United in Praise of Separation

Speaking at the new Single Gender Academies here Wednesday, Gov. Pete Wilson announced plans to double the number of same-sex schools to 24 statewide.

Wilson said he has earmarked $5 million in his 1998-99 budget proposal to open more single-gender schools and support those already operating. That would match the amount allocated for the program this school year.

“In the budget for next year, we’re going to build upon what is clearly working in Fountain Valley,” Wilson said.

Of the money, $3 million would be used to start new academies and $2 million would support the first dozen, which are scattered across the state.

Wilson’s visit Wednesday was his first to any of the new public schools that separate students by gender. The governor’s staff said he chose the Fountain Valley campus for a simple reason: he was invited.

Principal Susan M. Condrey said she approached one of the governor’s staff members when she was in Sacramento recently and extended the invitation to Wilson.

“It was his idea, his suggestion to start single-gender academies,” Condrey said Wednesday. “Little did he know it was going to turn out so well. The changes we have seen in our students have been dramatic.”

The premise behind the experiment is that boys and girls in seventh through 12th grades learn more effectively when they are separated, free of the distractions and social pressures of adolescence.

The Orange County Department of Education was granted $500,000 of the state funding for this school year to launch the Single Gender Academies, which opened Dec. 1 in a Harbor Boulevard office park. About 70 students are enrolled now, and the facility will accommodate as many as 160.

Boys and girls attend classes at different times, so they rarely see one another.

“Girls are now free to be intellectually curious. They’re exploring the worlds of science and computers,” Wilson said. “Boys, I am told, seem more focused on their academics.”

While most of the state’s single-gender academies opened enrollment to all students, Orange County decided to offer the program to those who had been in trouble with the law, were not performing well in school and were deemed at risk of dropping out.

Those involved in the Fountain Valley program say the format seems to be working.

“This is one of the programs that keep kids in school,” said John F. Dean, county superintendent of schools.

Besides the distinction of gender separation, the Fountain Valley academies offer small classes and up-to-date computer and video equipment.

The program “has set a great precedent, not only in the state but in the nation,” said state Education Secretary Marian Bergeson, who joined the governor and his wife, Gayle, at the campus Wednesday.

Schools must apply for grants to participate in the program. Locations of new academies will be determined after funding is approved, said Karen Humphrey, a consultant with the state Office of Child Development and Education.

Following up on last week’s State of the State address, Wilson also used the Orange County stop to tout his proposal for “opportunity scholarships” that would allocate $52 million to help 15,000 students enrolled in California’s worst-performing schools transfer to private, parochial or other public schools.

The governor repeated his support for an expanded school year and continuation of the class-size reduction program in the primary grades. He also called for new-school construction and facilities improvement, both included in his budget proposal.

The Wilsons spent 90 minutes touring the Fountain Valley campus and meeting teachers, administrators and students, who told them how the experiment is going.

“We don’t have the kind of boy-girl arguments that are common in regular schools,” said Kendal Reynolds, 15, of Santa Ana.

Said Christina Le, 17, of Fountain Valley: “We don’t have to worry about how we look when we go to school. We’re able to concentrate on our work here.”