About
Our Story and Mission
Honoring our founders' vision, Archer remains intentional in its practice of empowering the next generation of female leaders.
Founded on research and supported by expert faculty, this construct prepares girls to become leaders in the 21st century.
Archer was founded in 1995 by three women, Megan Callaway, Victoria Shorr, and Dr. Diana Meehan, all graduates of girls’ schools and all parents of daughters who were about to enter middle school. Informed by current research on the clear benefits of single-sex education for girls and guided by their founding principles of innovation, community, and diversity, Archer originally opened in a converted Pacific Palisades dance studio with just over 30 6th and 7th grade students.
Over two decades later, Archer’s tremendous growth to 500 students on a seven-acre historic Sunset Boulevard campus is a testament to our role as a model of the renaissance of girls’ schools. Our founders’ basic premise - that girls thrive in a learning environment of their own - is now playing out across the country.
Archer was founded in 1995 by three women, Megan Callaway, Victoria Shorr, and Dr. Diana Meehan, all graduates of girls’ schools and all parents of daughters who were about to enter middle school. Informed by current research on the clear benefits of single-sex education for girls and guided by their founding principles of innovation, community, and diversity, Archer originally opened in a converted Pacific Palisades dance studio with just over 30 6th and 7th grade students.
Over two decades later, Archer’s tremendous growth to 500 students on a seven-acre historic Sunset Boulevard campus is a testament to our role as a model of the renaissance of girls’ schools. Our founders’ basic premise - that girls thrive in a learning environment of their own - is now playing out across the country.
The Archer School for Girls nurtures the fearlessness, compassion, and resilience girls need to pursue their brilliance.
Mission
The Archer School for Girls empowers young women to discover their passions and realize their true potential in an environment that is both ambitious and joyful.We sustain a collaborative, student-centered teaching and learning community that explores and contributes to the research on how girls learn and thrive.
We engage girls in a purposeful, inquiry-driven curriculum that fosters critical thinking and life-long intellectual curiosity.
We inspire girls to become confident, ethical leaders, strengthening their voices and capacity to contribute positively to their communities.
We promote challenge-seeking, encourage creative risk-taking, and embrace each girl’s unique possibility.
We support girls to develop meaningful relationships in a diverse and inclusive community rooted in empathy, integrity, and responsibility.
We graduate courageous, resilient young women who take responsibility for their own physical, financial, and emotional well-being.
Stewards of a Historic Landmark
Archer occupies the former Eastern Star Home for Women, a 1931 Spanish Colonial Revival building on Sunset Boulevard in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, the structure provides Archer girls with a one-of-a-kind learning environment complete with dark wood beams, colorful mosaic fountains, and intricate architectural features around every corner. True to its origins, the building feels more like a home than a school, and girls quickly grow attached to its unique charm.
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"A classical scholar described an event several thousand years old; young girls sent into the woods to build their own shelters, forage for food, and study history, poetry and dance. No one would harm them, for they were under the aegis of the goddess. She who had various titles, including the Protector of Girls, the Archer".
The Archer School for Girls admits students of any race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status in its hiring or in the administration of its educational policies and programs, admissions policies, financial aid programs or other school-administered programs.
The Archer School for Girls’ mission is to educate students in an environment specifically designed for girls. As such, the school will consider any candidate for admission who identifies as a girl. Once admitted to Archer, all students in good academic standing who abide by Archer’s code of conduct and who meet requirements for graduation will be eligible to receive an Archer diploma, regardless of any change in sexual identity or other legally protected status.
