Alabama

Foley Intermediate School, in Baldwin County, was honored by the State of Alabama in 2006. The state recognized Foley Intermediate as being one of the most successful schools in the state in closing the achievement gap between Black and White students after adopting the single-sex format. In 2007, the school received an even higher honor, including a $20,000 cash prize, for its tremendous continuing success in closing the racial achievement gap. A team of four teachers from Foley Intermediate will present at the NASSPE conference in October 2008 to share the secrets of their success!

The residents of Wilcox County, Alabama, take pride in the small-town feel of their county seat, Camden, which has a population of just over 2,000. The population of the entire county is only about 12,000. Ervin Elementary, in Pine Hill, began offering single-sex classes for grades 5 and 6 in the 2005-2006 school year. The Wilcox County middle school, formally known as the Camden School of Arts & Technology, began offering single-sex classes for grades 7 and 8, in the 2005-2006 school year. The district leadership arranged for Dr. Leonard Sax, director of NASSPE, to visit the county in March 2006 and again in April 2006 to lead a professional development seminar for teachers involved in the single-gender programs. In May 2006, Dr. Abigail James, a member of NASSPE's Advisory Board, met with Wilcox County teachers to share more techniques and strategies for single-gender classrooms.

East Lawrence Middle School, in northwest Alabama, began offering single-sex classes in January 2006. "The biggest surprise to us has been what a non-issue it was this year," Principal Cindy Praytor said in 2007. "The students just accepted it, and I've not gotten any complaints -- from students or parents." Praytor also observed that the boys in the all-boys classrooms "are really well behaved, especially in the female teachers' classrooms. There's a respect there, and it's magnified when they're all together."

The Maplesville School in Maplesville began offering single-sex classrooms in grades 4, 5, and 6 in the 2004-2005 school year. The students' achievement on DIBELS testing showed immediate and dramatic improvement. The 4th-graders had benchmarked at 21% prior to the introduction of single-sex classrooms: when those same students were tested the following spring, they showed a dramatic increase in performance, now scoring at 75%. "By separating the kids, they are able to learn better and achieve their goals, while behavioral problems have decreased," said teacher Jacqueline Sullivan.

Odenville Middle School, in Odenville, began offering single-sex classes in math, science, social studies, literature and English, to 7th- and 8th-graders in January, 2004. Eighth-grade math teacher Betty Gunn, who is in her 28th year as a teacher, said she recently had each of her 127 students turn in a homework assignment on time, something she said never happened when classes were coed. In the spring 2004 grading period, she gave seven Fs among her 127 students, compared with more than 20 Fs to the same group of students in fall 2003, when classes were coed. "Now that we have them separate, everybody is turning in their work," Gunn said. "I don't have to hound them. Everybody is participating in class." Odenville principal Debra Carroll said, "On our diagnostic testing, we had over a 52 percent increase in student academics [as a result of switching to the single-sex format]. It was exactly what the research has said."

Davis Hills Middle School, in northwest Huntsville, began offering single-gender classrooms, for 6th- and 7th-graders, in January 2005.

Fayette Middle School, in Fayette County, began offering single-sex classes in math, science, English, and reading, in August 2004.

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Alaska

Gilson Junior High in Valdez began offering single-sex classes in 2006-2007 in reading, language arts and social studies, for 7th-grade girls and boys.

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Arizona

Andersen Junior High School, in Chandler, began offering single-sex classes in 2006. Initially the gender-separate format was used only in physical education. "The physical education teachers loved it," said principal Jim Anderson (no relation to the school's namesake, which is spelled differently). "We've really noticed significant improvement with [more] participation by both boys and girls. Their energy levels are higher, and we've had fewer discipline problems." The good results with physical education led the administration to expand the program to math, science, and social studies for the 2006-2007 school year. In the spring of 2007, principal Jim Anderson announced that the girls-only classes scored 11 percentage points higher than the girls in the mixed classes, even though all classes shared the same teachers and resources and all had comparable class sizes. Likewise, the boys in the boys' classes scored on average 10 points higher than boys in coed classes, again with the same resources and teachers. The number of single-sex classes has been increased for the 2007-2008 school year.

The success of the program at Andersen Junior High inspired administrators at Desert Shadows Middle School in nearby Apache Junction to start their own single-sex classes in the fall of 2007.

Cactus Middle School in Casa Grande (about 25 miles south of Phoenix) began offering single-sex classes in all grades (6, 7, and 8) in the fall of 2005.

Roadrunner Elementary School, in the Washington Elementary School District in Phoenix, began offering single-sex classes for mathematics in 2006.

The Westwind Middle School Academy in Phoenix is a dual academy, i.e. girls and boys are taught in separate classrooms. "Boys are working harder and helping each other more," according to teacher Joshua Jordan. "Just being able to address the class as 'ladies' or 'gentlemen' made a class bond," Jordan said. Teacher Sara Lyon said that girls -- especially those who are usually timid -- participate more in the girls-only classes.

Sahuarita Middle School in Tucson began offering single-sex classes in 2006-2007.

Cholla Magnet High School, in Tucson, has been offering single-sex classrooms since 2001-2002.

Tucson Magnet High School has offered single-sex classes in math and science for seven years. Tucson High teacher Virginia Bohme, who has taught math for 25 years, is a strong believer in the single-sex classes based on her first-hand experience. Girls thrive in the girls-only classes, Bohme says. "They're not afraid to appear stupid," she says.

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Arkansas

In Jacksonville (a suburb of Little Rock), the school district opened a pair of middle schools in the fall of 2005: one for girls, one for boys, referred to respectively as *Jacksonville Middle School / Girls and *Jacksonville Middle Schools / Boys. These are two separate schools, with separate building facilities and separate administrative staffs.
NASSPE director Leonard Sax led a professional development workshop on best practices for single-sex education, for teachers from both of these new schools, in August 2005. You can read local press coverage of the developments in Jacksonville at this link.

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California

Compton Avenue Elementary School, in Los Angeles, began offering some gender-separate classrooms in the 2007-2008 school year.

Thompson Middle School, in Murrieta, began offering single-sex classes in 2006-2007.

*The San Francisco 49'ers Academies were one of the six single-sex academies opened in 1996 and 1997 under the short-lived California program to establish single-sex public schools, and the only one of the six still remaining in operation today (the others closed after funding for the program lapsed in 1999). There are a total of 90 girls and 90 boys enrolled, in grades 5 through 8. The Academies take their name from the fact that the San Francisco 49'ers (the NFL franchise) is a sponsor of the school, and football players from the NFL team occasionally visit the school. You can visit their Web site here.

*New Village Charter High School in Los Angeles is an all-girls college prep school. The focus of the school, which opened in the fall of 2006, is on girls from low-income neighborhoods.

North Woods Discovery School is a charter school in Redding. The school offers grades K-8. Single-sex classes are offered in grades 6, 7, and 8 in math, science, and language arts. More information about the school is available at www.nwds.org.

