Alliance Girls High School

Alliance Girls' High School
Main gate of the school
Location
Kikuyu Kenya
Coordinates	1°15′59″S 36°39′46″E / 1.2663°S 36.6627°E / -1.2663; 36.6627Coordinates: 1°15′59″S 36°39′46″E / 1.2663°S 36.6627°E / -1.2663; 36.6627
Information
Type	Public National School
Motto	Motto: "Walk in the light"
Established	1948 as African Girls' High School
Principal	Dorothy M. Kamwilu
Color(s)	Green
Website	www.alliancegirlshigh.sc.ke

Alliance Girls' High School (AGHS) is a national girls' boarding school located near the small town of Kikuyu in the Kiambu District of the Central Province of Kenya, 20 km from Nairobi. Founded in 1948 as the African Girls High School, it is within walking distance from its brother school Alliance High School.

Founded in 1948 by the Alliance of Protestant Missions, Alliance Girls' High School was the first institution of higher secondary education for African girls in Kenya, and served in parallel with Kenya High School which at that time only admitted European girls. Before Kenyan independence it was called African Girls High School. Alliance Girls High School sits on 71 acres of land in Kiambu West district, Central Province, originally donated by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.

The school's first principal, Jean Wilkinson (née Ewan), was a Scottish missionary. Joan Waithaka, one of the first students to graduate from the school, became its first African principal in 1969. She also served on the 1976 Gachathi Report committee which recommended that the Kenyan government adopt policies which would increase women's participation not only in higher education but also in science and other male-dominated spheres in the country.

The first 10 girls admitted to the school arrived on 28 February 1948 and came from the all the different provinces in Kenya as is still the case today. In 1961, Alliance Girls High School was one of the first five schools in Africa to offer the Higher School Certificate (at the time, the equivalent of A Levels and a requirement for university entrance). Prior to the establishment of Alliance Girls High School, a few girls had been admitted to the predominantly male Alliance High School. One of the last girls to graduate from there was the writer Rebeka Njau who later taught at the Alliance Girls High School. The two schools continue to maintain close relations.

The school has a reputation as a center of academic excellence in Kenya. It held first place amongst girls' schools in Kenya in the 2011 KCSE results and was in third place out of all Kenyan secondary schools. AGHS's graduates go on to leading Kenyan universities as well as international ones. Some of its students have also been selected to attend the African Leadership Academy.