ST. MATTHEWS - Guinyard Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Brian Day tosses a foam ball to each student in his class as they answer questions on whether a statement is a fact or an opinion.

It is an exercise in both hand-eye coordination and analyzing statements. A glimpse into the exercise reveals two things, one that some of the students do not possess the catching ability of Terrell Owens and two that it gets the children more engaged in the lesson.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the class is that it is composed of all boys wearing dress shirts and ties. Day's is one of several single-gender classes at Guinyard for academically gifted students in fourth and fifth grade. It is a program that takes place at all schools in the Calhoun County School District.

The gender opposite of Day's class takes place in the fourth-grade classroom of Mykeda Middleton, who is teaching her girl students about decimals. When a student gets a correct answer, the girls clap in unison and shout "excellent job."

Middleton thinks the single-gender environment frees her students to express themselves more freely than if boys were in the class. She also claims the girls' social skills have improved.

They have become an educational family together," Middleton said. "They honestly care for one another."

She cites an example where two of her students were struggling to learn multiplication tables. A group of students from Middleton's class devised a game using a jump rope at recess to help the struggling students learn the tables.

Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator Betsy Elliot says there has been a marked difference in discipline at Guinyard with single-gender students. "Referrals are down," she said.

Single-gender programs like the one at Guinyard are popping up all around the state. Recently, the State Department of Education hired David Chadwell to spearhead a single-gender initiative. Chadwell believes single-gender classes help children because they can specifically address the needs and differences of boys and girls.

It also eliminates the distractions that occur between the two in the classroom, according to Chadwell.

"School is about learning academics; single-gender allows that to happen," Chadwell said.

Since his hiring, Chadwell has helped establish the program at 77 schools in the state. Despite the program being in its infant stages, both teachers and parents have responded very positively, Chadwell said.

There is no set course or program to start single-gender classes at a school, and training can vary widely according to the school's needs. When Chadwell is called in to a school to start a program, he begins by creating a leadership team for the classes and explains to them the differences in the genders.

Chadwell says there are six main differences, which include visual, auditory, influences from the nervous system, choice assessment, stress management and information processing.

Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4 Superintendent Dr. Darrell Johnson is not convinced single-gender programs are the best instructional avenue for children. He believes separating genders in the classroom could potentially compromise their ability to work well together in the future.

Johnson also says boys tend to be more aggressive, which could cause them to feed off each other, possibly becoming more disruptive in a single-gender environment.

"I personally don't agree with homogenous classrooms. We can separate kids; behavior issues you don't separate. In the real world of work, we have to work with both genders. Social interaction is paramount to their growth," Johnson said.

Elliot says the children have plenty of time to interact with the opposite sex during lunch and recess and outside of school. She also said she has heard no negative feedback on the program from parents, students or teachers.

On each Wednesday, Guinyard encourages students in the single-gender program to dress up, with boys wearing shirt with a tie and girls wearing a dress.

Day believes that helps to instill confidence and improves behavior in the children. His student, Byrce Johnson, likes wearing the nice clothes.

"It impresses the girls," he said.

Delone Cramer, a fifth-grader at Guinyard, says he like fact he gets to work in groups with his peers. He also enjoys the fact that classroom has less distractions without females.

"Girls cause more disruption," he said.

One of Middleton's students, Susana Martinez, embraced the idea of the class catering to the girls' likes and dislikes.

"Boys don't understand girls as much as girls understand girls," she said.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060.

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