Jordan High School, in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, has offered an all-boys class since 2005. The extraordinary success of these boys was the feature of a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times published November 2, 2006. The success of this program has inspired the nearby King-Drew Medical Magnet School to begin offering single-sex classes for 2007-2008.

The Excel Charter Academy is a middle school northeast of downtown Los Angeles which offers single-sex classes to 6th-graders.

Franklin Elementary School, in Modesto, began offering gender-separate classes for 4th-graders in the fall of 2006.

*Tierrasanta Campus of the Charter School of San Diego (CSSD) opened in July 1994. This school includes grades 7 through 12, spread over 19 storefront sites. The roughly 90 students at the Tierrasanta Campus are educated exclusively in single-sex classrooms.

Burbank Middle School, in association with the Triad Alliance (a cooperative program run by UCSF) is offering single-sex classrooms in math and science.

San Ysidro High School San Ysidro High School in Otay Mesa (near San Diego) introduced single-sex classes in just 8 (out of 320) of the school's classes in 2003-2004. Results that year were encouraging, so the program has been expanded in subsequent years to a total of 36 gender-separate classes, serving 900 students, in single-gender algebra, science, and physical education classes. Samantha Jaramillo, a 16-year-old junior, said "I've noticed that I've learned more in all-girls [classrooms] because I speak up and I'm not shy and the guys don't make fun of me if I screw up."

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Colorado

Arapahoe High School, in Littleton, began offering single-gender courses in the 2003-2004 school year in math, physical education, science, and social studies. For the 2005-2006 school year, the single-gender format has been expanded to include English and reading.

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Connecticut

The Beecher School in New Haven is a public elementary school which began offering single-sex classes to 4th and 5th graders in 2006.

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Delaware

The *Prestige Academy in Wilmington is a public charter all-boys school enrolling boys in grades 5 through 8. More information is available at www.prestigeacademycs.org.

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District of Columbia

*Septima Clark Public Charter School, an all-boys public elementary charter school, began enrolling boys in grades K-2 in the fall of 2006. For 2007-2008, the school will enroll boys in grades K-3. All staff attended a professional development seminar led by NASSPE Executive Director Leonard Sax in July 2006. In August 2007, Dr. Abigail James, a member of the NASSPE Advisory Board, led another full-day professional development seminar for school faculty.

The Hope Community Charter School, located at 2917 8th St. NE, offers single-sex classes for students in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. Teachers for the single-sex classes attended a professional development seminar led by NASSPE Executive Director Leonard Sax in July 2006.

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Florida

Westside Elementary, in Hernando, began offering single-sex classrooms in the 2007-2008 school year, in all grades (K-5), for both girls and boys. "Something magical has happened at Westside Elementary School . . .", according to an article in the St. Petersburg Times. "Girls are coming out of their shells. Boys are working hard. . . Chalk it up to single-sex classes." In June 2007, half-a-dozen teachers from Westside Elementary School attended a two-day, 14-hour workshop on best practice for gender-separate classrooms, hosted by Stetson University and led by Dr. Leonard Sax, director of NASSPE. Now those teachers are seeing tremendous benefits from the strategies they have employed in their single-gender classrooms -- benefits for both girls and boys. Click here to read the full article.

Ballard Elementary and Oneco Elementary, both in Manatee County, began offering single-sex classrooms in the 2007-2008 school year.

Forest Grove Middle School, in Fort Pierce, began offering single-sex classes in math, history, reading, and science for 8th-graders only, in 2006-2007. Kerri Walukiewicz teaches the all-boys 8th-grade reading and language arts class. She points to an essay by one boy, Ramon: "I worry about my sister. I cry when someone dies in my family. I am Ramon." Ms. Walukiewicz suggests that in a coed class, Ramon would not have been comfortable expressing this emotion.

Inspired by the success of the program at Forest Grove, Fellsmere Elementary, also on the Treasure Coast, began offering single-sex classrooms for 5th-graders, in 2007-2008.

Young Women's Preparatory Academy in Miami opened its doors to girls in grades 6 thru 10 in the fall of 2006. For 2007-2008, the school is enrolling girls in grades 6 through 11; in 2008-2009, the school will enroll girls in grades 6 through 12.

Odyssey Middle School, in Boynton Beach, began offering single-sex classrooms in August 2003. The success of the program in the 2003-2004 school year was such that the district decided to expand to include the majority of students in each grade for the 2004-2005 school year. For the 2007-2008 school year, the majority of students in all three grades are in gender-separate classes. There was a 52 percent reduction in discipline referrals among 6th-graders after the new format was introduced, according to principal Bonnie Fox.

Belcher Elementary School, in Clearwater, began offering single-sex classes to 2nd- and 3rd-graders in the fall of 2006. In April 2007, parent Cheryl Peck commented on the change she has seen in her daughter in the time since her daughter began in the single-sex program. "She's more determined. She knows what she wants, [and] academically I was so impressed with the big change from one year to the next." For the 2007-2008 school year, every class in grades K-4 will be all-girls or all-boys. In June 2007, many teachers from Belcher Elementary attended a two-day workshop on best practices for single-sex classrooms, led by NASSPE director Leonard Sax.

Spring Lake Elementary, in Altamonte Springs, began offering single-sex classes in the 2006-2007 school year. Staff from the school attended a workshop led by Dr. Sax, executive director of NASSPE, and hosted by Stetson University, in the spring of 2007.

Melrose Elementary, in St. Petersburg, began offering single-sex classes for 4th-graders in the fall of 2006.

Ribault Middle School in Duval County began offering single-sex classrooms in the 2004-2005 school year. The program has since been expanded to all three grades.

Orangewood Elementary School in Fort Myers began offering single-gender classrooms for 5th-graders, in the fall of 2006. By the end of the 2006-2007 year, every boy in the all-boys class scored proficient in both reading and math on the FCAT, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. That was a huge change from the previous year, when most of those same boys failed to score proficient in either reading or math. The all-boys format allowed the boys to become "a team," according to teacher Hana Ahmad. "They looked like a family," Ahmad said. "It wasn't about one person succeeding; it was about everyone succeeding."

Woodward Avenue Elementary School offers single-sex classrooms in kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th grades for 2005-2006. Core academic classes all are single-sex, while lunch and physical education are coed. The extraordinary success of the program at Woodward Avenue Elementary has attracted national attention, leading to feature stories in the Orlando Sentinel, People magazine, and USA Today.

The Pace Centers for Girls are a group of eighteen public schools around Florida which have achieved an extraordinary record of success with girls at risk. These schools, each independently administered, are located in the following locations around Florida (click on each link for more information):
*Alachua
*Broward
*Collier-Immokalee
*Escambia-Santa Rosa
*Fort Myers
*Hillsborough
*Jacksonville
*Leon
*Key West
*Manatee
*Marion
*Orange
*Palm Beach
*Pasco
*Pinellas
*Polk
*Treasure Coast
*Volusia-Flagler

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Georgia

DeKalb County Public Schools (northeast of Atlanta) have two public schools offering single-sex classrooms for 2008-2009. Avondale Middle School offers single-gender classrooms under the leadership of principal Dr. Bernetta Jones. Dr. Jones invited Dr. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, to lead a two-day training workshop for her teachers, in March 2008. Also in DeKalb County, Ronald McNair Middle School offers single-gender classrooms, under the leadership of principal Susan Freeman. Ms. Freeman invited Dr. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, to lead a two-day training workshop for her teachers, in the summer of 2008 just prior to the launch of the new school year.

