[1] Many prominent northerners and southerners sent their daughters to such institutions to participate in rigorous academic curricula and learn about elite aspects of culture.
Deborah Grelaud's husband is believed to have had a position with the successful merchant Stephen Girard, who was known to help refugees of the Haitian and French Revolutions.
While daughters learned the essentials of being a lady of the elite class, the arrangement encouraged and maintained valuable connections between Philadelphians of high status and southern planters.
Girls at these schools were expected to speak French fluently and to excel in history, philosophy, natural science, and geography.
[2] Outings into the city provided opportunities to not only shop in upscale boutiques, but also to observe the manners and fashions of elite ladies and gentlemen.
[16] Parties and balls were also considered an important part of the young ladies' education, allowing practice in conversation and interaction with other members of the upper class.
Madame Grelaud likely followed the examples of other French boarding institutions and charged beyond tuition for extra music or language lessons, laundry, and concert tickets.
As Daniel Kilbride explained, “Young women studied the sciences because gentlewomen were expected to be conversant with contemporary intellectual currents, not because they might use what they learned in the household or workplace.”[17] This elitist teaching style was a cause for contempt to the growing American middle class.
The difference was that these schools taught with the understanding that education provided opportunity for upward mobility and supported the ideals of independence and democracy.
"[18] While these educators saw the importance of learning French, the lingua franca of the day, they often rejected the ornamental subjects such as painting, drawing, and dance.