finishing school

a private school, usually at the high-school or junior-college level, that teaches young women social graces and prepares them for life in society.

Origin of finishing school

First recorded in 1830–40

She had not learned that sort of French in her finishing-school.

The Woman-Hater |Charles Reade
De la B. is a trained diplomat, and these months of his "Interinato" have been a "finishing-school" indeed.

Diplomatic Days |Edith O'Shaughnessy
I did not seek in a wife the accomplishments of a finishing-school teacher.

A Strange Story, Complete |Edward Bulwer-Lytton
By this time Julia had grown up and was beginning at finishing-school.

In a Little Town |Rupert Hughes

The maid mentally pronounced that Louise's finishing-school French was almost intelligible to one understanding that language.

The Eddy |Clarence L. Cullen

finishing school

a private school for girls that prepares them for society by teaching social graces and accomplishments