Atlanta Public Schools launched two single-sex schools in the fall of 2007. The *Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy will enroll 6th- and 7th-graders in 2008-2009, adding one grade per year until the school is a 6-12 school. Likewise, the *B.E.S.T. Academy at Benjamin Carson, will enroll 6th- and 7th-graders in 2008-2009, adding one grade per year until the school is a 6-12 school. Curt Green, principal of the B.E.S.T. Academy, will be a speaker at the October 2008 NASSPE conference in Memphis.

The *Ivy Preparatory Academy is a charter public school for girls which opens in Gwinnett County in 2008-2009 enrolling just 6th-graders. Like the Coretta Scott King YWL Academy and the B.E.S.T. Academy, the plan at Ivy Prep is to add one grade each year until the school is a 6-12 school.

Also in the Atlanta metropolitan area, the Imagine Wesley International Academy is a public charter school which launched in 2008-2009, offering single-sex classes in all core subjects. Coed classes are offered for art, music, theater, and Mandarin Chinese. Garrison Elementary School, in Savannah, began offering single-sex classrooms in the 4th and 5th grades in 1999. The program is continuing under the leadership of Principal Karen Grant. She says that discipline problems for both sexes decreased by "at least 50 percent" after the program was introduced. Those are "the cold hard facts," says Grant.

King Middle School, in Atlanta, began offering single-sex classrooms in core subjects (math, science, English, social studies) for 6th graders, in 2003-2004.

Lewis Frasier Middle School, in Hinesville, began offering a single-sex section (one girls-only section, one boys-only section) beginning in 2003-2004. The success of the program prompted school leaders to expand the program to the entire 6th and 7th grade for the 2004-2005 school year. "When you ask the kids if they like it, as a group together they'll say they want the other gender back," says school administrator Dr. Yvette Keel. "But when I talk to each one of the students individually, they'll tell me they like it and they've seen their grades go up." Dr. Sax, executive director of NASSPE, met with teachers at Lewis Frasier in 2005 to lead an all-day professional development workshop on best practices for single-sex education.

Marietta High School, in Marietta, began offering single-sex Algebra I classes in the 2003-2004.

Campbell Middle School, in Smyrna (Cobb County) began offering classes in single-gender format for the 2003-2004 school year. According to Dr. Charlie Bowen, from nearby Bagwell College, "the vast majority of responses from teachers and parents who have observed the effects of the new single-gender classes have been overwhelmingly positive." Dr. H. Earl Holliday, the school's principal, spoke at the ASCD conference in Orlando, Florida in April 2005 about the success of the program. He presented data showing that students' performance on standardized tests had improved by more than ten percentile ranks since introduction of the single-sex format.

Dr. Holliday has also informed us that three other nearby elementary schools began offering single-sex classrooms in 2005. Those schools are Teasley Elementary School, Argyle Elementary School, and Harmony-Leland Elementary School, all in the Cobb County School District.

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Idaho

Middleton Heights Elementary began offering single-sex classrooms in 1st grade and 3rd grade, in the 2006-2007 school year.

Lincoln Elementary School in Twin Falls began offering single-sex classes to 6th-grade students in the 2003-2004 school year. Single-gender classes are offered in all classes except for music, physical education, computers, and recess.

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Illinois

*Urban Prep Charter Academy is an all-boys charter high school launched in 2006 on the site of what was formerly Englewood High School, on Chicago's South Side. The mission of the school is empowering young African-American men from low-income neighborhoods. The key figure behind Urban Prep is Tim King, a dynamic young (b. 1966) African-American philanthropist who envisions a network of schools modeled after Urban Prep. Mr. King and Urban Prep were featured in an article in Education Week about the growing popularity of single-sex education specifically for at-risk African-American boys.

The Benjamin Mays Elementary Academy, on West Marquette Road in Chicago, has been offering single-gender classes for boys and girls for four years. In 2001, only 19% of students met state proficiency standards. In 2006, more than 89% of students met or exceeded state proficiency standards, according to Assistant Principal Richard P. Glass Jr.

Robert Frost Middle School and Warren Palm Elementary School, both in Hazel Crest, began offering single-sex classes in 2006-2007. Rich East High School in nearby Park Forest began offering single-gender classes to 9th-graders in the core subjects (math, science, English, and social studies) in 2007-2008. Dr. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, led a two-day workshop for teachers from Robert Frost Middle, Warren Palm Elementary, and Rich East High School, in August 2008. This workshop was also attended by teachers from Merrillville Intermediate School (Indiana) who are leading single-gender classes.

Nearby, in Alsip, Eisenhower High School also began offering single-sex classes to 9th-graders in 2007-2008.

Gregory Elementary School, on West Polk Street in Chicago, began offering single-sex classrooms in 2005.

Barton Elementary, in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood, offers some all-boys classes for 3rd-grade boys.

Highcrest Middle School, in Wilmette, offers some all-girls classes for 6th-grade girls.

The Stephen Gale Community Academy , in Chicago, began offering single-gender classes for students in grades 6, 7, and 8, in the 2007-2008 school year.

All three middle schools in the East St. Louis School District began offering single-gender classes in math and science in 2005. Those three middle schools are Lincoln Middle School, Clark Middle School, and Younge Middle School. At Lincoln Middle School, single-gender classes are also offered in English. The same district began offering single-sex classes for high school juniors at East St. Louis High School in 2005-2006.

*The Young Women's Leadership Charter School , in Chicago, enrolls girls in grades 6 through 12. The school was launched in the fall of 2000. The school was modeled on the Young Women's Leadership School in Harlem, with the exception that the Chicago school has an emphasis on science and technology. More than 75 percent of the girls qualify for the free lunch program. Students are selected by lottery and there is always a waiting list. Margaret Small, one of the two directors of the school, observed, "We already have girls in the ninth grade [at the Young Women's Leadership Charter School] who are committed to becoming computer scientists or physicists and really think, ‘I want to be an astronaut.' Most of my ninth-grade girls at [coeducational] Lakeview High School wanted to be cosmetologists. They like hair. They like to do each other's hair. Well, our girls like to do that too. But they're beginning to realize that that doesn't mean you want to be a cosmetologist. That's just what you do on Saturday afternoon. You want to be something much more than that."
You can read more about the Young Women's Leadership Charter School at their Web site.

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Indiana

Merrillville Intermediate School, in Merrillville, began offering single-sex classes in the 2008-2009 school year. In August 2008, teachers from the school attended a two-day workshop led by Dr. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, on best practice for single-gender classrooms.

Riverview Middle School, in Huntington, began offering single-sex classes in the 2006-2007 school year. The change in format has improved test scores and attendance, as well as decreased discipline referrals. "It's a joy" to be in the all-girls classroom, says teacher Jill Spenner.

