Denver Public Schools recently approved the opening of a new charter school to serve only girls. The school will start with middle school grade levels and eventually serve girls through twelth grade. GALS, Girls Athletic Leadership School, is led by founder Elizabeth Wolfson.
Other charter schools in Colorado serve a single gender or separate boys and girls for classes. Ridge View Academy, a youth detention facilitiy in east Aurora, serves only young males. A few years ago the school added an all-girls branch in Jefferson County.
James Irwin Charter Schools in Colorado Springs separates boys and girls for their middle school years. Likewise, AXL Academy in Aurora separates students. Both schools comingle the students for lunch and other activities.
Federal policy makers have been intrigued with single-gender education. In particular, former Sec. of Education Margaret Spellings, championed single-gender education during her administration. Single-gender public charter schools have operated for years in New York and other parts of the country.
In order to be in compliance with federal Title IX rules, single-gender schools need to demonstrate that a comparable program is available to the opposite gender. In the case of James Irwin Charter Schools, the same courses are offered to both single-gender classes of boys and girls, taught by the same teachers for each group.
Update: A Pueblo Chieftain article on the subject.
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