i can't give a clear feedback, because it comes so deeply from my experience.
first, though, there is evidence that shows that girls maintain academic excellence via single-gender schools (particularly during and after puberty) as compared to their mixed-schooled friends.
second, i believe that boys are inherently valuable and worth socializing with.
but here is my experience.
from age 5 to 13, i was schooled with boys. it was a mixed bag. on the one hand, i had many male friends and counterparts. i enjoyed their company (and preferred sports anyway).
but, there were occasional issues. for example, when i was 7/8, i was in a mixed grade classroom. i was the head of the class academically, and this is how this school dealt with mainstreaming their gifted and special needs kids (mixed grades). i was also good at sports (fast, good hand-eye coordination, etc). and, i am competitive. i like to win.
there was a boy in my class who was very aggressive towards me when i got the highest grade (he often got the second highest); when i won a race; when i won any kind of prize. he would do anything from call me names to becoming physical.
the teacher tried to handle it, and ultimately called my mother and his mother in. his mother suggested to my mother that i *purposely loose a race, miss questions on an exam, or not compete for a prize* so that her son could 'feel good about himself" and then his drama would stop. the teacher agreed that this could work.
My mother told them to F themselves. she believed that it was wrong for me to give up my excellence so that *he* would feel good about himself. my mother suggested teaching her son sportsmanship and healthy competition.
second incident begins the incidents that really color my experience. our school--the mixed grades one--was a k-6th grade. i was sexually assaulted on the playground by some 11 yr old boys. at the end of the year, we moved to another state; but this was never dealt with by the school or parents--even though my mother raised hell. essentially, we were told "boys are experimental at this age." and my father asserted that it is not healthy to allow them to 'experiment' on 8 yr old girls!
we moved to a different state, and between 9 and 13, there were two things happening. 1. girls were heavily policed to dumb down so that boys would like them (by teachers, mothers, etc); and 2. boys spent a lot of time talking to girls about their "pussies" and what they wanted to do with them, and also snapping bras and stuff. and no one was willing to put a stop to the "boys will be boys" behaviors. It was sexual harassment, and made me *very* uncomfortable.
with this, not only was I a late bloomer (no period until nearly 14 yrs old), i also was very private and protective due to these experiences. you could say i was "frigid" though i don't think that's accurate or appropriate. *i was terrified of boys.* i believed that they would take what they wanted, and as we got older, they got bigger and stronger and more aggressive (in my experience), and if you didn't give them what they wanted, they would take it. AND, they would get away with it. I was told at 13, after a particularly extreme experience where a larger boy cornered me and tried to touch me IN FRONT OF A TEACHER and was using very extreme sexual language, that if i didn't "entice" boys, they would leave me alone. I dressed modestly, was quiet and kept to myself. i had no clue what i had done to "entice" his behavior.
So, what i'm saying is, i was terrified that boys would just take from me and my body what they wanted, and that NO ONE would protect me or take him to task for those behaviors.
Thus, when i had the opportunity at 14 to go to an all girl's school, i was THRILLED. sure, i still had whatever social issues, but the issues of academic competition were gone, and any sexual harassment situations with boys were also gone. it was *great*.
so, i am completely colored by this experience. take it for whatever it is worth.
for girls' schools. I don't know about elementary, but I *loved* my all-girls HS and would love for my daughters to also attend an all-girls HS. Of course every school must be evaluated on its own merits -- any school can have problems -- but my experience was positive.
