The state’s oldest nonsectarian all-boys school is bringing something unusual to Maryland education: single-gender pre-K.

After more than 180 years, The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland is opening its doors to 4-year-olds. The pre-K program, dubbed Little Lakers, will launch fall 2026.

The school is expanding as researchers call for more attention on boys: They enter school less prepared than girls, and those rocky starts can be hard to overcome in later grades.

“Expanding into early childhood is incredibly important because it gives boys a strong foundation on which to grow,” said Boys’ Latin Headmaster Chris Post. “We know that boys are active, they’re social, they’re curious, and they’re going to do best in a hands-on environment that encourages them to be up and engaging in real-world problem solving.”

All-boys schools make up a small slice of U.S. education. Across the country, there are about 45 all-boys public schools — including one in Baltimore — and 800 all-boys private schools, said Ben Smith, head of research at the American Institute for Boys and Men. That means they make up less than 3% of the country’s private schools.

Single-sex pre-K is even more uncommon. Smith said he never hears about it, and it wasn’t on the radars of Maryland early-childhood experts, either.

The Gilman School, another Baltimore-area private all-boys school, offers pre-K 4; gender-segregated pre-Ks are often extensions of existing single-sex schools, experts said.

Boys’ Latin isn’t expanding the pool by much. Classes will take up to 10 boys to match the 5-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio the rest of the K-12 school is based on.

Post said all-boys education has never been more important. Boys are more likely to be suspended or expelled and experience loneliness. They’re less likely to take advanced placement classes and go to college. The National Education Association said to close gaps, teachers need to “stop seeing boys as problems in your classrooms.”

“We’ve never thought about boys as a problem,” Post said. “We celebrate boys. We understand boys.”

Early-learning gaps are more stark when race and income are considered and can impact boys’ grades and feelings of self worth well beyond their fifth and sixth birthdays.

A lot of research on single-sex education comes from outside the U.S. and focuses on older grades, Smith said. Evidence shows small academic advantages for kids in all-boys schools, and there’s no strong consensus on social-emotional benefits. But Smith thinks gender-segregated education could be beneficial for younger boys, who tend to be more energetic and disruptive than girls.

Post said that because boys come to school “with a full tank of gas,” Boys’ Latin opens its lower-school playground an hour before the first bell so they can get moving early. Research says outdoor play is good for kids’ learning and development.

And because boys learn better when there are “clearer, shorter bursts of focus required,” Post said, the pre-K program will be clearly structured and scheduled, moving boys around classroom stations to keep them engaged.

Pre-K at Boys’ Latin will cost $20,750 a year, $5,500 less than kindergarten tuition. Boys must be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.