*Charles Drew Elementary School in Gary, was "re-invented" as an all-boys academy, effective with the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.

Edwardsburg Primary School, in Edwardsburg, began offering single-sex kindergarten in the 2006-2007 school year.

Smith Elementary, in Martinsville, has begun offering single-sex classes for 5th-graders in reading, language arts, and physical education. "We were astounded" by the positive impact of single-sex classrooms, says teacher Janet Fendley. Fendley said that in the physical education class, girls who had previously not participated now came off the sidelines to participate. For the 2006-2007 school year, gender-separate classes will also be offered in math, science, and social studies.

Harrison Hill Elementary, technically known as the "Harrison Hill School of Inquiry," offers some all-boys classes in 2nd and 3rd grade. The school is located in Lawrence Township.

Riverview Middle School in Huntington County, began offering single-sex classes in language arts, for 6th graders, in the fall of 2006.

Clarksville Middle School began offering single-sex classrooms for its seventh-graders in the fall of 2002. The program was so effective in improving the academic performance of both girls and boys that the program was expanded to all three grades. When the school was coed, only 35% of boys passed the state's standardized language arts test, and only 54% of the girls passed. After two years in the single-sex classes, 53% of these same boys now can pass the state's language arts test; 69% of these same girls now pass the test.

New Washington Middle and High School, in the Greater Clark County school district, began offering gender-separate classes in 2004-2005 for the majority of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in math, science, and social studies. Principal Ben Ledbetter reported in the spring of 2005 that students in the single-gender classes showed improved academic performance and fewer disciplinary problems.

Parkview Middle School, also in the Greater Clark County school district, began offering single-sex classes for sixth-graders in 2004-2005. For 2005-2006, the program has been expanded to both sixth- and seventh-graders, with plans to include all three grades beginning in 2006-2007.

The 21st Century Charter School in Indianapolis began offering gender-separate classes in core academic subjects, in 2003-2004.

Barker Middle School in Michigan City began offering gender-separate classes in core academic subjects, in the 2004-2005 school year, for 7th-graders only. For the 2005-2006 school year, single-gender classes are available to both 7th- and 8th-graders.

*Duncan Elementary School in Gary, was "re-invented" as an all-girls academy, effective with the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.

*Edgar Evans Elementary School -- a.k.a. "School 11" on E. 42nd Street in Indianapolis -- was "re-invented" as an all-boys academy, effective with the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.

*Coleman Academy for Girls , in on E. 30th Avenue in Indianapolis, enrolls girls in grades 4 through 6. The school opened its doors as an all-girls school in the fall of 2005. *Julian D. Coleman Academy for Boys is the brother school, enrolling boys in grades 4 through 6 as well.

Huntertown Elementary School , in Allen County, has begun offering single-sex classes to 5th-grade boys. They're already seeing how the single-sex format can break down gender stereotypes. The boys appear eager to work on their baking skills, including baking Rice Krispie treats for a fund-raiser.

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Iowa

The Cunningham School for Excellence in Waterloo, has been offering single-sex classrooms since the spring of 2004. The program at the Cunningham School involves students who are now in the second and third grades. The plan is to continue the program with the same students, right through grade five.
The Logan Middle School, also in Waterloo, began offering single-sex math classes in 2004-2005.
Dr. Sax, executive director of NASSPE, has met with the teachers in Waterloo on two occasions to lead professional development workshops and observe what's actually happening in the classrooms. He described some of his observations in an invited commentary for Education Week.

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Kansas

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Kentucky

Lloyd Memorial High School in Erlanger began offering single-sex classes for freshmen and sophomores in the 2005-2006 school year. The success of the program prompted Principal John Riehemann to expand the program to include juniors as well for the 2007-2008 school year.

Ludlow Middle School, in Kenton County, began offering single-sex classes in the 2005-2006 school year.

Cravens Elementary School began offering single-sex classrooms in August 2005.

Foust Elementary School began offering single-sex classrooms in 2004-2005 and has expanded the program for the 2005-2006 school year. Foust Elementary now offers single-sex classrooms in the first, second, fifth, and sixth grades. Girls and boys are separated in seven out of 18 classrooms.

Apollo High School, in Owensboro, began offering single-gender classrooms for 9th-graders in the fall of 2005. NASSPE Board member Dr. Abigail Norfleet James led a workshop on best practices for single-sex classrooms for teachers at Apollo in August 2005.

Daviess County High School began offering single-sex classrooms in 2005.

Horse Branch Elementary School, in Ohio County (Kentucky) began offering some single-sex classes for 4th- and 5th-graders, in August 2005.

Marshall County High School in Benton is offering two sections of 9th-grade Earth/Space Science in which girls and boys are separated. The girls-only class is taught by Mrs. Dusti Lamb, and the boys-only class is taught by Mr. Stacey Bradley. Mr. Bradley recently notified us that "Mrs. Lamb and I have noticed increased confidence among students who would normally be reserved when participating in classroom discussion and projects." Dr. Robert Lyons, Associate Professor at Murray State University, is assisting the teachers at Benton in assessing the effectiveness of this teaching strategy. Mr. Bradley also told us that "other teachers are gearing up to offer sections of single-sex Geography and Social Studies."

Beaumont Middle School, in Fayette County, has been offering single-sex classes for reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies since 2002-2003.

At Two Rivers Middle School, in the Covington Independent School District, seventh graders are divided into one team that's single-sex, and one team that's coed.

The *Southern Leadership Academies, in Louisville, adopted the "dual academy" format beginning with the 2002-2003 school year: girls in girls' classrooms, boys in boys' classrooms. In the 2008-2009 school year, Southern becomes an all-boys school, while *Iroquois Middle School becomes all-girls.

Cumberland County Middle School, in Burkesville, has been offering single-sex classes since the 2003-2004 school year.

Harrodsburg Middle School in Mercer County, began offering single-sex classes 2002-2003.

Jefferson Elementary School in Henderson, Kentucky, has begun offering single-sex classes for their 4th-grade students. Principal Dora Caton is hoping not only for an improvement in classroom behavior -- and fewer discipline problems -- but also for improved academic performance. Teacher Jackie Ashby has already noticed progress. "It's a dream class," she says. "The girls are more focused in wanting to get busy with work."

Russell County Middle School began offering single-sex classrooms for seventh-graders in the fall of 2005. Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, the program expanded to the eighth grade as well.

Seebree Elementary School in Webster County, Kentucky, began offering single-gender classes in the 2003-2004 school year.

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Louisiana

Gonzales Middle School, in Baton Rouge, began single-gender classes in all grades (6, 7, and 8) in August 2005. Principal Charles Barbera reported in August 2006 that the program has been very successful. Students are chosen by lottery to participate in the single-sex classes. Parents "overwhelmingly" prefer the single-gender program, Barbera said.

