• Why are you doing gender specific education? Is this just the usual hang up about Catholic schools not wanting boys and girls to be together?

    In the past, there were two reasons given for gender specific education. First, that boys and girls have "different destinies" or have "different abilities" and so needed to be educated completely apart from one another with different schools and different curriculum. The second was that boys and girls needed to be kept apart so that they could remain "pure."

    Neither of these reasons are our justification. We believe boys and girls are capable of equal achievement in any subject, whether it is art or algebra. We believe girls and boys are equally capable of success and leadership. This is why our curriculum makes no distinction between genders; boys and girls are both held to the same high academic standards, receive the same quality instruction and their formation is directed to the same end: the formation of Christian leaders. It is, in fact, because we want girls and boys to both equally excel in our curriculum and formative program that we have the gender specific education. The fact that boys and girls are different does not mean they need different educations; it means that they need to be educated differently if they are to achieve the same standards.

    We also do not believe that boys and girls will be 'pure' just because they are kept apart. We believe that boys and girls will make the right choices in freedom and in charity when they have had the opportunity to be confident in themselves and be properly formed; and it is precisely that confidence and formation that a gender specific environment helps us create.

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  • How is gender specific education implemented at Canyon Heights?
    Gender specific education has always been part of the pedagogy of the Legionaries of Christ. This is due to the fact that gender is fundamental to the person and attention to the person is at the heart of our pedagogy. Nonetheless, as a new school, Canyon Heights is implementing it as enrollment makes it possible. We began the implementation of gender specific education in the 2006-2007 school year when we had sufficient enrollment to create two kindergarten sections: one for boys and one for girls. Currently (as of the 2007-2008 school year), we offer gender specific classes in Kindergarten and First Grade. Additionally, the 'specials' classes (Art, Music and PE) are also gender specific for all students in grades Kindergarten to Fifth. Additionally, our campus is well laid out for gender specific education and allows for having separate buildings for the boys lower school, the girls lower school, the boys middle school and the girls middle school as the school continues to grow.

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  • What about socialization? How can boys and girls relate to each other later if they are educated separately?
    Obviously, children will grow up and relating to the opposite sex will be a very important part of their lives and a significant component of their future happiness. But, it can be a mistake to assume that the best way for them to relate to each other later is to be educated together now. First, it should be remembered that school is not the same thing as life itself. Students spend a great deal of time at school, but they also spend a great deal of time with family, neighbors, friends and sports teams - most of which are coed by nature. Additionally, because we are a co-institutional campus in that boys and girls are on the same campus, there will also be plenty of opportunity for them to get together.

    But, none of these are really an answer to the question. To really relate to another, I need to have something of my own to give that is worth having and that is precisely what a gender specific environment offers to both boys and girls. It allows them to develop their talents and personalities without the academic and social complexities that a coed environment produces and generates confident graduates who are comfortable with themselves and with the opposite sex.

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