Colorado Catholic school to teach eighth-grade students by gender

Published: 2007-08-27

PARKER, Colo. (CNS) -- Eighth-graders at Ave Maria School in Parker are experiencing a change in the classroom environment this fall, with the students divided into gender-separated classes. According to Erlene Madsen, principal of Ave Maria, there are no plans at present to expand the single-gender model to other grade levels. Eighth-graders are divided by gender into separate classrooms but will interact with each other during breaks, recess, lunch and social events, Madsen wrote in an e-mail to The Colorado Catholic Herald, diocesan newspaper of Colorado Springs. According to Michelle Maher, diocesan superintendent of schools, a key reason for the change is that most Ave Maria eighth-grade graduates continue on to Regis High School in Aurora which is a coeducational high school where boys and girls are separated into two separate single-gender divisions, each in its own building with a library, chapel and classrooms. The implementation of a single-gender grade level at Ave Maria came after a few years of discussion. School administrators initially presented the idea to the school's advisory council, which sought feedback from parents and approved the model for one year.

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