Prescott Middle School, also in Baton Rouge, began offering single-gender classes in math and science for eighth-graders in 2003-2004. The success of the program led the school to expand the single-gender format to science and social studies in subsequent years, as well as expanding the program to include seventh-graders.
Prescott Math teacher Andria Joseph says boys shy away from participating when girls are present. In an all-boys class, the boys perk up, she said. "They feel like they're all in this together," Ms. Joseph said.
Girls benefit as well. Prescott English teacher Margaret Anton says the girls stay more focussed. And she has an easier time bonding with her class without boys around. "I talked to the girls yesterday and asked them if they thought we could have this closeness if there were boys around, and they said, No," she said.

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Maine

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Maryland

Boonsboro High School, in Boonsboro, began offering a single-gender program in 2006. The program, known as the Academy, offers single-gender math, English, and science classes to the academic top ten percent of students in 9th and 10th grades.
Pangborn Elementary School, also in Boonsboro, has begun offering some single-gender classrooms as well.

Baltimore City Public Schools currently offers single-sex classrooms in three schools: Glenmount Elementary #235, Harford Heights Intermediate, and Furley Elementary #206. In addition, McCormick Elementary School in Baltimore County offers single-sex classes for 4th- and 5th-graders.

Twin Ridge Elementary School, in southeast Frederick County, began offering gender-separate classrooms for the 2004-2005 school year and has expanded the program in subsequent years.

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Massachusetts

Smith Leadership Academy in Dorchester is a charter school enrolling grades 6, 7, and 8. Science and math classes are gender-separate for "nearly all" girls and boys.
Note: State law in Massachusetts makes it difficult for public, non-charter schools to offer single-sex classes. The leaders of the state Legislature's Joint Committee on Education have indicated that they will consider enabling legislation allowing public non-charter schools in Massachusetts to offer single-sex classes. The State Board of Education also has endorsed such enabling legislation.

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Michigan

*Detroit International Academy is an all-girls school, part of Detroit Public Schools, for girls in grades 9 through 12. The principal, Beverly Hibbler, and three of her teachers joined us at the 2007 NASSPE conference in Illinois.

*Douglass Academy is an all-boys public school, also part of Detroit Public Schools, for high school boys. It is the "brother school" to the Detroit International Academy. Both schools are schools of choice, meaning that students choose to attend. They are NOT charter schools.

South Lake Middle School in St. Clair Shores began offering single-sex classes in math and language arts for 8th-graders, in the 2006-2007 school year.

*The Holmes Female Academy and the *Holmes Male Academy, both in Flint, were established in 2006-2007. The schools serve grades 7 through 9. Although the schools have separate administration, NASSPE counts these two schools as ONE school for purposes of counting schools, because the schools do share some facilities, although girls are in one wing and boys in another for most classes. Cheryl Adkins, principal of the girls' school, says that both girls and boys have made academic gainst. "The boys did make some improvements," she says, "but our girls took off." Erica Leverette is a member of the Flint school board. She sends her son Eric to the Holmes Academy. She says Eric struggled to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average in other public and private schools. He carries a 3.29 GPA at Holmes. How come? "Definitely the all-male environment," says Leverette.

Kenowa Hills Intermediate School, near Grand Rapids, began offering single-sex classes in the 2006-2007 school year. The unanimous decision by the board of education to launch the program "wasn't controversial to us," according to school board trustee Joan Meyer. Fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Willink said the girls are "more apt to risk answering questions knowing boys are not around to snicker at them if they get it wrong." In addition, Willink said, the girls "love just being around other girls. The students are growing in confidence."

Berkshire Middle School in the Birmingham School District has offered all-girl math and language arts classes since 1997. Because the program enrolls only 28 girls, and roughly 100 girls sign up for the class, girls are chosen by lottery. Single-sex classes are available in math and language arts. "This class is the highlight of my day," says teacher Karen Boyk. "More girls feel comfortable being who they are. For some of them, it is a safe haven."

Pellston Middle School, near Traverse City, has offered same-sex classrooms in its middle school since 1997. Parents have the option of enrolling their children either in single-sex or in coed classrooms. The program remains popular with parents, although we don't have data on grades or test performance for these students broken down by class type.

Pierce Middle School, in Waterford, began offering single-sex classes in 2002-2003.

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Minnesota

*The Minneapolis Academy in Minneapolis is a charter school which opened in September 2004. The school is a "dual academy" middle school, enrolling grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. Girls are in all-girls classrooms, boys in all-boys classrooms.

Nicollet Junior High School in Burnsville, is offering single-sex classes in science for 9th-graders. Early results were encouraging, so school officials have expanded the program to 8th-graders. Cheryl Gores, who teaches both all-girls and mixed-gender classes at the school, says that "What I've seen from the [all-girls] group and how they've changed as students has been interesting and quite amazing. They've changed so much as students and become more confident." Ashley Biesemaier, a student in the all-girls class, says the class has been a very positive experience. The previous year, when Ashley was in a coed class, she got an "F" in science. This year, in an all-girls class, she earned a "B." She also made Honor Roll for the first time in her life.

Battle Creek Middle School, in St. Paul, began offering single-sex science classes for 7th-graders in the fall of 2005. The early success of the program has prompted the administration to expand the single-sex format to English, math, and history in addition to science.

Valley View Middle School in Edina, began offering single-sex classes for eighth-graders in the fall of 2005. Southview Middle School, also in Edina, began offering single-sex classes in the spring of 2006.

The Sunrise River School (formerly known as The Main Street School) in North Branch, Minnesota, began offering single-gender classes for 4th-grade students in the 2003-2004 school year. Teacher Sue Howard recently told us that "the opinions of the parents and the students are overwhelmingly positive."

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Mississippi

Clarkdale Attendance Center, a K-12 public school about five miles south of Meridian, and literally straddling the border between Clark County and Lauderdale County (hence the name 'Clarkdale') began offering gender-separate classrooms in the 2005-2006 school year. In March 2006, Dr. Leonard Sax, director of NASSPE, led a professional development seminar for teachers involved in the program, as well as for teachers leading coed classrooms. Single-sex classrooms are currently offered only for 5th- and 6th-graders, although Jan Miller, principal of the school, told Dr. Sax that she is considering expanding the program to the K-4 grades.

Flowood Elementary School, northeast of Jackson, began offering gender-separate classrooms in August 2004. At the invitation of the school district, Dr. Leonard Sax, director of NASSPE, led a professional development seminar for teachers involved in the gender-separate classrooms, in July 2004. In its first year (2004-2005), students enrolled in the program improved compared to their performance the previoius year, and significantly better than their 5th-grade peers at neighboring Northwest Rankin Middle School. All students in the single-sex program scored either proficient or advanced in reading; they also made significant advances in language arts and math. The success of the program led Principal Barbara McCool to expand the program: for 2005-2006, both 4th-graders and 5th-graders can enroll in single-sex classrooms. For 2007-2008, the program continues to enroll 4th- and 5th-graders.

Hunt Intermediate School, in the Columbus Municipal School District

Rowan Elementary School, in Hattiesburg

MaGee Middle School and Mendenhall Junior High School, both in Simpson County

Batesville Intermediate School, in the South Panola School District

Strayhorn Elementary and Strayhorn High School, both in Tate County.

