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Elite Nashville all-girls prep school attended by celebs to allow ‘any student who identifies as a girl’

August 11, 2022 | | Print Article

Transgender females will now be allowed to enroll in Nashville’s elite all-girl Harpeth Hall prep school, according to a letter sent to parents on Tuesday.

The $33,000-a-year school, which boasts such celebrity former students as actress Reese Witherspoon and singer Amy Grant, stated in the letter that it supports gender identity and “any student who identifies as a girl may apply to our school,” the Daily Mail reports.

The school maintains the declaration represents “no change” to the admissions application process.

“We are and always have been an all-girls independent school,’ said Harpeth Hall’s director of marketing and communication. ‘There has been no change to Harpeth Hall’s admission application process which is open to any female student.’

https://twitter.com/NotNicoleSolas/status/1557703550616174592?s=20&t=tMLEn_lclRfNjpjHU92OZg

Harpeth Hall stressed that women are the center of its environment and the new policy is aimed at creating a safe space for students who wish to express their gender identity.

The move follows a new Tennessee law that penalizes public schools that allow trans athletes to compete against biological females in women’s sports. While the memo didn’t address the matter of sports, the Daily Mail notes that, as a private school, Harpeth may not be bound by the state’s law.

“Harpeth Hall affirms its history, mission, and presence as a school for girls and young women,” the memo reads. “Our school uplifts the female voice and perspective and educates our students to embrace our school’s values of integrity, individuality, and respect for others. Harpeth Hall’s commitment to an inclusive educational environment is a hallmark of its excellence.”

“As the world evolves, so do our students,” the memo continued. “The concept of gender has expanded and deepened over time.”

Pronouns, the prep school acknowledged, can be an issue in 2022, but Harpeth Hall is committed to working with students and parents on an individual basis — as long as it isn’t a biologically female student who wants to be referred to as he/him.

“Harpeth Hall acknowledges the developmental journey of each student and recognizes that adolescence includes natural searching and questioning about many topics,” the memo states. “For some students, this may include the question of gender identity and the desire to identify as nonbinary or use they/them pronouns. Harpeth Hall approaches gender identity with understanding and open communication, rather than with shame or othering, and will provide a safe environment to partner with each student and family to consider the needs and requests of the student on an individual basis.”

“If a student communicates a desire to be identified as male or adopt he/him pronouns, we recognize that our school, being a girls school, may no longer be a place that serves that student well,” Harpeth writes.

And don’t think that is a crazy or hypocritical policy for an all-girls school to hold. It’s a matter of “ultimate” respect.

“We see this acknowledgment as the ultimate form of respect: an understanding that we support the individual and the student’s gender identity,” Harpeth explained.

Online, many folks are seeing the new policy as a sign of more woke insanity from the left.

“Congratulations, Harpeth Hall—this moment marks the beginning of the end of your school as an institution people want to send their kids to learn,” said one user on Twitter.

Another called for parents to rip their kids out of the elite school.

“OK parents who have kids at Harpeth Hall… you KNOW what you must do here,” tweeted conservative analyst Graham ledger. “Do it!”

And a third pointed out how a private all-boys school in Tennessee is handling the question of gender identity.

“In light of the @HarpethHall’s recent bungled announcement,” tweeted Nashville’s daily newsletter, The Pamphleteer, “it’s worth considering the position that all-boys @McCallieSchool in Chattanooga admirably took when pressured on the same issue: ‘McCallie only admits students who are biologically male and who identify as male.'”

 

Melissa Fine
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