Written over four years, after DeBare left her job covering workplace issues for the Chronicle's Business section, "Where Girls Come First" recounts the birth of the Julia Morgan School for Girls - which takes its name from the legendary Hearst Castle architect - and places it in the 200-year history of girls schools in the United States. This year, the fifth, 146 girls are enrolled, 45 percent of whom are students of color.ĭeBare captures that tale in her first book, "Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall and Surprising Revival of Girls' Schools" ( Jeremy P. Their dream, the Julia Morgan School for Girls, opened its doors in 1999 with 35 sixth-graders, three full-time teachers and school director Ann Clarke occupying one floor (later two floors) of a former dormitory at Holy Names College in Oakland. Eight years ago, DeBare was one of 11 East Bay parents who came together with the idea of starting an all-girls' middle school - a place that would foster academic skills as well as build self-confidence at an age when girls start losing a sense of their strength and potential. But not today: DeBare, a former Chronicle reporter, is determined that her own 10-year-old daughter, Rebecca, will have a stronger sense of her ability and her options. So it was in the pre-feminist days when girls' dreams were stunted and shoehorned into narrow cultural models.
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