Lipsey Middle School, in the Brookhaven school district.

Hickory Flats, in Benton County.

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Missouri

University Academy, a charter school in Kansas City, began offering gender-separate classrooms in core subjects for 6th and 7th-graders in the 2003-2004 school year.

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Nevada

Manuel J. Cortez Elementary School and Silvestri Junior High School, both in Las Vegas, launched single-gender classrooms in the core subject areas beginning with the 2007-2008 school year.

Marion E. Cahlan Elementary School, in North Las Vegas, is administered by Edison School. The school began offering single-gender classrooms in 2007-2008.

Desert Heights Elementary School in Washoe County began offering single-gender classes in 2007-2008.

Cheyenne High School in Las Vegas began offering some single-gender classes in August 2003, for selected ninth-graders. The program expanded in 2006-2007, to involve 9th- and 10th-grade students in math, science, English, and social studies. Dr. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, led a professional development seminar for teachers at Cheyenne High in August 2006.

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New Mexico

Pojoaque Valley Intermediate School began offering single-sex classes in 2007. Staff from the school attended an all-day training led by Dr. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, in the spring of 2007.

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New York

In Buffalo, the Harriet Tubman School offers ONLY single-sex classes for students in the 7th grade. Also in Buffalo, the Houghton Academy offers ONLY single-sex classes for both 7th and 8th grade students.

Please do not confuse Houghton Academy, P.S.69, with a private school 75 miles away in Houghton, New York which is also called "Houghton Academy."

*The Academy of Business & Community Development (ABCD) is an all-boys college preparatory school which opened in 2005-2006 enrolling 6th grade boys. The school has added one grade each year, with the plan of enrolling grades 6 through 12 beginning in 2011. More information is available at the school's web site.

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North Carolina

Kimberley Park Elementary began offering single-sex classes for students in grades 2, 3, 4, and 5, in the 2007-2008 school year. Melinda Shrewsbury, curriculum coordinator at Kimberley Park Elementary, notified us that the teachers leading the single-sex classes all were reading the book Why Gender Matters, written by NASSPE executive director Leonard Sax, to help prepare for the challenge of leading single-sex classrooms.

Elizabeth City Middle School, in Elizabeth City, began offering single-sex classrooms in the spring of 2003 and has continued the program without interruption through the 2007-2008 school year.

The success of the program in Elizabeth City led the Elizabeth City - Pasquotank Board of Education to introduce a similar single-gender program at nearby River Road Middle School, also in Elizabeth City. Students were chosen randomly to take part in single-gender classes at River Road for the 2005-2006 school year. "The message we got from Elizabeth City Middle School is that the students [in the single-gender program] are more focused on academics," said River Road principal Carolyn Jennings.

The Sally Howard School for the Arts and Education in Wilson began offering single-sex classes in 2003-2004. In grades 4 through 6, there are three sections: one all-girls, one all-boys, and one coed. In grade seven, most classes are single-sex; in grade eight, all classes are coed.

*Middle College at Bennett is the first all-girls public school in North Carolina. The school is located on the historic campus of Bennett College for Women. Middle College at Bennett provides a unique opportunity for female students to maximize their academic and leadership potential. Students who are disconnected from, dissatisfied with, or disinterested in the traditional high school setting are encouraged to become young aspiring women. The school provides a learning environment which is characterized by small class size with warm and nurturing school staff. Guilford County Schools (GCS) provides the teachers and the curriculum; the College provides classroom space. The school offers access to all courses required for high school graduation. Students may enroll in college level courses with tuition paid by GCS. (This description was provided by GCS personnel.)

McDougle Middle School in Carrboro began offering single-sex classrooms for 7th-graders in January 2006, for math, science, language arts and social studies. According to teacher Dorothy Works -- a veteran teacher with 31 years' experience -- "some students who had never spoken up before have become frequent hand-raisers." The biggest improvements have been in the girls-only science classrooms and the boys-only language arts classes. The success of the program has already prompted teachers at Chapel Hill's Phillips Middle School to consider launching their own single-sex program.

The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a public magnet school in Durham, began offering an all-girls computer science class in the fall of 2005.

East Iredell Middle School in Statesville, began offering single-sex classes in science, social studies, and advanced math for 7th-graders, in 2003-2004. Five teachers, leading a total of 12 classes, are involved in the single-gender program.

*Middle College at NC A&T, in Guilford County, is an all-boys high school launched in the fall of 2003. The school is open to high school boys who have failed two or more grades or have dropped out of school. These are boys who in most cases are unlikely to graduate without some special intervention. Classes are taught by regular teachers employed by Guilford County Public Schools, although the school itself is located on the campus of North Carolina A&T. College students, serving as mentors, are paired one-on-one with high school boys.

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Ohio

In the summer of 2003, Stewart Elementary School was reinvented as the *Stewart Academy for Girls, an all-girls neighborhood public school in a low-income neighborhood in Toledo. In the 2002-2003 school year, only 19% of the 4th-grade girls scored proficient on the state test. Two years later -- after the all-girls format had been in place for two years -- 91% of the girls scored proficient. No change in class size, no change in funding. According to administrator Suzanne Muggy, the school has maintained its high standing for the past four years. The success of this elementary school clearly inspired Toledo Superintendent Eugene Sanders. When he became CEO of Cleveland Public Schools in 2007, one of his first actions was to establish FOUR single-sex public schools in Cleveland -- two on the East Side, two on the West Side -- opening in the fall of 2007. The four elementary schools which opened in August 2007 are:

1. *Douglas MacArthur Girls Leadership Academy, 4401 Valleyside Road
2. *Kenneth Clement Boys Leadership Academy, 14311 Woodworth Road
3. *Valley View Boys Leadership Academy, 17200 Valleyview Avenue
4. *Warner Girls Leadership Academy, 8315 Jeffries Avenue

Arlington Park Elementary, also in Columbus, launched an all-boys class in September 2002. The class was organized by Principal Joyce Hackett primarily to address discipline problems with eight boys. Hackett hand-picked both the eight boys who were struggling, and the 16 higher-performing boys who she thought would help to balance the class.
In June 2003, Ms. Hackett announced that the program had been a success. "They have really made tremendous progress," Hackett said of the boys in the class. "The boys learned to interact with one another. They said they enjoyed the opportunity to talk about guy stuff."

Note: NASSPE does not endorse programs such as those at Arlington Park, in which "troublemakers" are sent to single-sex classes in hopes of improving discipline. The California experience 1997-1999 suggested that this approach may be less effective, and is certainly less robust, than enrolling a more diverse population in single-sex classrooms.

Southmoor Middle School in Columbus began offering single-gender classes in all grades in 2004-2005.

Arts IMPACT Middle School in Victorian Village (Franklin County) began offering single-sex classes, for seventh-graders only, in 2004-2005.

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Oregon

Gaston Junior High School, in Gaston, began offering single-gender classrooms in the fall of 2005. "We have found that the kids get more involved if we segregate them by sex," said Mike Durbin, Gaston principal, according to a report in April 2006 by journalist Sophia Tareen in The Oregonian. "They seem more engaged."

