Tom and Whitney Bachrach have two daughters: Katharine, 6, and Lily, who’s 4. When they started the school search for Katharine, they were intrigued by the idea of an all-girls school. Whitney attended a single-sex school in her early years and thought that might be a good fit for Katharine, too.

“My personality was a bit like my older daughter, who’s very shy, and I just felt the all-girls experience had been really great for me in terms of giving me confidence and helping me find my voice,” she said. “That was something I really wanted to look at for my girls.”

The Bachrachs knew about The Baldwin School’s stellar reputation, but initially thought the distance from their home in Lower Gwynedd would be too much. Then they stepped onto the school’s campus.

“We did two lengthy tours there that kind of just blew our minds,” Tom said. “It was a gut feeling, we knew it. This is arguably the biggest decision you’re going to make for your kid’s life. Quibbling over the commute felt silly.”

They were struck by the way every young woman they met seemed poised and super smart — and happy and well-adjusted. Tom said their one concern had been that Baldwin would be too competitive. That’s just not the case, he said.

“When we were on those tours, we’d pull young women from the hallway just at random and just start asking them questions, and it felt like I was talking to someone who was through grad school,” he said.

“In my experience I’ve never seen a school like that. It’s an amazing place.”

Katharine’s first year at Baldwin was even better than the family had hoped.

“They have just gone so above and beyond to make her feel comfortable,” Whitney said. “I think every school tries to do that, but Baldwin has really delivered on that promise.”

The shy little girl comes home bubbling over, she said, “talking about these things that I have to look up. And she’s having fun with it, she doesn’t realize that what she’s learning isn’t just standard kindergarten stuff.”

Lily, who’s starting pre-kindergarten this year, has a much more outgoing personality, Whitney said. She’s confident Lily will be as happy as Katharine.

“We wanted a place that was not going to tell our shy child she has to be outgoing and tell our outgoing child she has to be quiet,” she said.

“At Baldwin, they’ll get all the tools to be the best version of who they can be.”

Want to know more? Visit Baldwin online or register for an Open House.

Photographs by Casey Kallen.