they really mean is that the boys claimed and received a disproportionate amount of the teacher's attention. "By and large, as they grow through adolescence, girls are conscientious, keen to learn and keen to receive praise. In a mixed classroom, most will retreat to the sidelines and the boys will dominate. The older girls may compete with the boys; on the other hand she may well be reluctant to appear to outdo them, particularly if she wishes to attract. "In a single-sex situation, everything is provided to encourage girls and there are no inhibitions. All subjects, all careers, all resources and all activities are available to them alone.'' In fact, girls not only improve their own performance in a single sex environment -- they tend to win in the academic sweepstakes. The results of a Daily Telegraph A-level survey in 1991 showed students in all-girls day schools did best. One girl at that year's top school, Portsmouth High, said simply: "I think we did so well because this is a single-sex school.'' More recent and comprehensive results tabulated last year by the Financial Times showed that all-girls schools took 25 of the top 50 places in a table ranking educational establishments by A level results. All but two of the top 50 were single-sex schools. American statistics tell the story best. An opinion piece by Mary Conroy in New Woman Magazine, published in September 1990, stated that compared with their peers from co-educational schools, alumnae of women's colleges are twice as likely to get doctorates and are six times as likely to be named to Business Week's list of the 50 highest ranking women in corporate America. A girl's socio-economic status was not a factor in her ability to get ahead, another study confirming the benefits of an all-girls education found. At the Bermuda High School, these findings are no surprise. Throughout its history, BHS girls have consistently set new academic standards for the whole community, and its pupils have gone on to achieve ever-higher goals. PHOTO PARTY TIME -- BHS celebrated its 100th anniversary in style in October last year. Pupils took time off to mark the milestone by dancing and singing along to a band. The celebration was topped off with a trumpet fanfare.