The Community Schoolhouse, a charter high school in Salem, began offering single-gender classrooms in September 2003. Students are in gender-separate classes for math, science, history, and language arts. Other classes are coed. Teachers use the same curriculum for girls and boys, but they are able to customize their teaching style to the gender of the students. "Boys are more questioning," teacher and school founder Molly Kellar says. "Girls spend longer expressing themselves on a topic." School director Tom DeJardin reports that he's already seeing improvement in the areas of discipline and attention. More than 300 students are on a waiting list for the 30 to 40 slots that open each year.

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Pennsylvania
McKinley Elementary School, in Erie, began offering single-sex classes in reading and math for 5th-graders, in 2006.

Nine public schools in Philadelphia offer single-sex educational opportunities.

One of those schools, the *Philadelphia High School for Girls, is a selective school.
Two of those schools -- Wright and Pratt -- are coed schools which offer single-sex classes.
Two other schools -- *Pepper and *Bethune -- are "dual academies", i.e. schools which enroll both girls and boys but in which girls and boys attend separate classes for all subjects.
*Boys' Latin Philadelphia Charter School, (formerly known as the Southwest Philadelphia Academy for Boys), opened in the fall of 2007. This school is NOT operated by Victory schools and is completely independent.

The *Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School is another "dual academy" -- girls in girls' classrooms, boys in boys' classrooms -- which opened in the fall of 2007, initially enrolling grades K-3. This school is operated by Victory Schools, which also operates Wright, Pratt, Pepper, Bethune, FitzSimons, and Rhodes, also in Philadelphia, The Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School is the only charter school operated by Victory in the city of Philadelphia; the other Victory schools are all regular public schools. The remaining two schools operated by Victory Schools -- *FitzSimons High School for Boys and *Rhodes High School for Girls -- have completely single-sex campuses.

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South Carolina

South Carolina leads the nation when it comes to offering parents the choice of single-sex education within public schools. In the spring of 2007, State Superintendent Jim Rex asked David Chadwell, a member of the NASSPE Advisory Board, to help coordinate single-gender initiatives statewide. Mr. Chadwell became the first person appointed to any statewide office anywhere in the United States with the primary mission of promoting single-sex education in public schools.

As of the spring of 2008, 97 public schools in South Carolina offer single-gender classrooms. For a complete and up-to-date list of those schools, please visit the South Carolina Department of Education, Office of Single-Gender Initiatives, which Mr. Chadwell directs. For the 2008-2009 school year, Mr. Chadwell estimates that more than 200 public schools in South Carolina will offer single-gender classrooms.

Somewhat surprisingly, only one public school in South Carolina -- the *Langston Charter Middle School, in Greenville -- counts as a single-sex school, with all students enrolled in single-sex classrooms. All the other schools on Mr. Chadwell's list are coed schools offering selected single-gender classrooms.
None of our counts include include the all-girls Willow Lane School in Columbia, South Carolina, even though it is an all-girls public school, because this school is reserved primarily for girls who have been convicted of a criminal offense.

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Tennessee

Three middle schools in Sumner County began offering single-gender classes in the 2007-2008 school year: Hunter Middle School, White House Middle School, and Portland Middle School.

Robinson Middle School, in Kingsport, has been offering single-sex classes in all three grade levels since the 2006-2007 school year. The school is using the book Why Gender Matters, by NASSPE director Dr. Leonard Sax, as a guide for teachers in the single-gender classrooms.

Lanier Middle School began offering single-sex classrooms in the 2005-2006 school year, under the leadership of principal Terrence Brown.

Booker T. Washington High School, in Memphis, began offering single-sex classrooms for girls and boys in 9th grade in the fall of 2007, for all core classes: math, science, English, math, and social studies. In July 2007, Dr. Leonard Sax, director of NASSPE, met with school board members and district leaders to explore the possibility of more Memphis public schools offering single-sex opportunities.

The Campus School is a Memphis public school for students in grades 1 through 6. It's part of the Memphis school district, but located on the campus of the University of Memphis and operated by the University of Memphis College of Education as a teaching laboratory. Gwen Hewitt says the single-sex classes have helped her daughter Tori Roseman to improve her grades. "The positive synergy can't be equaled. It offers the girls an opportunity to give each other support. They're more directed and more focussed." Another mother, Edith Gholson, agrees. "Girls who were shy, meek and mild are beginning to take their positions as school leaders. They don't defer to the boys." The school is already shattering gender stereotypes. "I thought the boys would be real competitive with each other," says art teacher Mary Larrick. "But if someone doesn't understand the directions, they are very, very helpful to each other. Their kindness toward each other has impressed me."

Caldwell Elementary is another Memphis public elementary school (K-5) which also has some single-sex classes.

West Cheatham Elementary, northwest of Ashland City, began offering single-gender classes to 4th-graders in the fall of 2003. According to principal Amber Raymer, "The girls seem not to be as shy when answering questions. The boys seem to be cooperating more with each other."

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Texas

*The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders opened in Austin in August 2007, enrolling 230 girls in grades 6 and 7. The plan is to add one grade each year until the school becomes a grade 6 through 12 school. Because of the great demand for places, a lottery was held to determine which girls would be allowed to attend. No favorites: the granddaughter of Ann Richards herself applied for a spot, but lost out in the lottery. You can read more in this newspaper story about the launch of the school.

*The Irma Lerma Rangel School opened in August 2004 with girls in grades 7 and 8, adding one grade each succeeding year. For 2008-2009, the school will enroll girls in grades 6-12, with a full complement of Advanced Placement course offerings. Like the Ann Richards School in Austin, the Irma Lerma Rangel School is associated with the Foundation for the Education of Young Women. Ozen High School, in Beaumont, began offering single-sex classes for 9th-graders, in the 2007-2008 school year.

Metzger Middle School, in San Antonio (Judson ISD), began offering single-sex classrooms in the 2004-2005 school year, under the leadership of principal Dawn Brown, and has expanded the program subsequently.

The Lowery Freshman Center, in Dallas, began offering single-sex classes in 2007-2008.

*Pro-Vision is an all-boys public school in Houston. The school was founded by Roynell Young, a former professional football player. The full name of the school, which serves boys in grades 6 through 8, is the Pro-Vision All Male Charter Middle School.

The *William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity Preparatory Academy for Boys -- usually referred to as "the WALIPP Prep Academy" -- is another all-boys school in Houston targeting at-risk African-American boys.

The *KIPP Polaris Academy is the third all-boys public school in Houston. KIPP Polaris is a charter middle school which opened in the fall of 2007.

Janie Stark Elementary School, in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district, began offering single-sex classrooms in 2007-2008.

Poe Middle School, in San Antonio (SAISD), has been offering single-sex classes for the seventh and eighth grades since the 2003-2004 school year, in all the core subjects: language arts, math, science, and social studies.

DeSoto West Junior High in DeSoto (a suburb of Dallas), began offering single-gender classrooms in the fall of 2004.

