Boarding Schools for Girls

A proposed Muslim girls boarding school is facing opposition from a residents organization in the British town where it hopes to open. According to a Nov. 12 article on the website of the British newspaper The Burnley Express, the Brierfield's Clitheroe Road Residents' Association is disseminating a pamphlet with the following text:

A group called Islamic Help has now placed a deposit on Brierfield Mills and is proposing a 5,000-student boarding school of single sex and single faith.

The residents' association is made up of members of different cultures, religions, age groups and sex, and are opposed to the proposals, which we feel will divide the communities and cultures of Brierfield and Pendle.

A plan for Brierfield Mills, from a company based in Birmingham, will cause deep-rooted divisions in our town and Pendle as a whole, which would end all the good work that we have all contributed to over the years.

Labels: great britain, boarding schools, muslim, religious

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When the Sisters of Charity of Kentucky announced in January that they would close Our Lady of Nazareth Academy, it looked like the students of the private Catholic school for girls were going to have to either enroll in public school or make the 20-mile commute to attend the Presentation of Mary Academy.

But according to a Sept. 1 article by Theresa DeFranzo on the website wickedlocal.com, the community of students and their parents came up with a third option: find the funding (and a location) to keep the school going:

Not only have students been helping out, but their parents and alumni have been working around the clock to make sure this educational opportunity  both the physical building and the educational curriculum  was available for girls in the area.

We were greatly disappointed after the announcement that they would close, said Joseph Luna, chairman of the board of directors. We had no intention of building a new school. But you cant save a school that doesnt want to be saved.

So he, and many others, got down to work.

No longer staffed by nuns, the school opened for the 2009-2010 academic year under a new name (out with "Our Lady of Nazareth Academy," in with "Nazareth Academy") -- but with a continued commitment to the philosophical underpinnings of its predecessor, DeFranzo reported:

We know the benefit of this type of education, Luna said of Nazareth Academy, which he said offers young women a Christian and classical education in the Catholic tradition that prepares them academically, spiritually and socially for a life marked by leadership and service in todays global community.

Labels: girls, religious, catholic, private school

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According to article on the Jewish news website chabad.info, Crown Heights, Brooklyn is now home to the nation's first Orthodox Jewish vocational school for girls:

Originally opened for teenage girls who were not thriving in the standard girls yeshiva system, [Ohr Chana Vocational Academy] began to modify its mission during the 5769 school year to become the first Orthodox girls vocational high school in the country.

This year Ohr Chana will offer a full, dual-track curriculum: One track caters to the focused and self-motivated student who wants her high school experience to help her grow spiritually through advanced and meaningful Torah learning.

The second track caters to the student who can best succeed in a small, non-pressured classroom environment and who has a drive to actualize her potential, develop her talents and excel  perhaps for the first time in her school career.

Every girl deserves to spend four years experiencing enjoyment, success and spiritual growth, the school's founder, Rebbetzin Sara Labkowski, said in the article.

Labels: girls, religious, jewish, vocational

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