Letter to the Editor

Parents should consider Single-Gender Education for their sons

Dear Editor:

Earlier this fall we invited prospective students to visit Malden Catholic for our Open House.

More than 175 boys and their families came to 99 Crystal St. on a very snowy Sunday. As they gathered in the dining hall, I had the opportunity to welcome them and talk about the choice they were facing. Just last year, I too was applying to Malden Catholic, of course as Headmaster and not as a ninth grader, but in many ways the process is similar.

I shared with these eager families the reasons I chose MC. This included the great academics, the sense of community, and the inspiration of the Brothers. It also included an all-male student body.

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where I attended an all-boys school. When I first decided to become a teacher I thought for sure I would go back to a high school like the one that I went to. It wasn’t to be. For the last eleven years I have worked in co-ed schools. While I loved the experience and enjoyed working with the young ladies, one thing stood out. The boys were being left behind. In eight years at Lowell Catholic, of the sixteen valedictorians and salutatorians only two were boys. Last year, at Saint Bernard School in Connecticut, we inducted twenty-one new members into the National Honor Society.  Only three were boys. In March of this year, the Pew Research Center published the following:

In 1994, 63% of recent female high school graduates and 61% of male recent high school graduates were enrolled in college in the fall following graduation. By 2012, the share of young women enrolled in college immediately after high school had increased to 71%, but it remained unchanged for young men at 61%.

At Malden Catholic, 99% of our seniors – our boys — are accepted to college.  We know that young men and young women learn differently.  We also know that they learn differently if they are together or separated from each other.  I urge parents to consider the benefits of single-sex education for their sons and to consider the excellent high school options available to them in the Boston area.

 Thomas J. Doherty III

Headmaster

Malden Catholic High School