The Caney Creek High School, in Houston, began offering gender-separate classes for 9th- and 10th-graders in the 2002-2003 school year.

Tennyson Middle School and G. L. Wiley Middle School, both in Waco, began offering single-sex classes in 2006. In 2008, administrators at both schools reported that students in the single-gender classes were achieving significantly better grades and test scores in the single-gender classrooms than they had achieved in coed classrooms.

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Virginia

Woodbridge Middle School in Woodbridge, Virginia, began offering gender-separate classes in the 2007-2008 school year. Leonard Sax, executive director of NASSPE, led three training sessions for teachers at the school in the year leading up to the launch of the program. Dr. Sax also led a parents' forum to address common questions and misconceptions about gender-separate education.
The program appears to be off to a good start, according to principal Skyles Calhoun. Teachers are adapting well, and students are thriving. "I was surprised at how different it is," said Jennifer Peel, who teaches several all-girl language arts classes and one co-ed class this year. "I find that my teaching's a little different, even though I picked girls to teach because of my teaching style." You can read a recent news story about the program at Woodbridge at this link.

Forrest Elementary School, in Hampton, began offering single-sex classes for 3rd-grade boys in the 2005-2006 school year, primarily in hopes of decreasing discipline problems. The "results exceeded expectations," according to Principal Sherry Buchanan, so the school added a 4th-grade all-boys class and a 3rd-grade all-girls class for the 2006-2007 school year. Buchanan recalls seeing positive results within weeks. Discipline referrals plummeted. In the coed 3rd-grade class, Buchanan usually sees at least two discipline referrals each week. She had only three referrals from the all-boy classes during the entire 2005-2006 school year. (Students were randomly assigned to the single-sex or coed classes, so the lower rate of discipline referrals in the single-sex classes cannot reflect a selection bias.) Buchanan says that the school may expand the single-sex format to the 5th grade and 2nd grade, as well as adding more all-girl classes. "Some parents alre already asking whether the boys will move up to 5th grade together," she said.

Mechanicsville Elementary School, in Hanover County, launched single-gender classes in their fourth grade, in August 2006. Principal Sammy Fudge said that his staff visited two other Virginia schools which offer single-gender classes -- Patrick Henry Elementary in Richmond, and Laburnum Elementary in Henrico County -- in preparation for the new program.

Under the leadership of principal Steven Parker, Cedar Lee Middle School in Bealeton began offering single-sex classes in English and language arts, for eighth-graders, in the fall of 2005.

Culpeper Middle School in Culpeper, began offering single-sex classes for 8th-graders, only in English, in 2006-2007. "The girls are much more willing to interact," says teacher Mindy McCallum. "They actually want to be in the class, which is huge."

Bailey Bridge Middle School, in Chesterfield County, began offering single-sex classrooms to about half of its 6th-grade class in the fall of 2002. According to former Principal Deborah Marks, the program was enormously successful. "Simply put, honor rolls [went] up while detentions and suspensions [went] down," she told reporter Jason Reeves. "Parents, teachers and children love it," Marks said, adding that she felt as though "I've died and gone to heaven." The Bailey Bridge experience was the subject of a broadcast on the PBS NewsHour program, broadcast on May 19 2003. You can read the transcript of this program, and watch a streaming online video of the segment, by clicking on this link

Inspired by the example of Bailey Bridge, Henderson Middle School in Richmond has been offering single-gender classes for 8th graders since 2003. Henderson Middle School has more recently expanded the voluntary program to 6th- and 7th-grade classes. As at Bailey Bridge, core subjects are in same-sex classes, while electives, physical education, and lunch are coed.

Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington offers a "Science for Girls" class for girls only.

Achievable Dream Academy in Newport News began offering girls-only classes in the 2002-2003 school year, initially just for math and science. In the fall of 2003, the single-gender format was expanded to the entire school day for one class of 18 girls. The other 53 students in the sixth grade -- both girls and boys -- remain in coed classes. (The sixth-grade class has an excess of girls, so the remaining classes are balanced roughly 50-50 by gender.) "There's no doubt it's better," says assistant principal David Creamer of the single-sex format. "[The girls] are willing to take risks and speak out" in the single-gender class. Discipline referrals among the girls in the single-gender group have dropped by 80% since the change in format.

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Washington

Camas High School began offering single-sex classes in 2006-2007. For 2007-2008, single-sex classes are offered for students in 9th and 10th grades. Not far away, Glenwood Heights Primary School, in the Battle Ground School District, began offering single-sex classes in 2007-2008.

Heritage High School, in Clark County, began offering single-gender classrooms in 2006-2007, in science, English, and history. Teachers have documented academic improvement in all three sections (two female, one male). Teacher Matt Johnson adds that "the guys are far less likely to put each other down" in the all-male classroom. "They are a lot more compassionate because there are no females to impress."

Washington Middle School, in Olympia, offers single-gender classes in selected subjects for sixth-graders. The school has offered girls-only technology classes since the late 1990's. The success of that program led the school to expand the gender-separate format into other classes.

The *Thurgood Marshall Elementary School , in Seattle, has one of Seattle's highest percentages of minority and low-income pupils. In the fall of 2000, then-Principal Benjamin Wright divided the 343-student school into separate all-boys and all-girls classes. Test scores rose dramatically. Only 10 percent of the boys at Marshall Elementary met state standards for reading when the school was coed; but after just one year of single-sex education, 66 percent of boys met the standards. Girls' test performance improved as well, although by a smaller margin. "We turned the school upside down," proclaimed Wright. "It works out fantastically," said third-grade teacher Rose Austin. "There is a calmness. Lots of camaraderie." Before the split, discipline referrals were averaging 30 students per day, mostly boys. After the change to single-sex education, discipline referrals dropped to "one or two" per day.

Mr. Wright described his school's experience this way:

We outscored the entire state in writing. Once we changed it from just those two single-sex classes to the whole school, the environment in the school changed overnight.

Here's what we found [when we switched to the single-sex format]: The girls participated in physical education like they had never participated before. When we split those classes, participation shot up. The name-calling, the social behavior completely changed. The focus on academics went way, way up. So what I'm telling you about single-sex education today -- I'll tell you it works. It not only works. In my opinion, it is the only way to fly in America right now when we have so many kids that are not making it.

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West Virginia

The Stonewall Jackson Middle School, on Charleston's West Side, began offering single-gender classes in core subjects for all grades in the fall of 2004. Results have been positive. The number of students making A's jumped from 30% to 36%, while the number receiving D's and F's dropped from 24% to 14%. Carol Thom, director of professional development for Kanawha County Schools, notified us that the results led East Bank Middle School and Dunbar Middle School to launch single-sex classrooms beginning in 2005-2006. When Leonard Sax, director of NASSPE, led a professional development seminar for Kanawha County Schools in the fall of 2006, and again in the spring of 2007, his workshop was attended not only by faculty from Jackson Middle, East Bank Middle, and Dunbar Middle, but also from Anne Bailey Elementary in St. Alban's and Glenwood Middle in Charleston which have also begun offering single-sex classrooms.

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