Annie Wright School's Upper School has been an all-girls educational and boarding program for 133 years. On January 4, 2017, the Board of Trustees announced that it will create a boys Upper School on the same campus beginning with ninth grade in the Fall of 2017.

In 1881, Charles Wright outlined his vision for our school:

"The school will provide education for the rising generation of daughters of the pioneers, children who will lay a firm foundation for the great state that is to be, a state which will require them to have kind, not callous hearts; joyous, not pampered spirits; broad, not petty minds; refined, not tawdry tastes; direct, not shifting speech – women who will meet wealth with simplicity, and poverty with dignity, and face life with quiet strength – developing from strength to strength; contributing to the righteous up-building of this great country."

They are eliminating an important resource for the community:

1. After this decision, there will be 1 all-girls boarding high school per 7.062 million in Washington state and 21 all-girls boarding high schools per 318.9 million in the United States. This means that Washington is only serving 7,062,000 of the population while the rest of the nation is serving 15,185,714.3; that’s less than half of the national average;
2. If this decision is carried out, young women in Washington state will be under served in this area;
3. There are a multitude of educational options for boys in a private school setting in Washington state.

There are tremendous benefits associated with an all-girls education, as documented in the following:

1. Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College
2. Statistics Show Benefits of Single-Sex Education
3. Title IX and Athletics

We the undersigned, ask the Annie Wright School Board of Trustees and the administration for the following:

1. A reversal of their decision to enroll boys in the Annie Wright Upper School;
2. That no facilities for boys grades 9-12 be established on any part of Annie Wright’s current campus;
3. That the “Annie Wright School” name not be used for any institution serving boys grades 9-12th, whether it be on or off campus;
4. That the Board of Trustees acknowledge that they agree to not allow boys in the Upper School, nor share the Annie Wright School campus site in any way and they will not attempt this in the future without substantial input from current students, families, faculty and staff, and former students, families, faculty and staff.

We believe this will reaffirm Annie Wright’s commitment to educating and cultivating thoughtful and powerful women.