Chapin (and other “schools for girls”) are institutionalizing a lie
- Apr 13
- 5 min read
The Chapin School is a highly selective K-12 school in NYC for 830 students. Parents pay a lot of money to send their daughters to a single sex school instead of a coed school.
The school mission:
“The Chapin School cultivates an intellectual mind, generous spirit and resilient character. Our girls and young women find joy and purpose in the pursuit of scholarly excellence, strength in our community and inspiration in our founder’s call to be brave for others and brave for self.”
Notable alumnae include:
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — Former First Lady of the United States
Vera Wang — Fashion designer and former figure skater
Queen Noor of Jordan — Queen consort of Jordan
Lilly Pulitzer — Fashion designer and socialite
Anne Morrow Lindbergh — Author and aviator
Aerin Lauder — Entrepreneur and style icon
Jane Lauder — Executive at Estée Lauder Companies
Lee Radziwill — Socialite and sister of Jacqueline Kennedy
Tricia Nixon Cox — Daughter of President Richard Nixon
Julie Nixon Eisenhower — Daughter of President Richard Nixon
Blanchette Rockefeller — Philanthropist and arts patron
Jane Wyatt — Actress known for Father Knows Best
Sigourney Weaver — Actress (attended)
Chapin is not living its mission and is not promoting the healthy development of its students.
How can a school that claims academic rigor and intellectual curiosity compel a belief system that is not grounded in reality? Chapin is teaching impressionable young minds gender ideology—that asserts people can be born in the wrong body and, therefore, choose their gender.
Here is what this looks like in practice at The Chapin School:
Chapin prioritizes belonging for all students, including those who are transgender or non-binary. However, this is not compatible with a school that exists to educate girls.
This chart displays what the 7th-grade girls’ science class is learning. This content teaches girls that they don’t have to be girls if they don’t want to, or if it’s too hard. This message is not empowering for girls who may be struggling with their changing bodies, and it preys on their vulnerability.
According to AI: Seventh-grade girls (typically 12–13 years old) are navigating intense puberty, shifting from concrete to abstract thinking, and experiencing a "crisis of connection" where peer acceptance becomes paramount. They often experience high emotionality, self-consciousness, and moodiness while navigating complex social hierarchies and cliques.
Chapin hired a “Scholar” in residence, Nithya Rajan, Ph.D., in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, who uses she/her pronouns in her bio, affirming her commitment to the ideology.
This belief system is pushed on students as part of the school’s DEI programs, in the name of inclusion and belonging. In practice, belonging means “Taking extra steps to ensure certain groups feel ‘special.’ Belonging is about the school ensuring that everyone there feels like they are the best fit by changing the culture, policy, and environment to suit those who demand a belonging space.”
The Chapin Board of Trustees needs to do its job and stand up for its girls
The Chair of the Board of Trustees promotes The Chapin School as “an all-girls K-12 school dedicated to academic excellence, personal integrity, and community responsibility.” This is dishonest and is failing the girls. Is it really a school for girls if it welcomes anyone who identifies as a girl or if it encourages girls to become boys? Who is overseeing “truth in advertising”?
Is NYSAIS part of the problem? Schools are evaluated against their mission. Therefore, a girls’ school that is marketing itself as a school for girls should only accept biological girls. If the school feels coerced by accreditors into being “inclusive,” they have the power to just say no. Most reputable boys’ schools are not afraid to live their missions and acknowledge the truth that biological sex is real.
“It’s a simple fact that boys and girls grow at a different pace. Boys’ strengths are different from those of girls. While girls generally develop earlier physically and socially, refining their reading and writing skills sooner, boys are more spatial and visual by nature, and they demonstrate a natural affinity for areas like abstract mathematics. They are also hard-wired to learn more easily through action than words.” - International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC)
Do Girls’ Schools really care about girls?
Many top-ranked all-girls schools in the U.S. have formal statements or policies regarding gender identity. These policies generally clarify that they welcome applications from any student who identifies as a girl, regardless of their ‘sex assigned at birth.’
Brearley adopted a Gender Diversity Statement in 2018. The school “will consider all applicants who identify as girls.”
Spence established a Gender Diversity statement in 2018. Spence considers applicants who identify as girls and allows students who no longer identify as girls to remain enrolled.
Marlborough clarified its policies to welcome students born male who identify as female.
Winsor is notable for its “Guidelines for Gender Inclusion”: they will consider applicants who identify as female or those assigned female at birth who do not identify as male.
Miss Porter’s School welcomes students who identify as girls to apply.
It is no coincidence that these girls’ schools feed the most elite and selective colleges and universities, where much of this social justice activism and political correctness is lauded.
Who is advocating for girls’ schools?
The International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS) claims to be the leading advocate for girls’ schools worldwide, but their “leaders” seem to be in on the gender scam. Both Danielle Heard, President of the Board of the ICGS and Head of Nashoba Brooks, and Felicia Wilks, ICGS Board member and Head of Spence, have pronouns in their LinkedIn bios. People who use pronouns are telling the world that they believe in gender ideology.
What to do?
Schools should review the US government Executive Order from January 2025, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, and recognize their obligation to stand up for girls.
“Ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women…. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system.”
Be brave and tell the truth. It is not kind to lie to children. If you need inspiration, read what Abigail Shrier told the students of Princeton: Show some self-respect and reclaim your freedom.
JK Rowling said it best:
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