MURRIETA -- The creation of single-gender classes at Thompson Middle School has proved popular, as educators received hundreds of applications and launched 16 classes this school year.

The school already had single-gender physical education, but this is the first year officials are offering several mainstream single-gender academic courses after getting the go-ahead last winter.

Eileen Ponce, a school counselor who has worked closely on the program, said so far the classes are going well. She said teacher response has been positive, parents on a waiting list have been calling eager to enroll their children, and no students have wanted out so far.

"It's going good," she said. "We hope to grow it in the future, but we don't want it to get too big."

Most of the interest in the program at the sixth-through-eighth grade school came from parents of students entering sixth grade, and more sixth-grade single-gender classes were created than in other grades, Ponce said.

At the other grade levels "there was a little bit less (interest), but that is to be expected with a new program," she said. "Kids who are already here feel comfortable, but with incoming sixth graders, the students and parents are more open to trying different programs that are going to help their kids transition and be more successful."

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District campus is one of many joining the growing trend of offering single-gender classes. When the idea of offering the classes was first raised publicly in February, it garnered significant regional media attention as the only public campus locally to do so.

U.S. research on single-gender schooling is limited but growing, with advocates saying it shows better student achievement and attendance and fewer discipline problems.

Critics say there is no clear evidence and that single-gender learning doesn't get students ready for an integrated world.

But while eight years ago only four public schools in the United States offered single-gender classes, as of April at least 223 public schools in the country offered some sort of single-gender classes, according to the Maryland-based National Association for Single Sex Public Education.

Ponce said initial research into the program as she studied Thompson Middle found that the school's boys had been underperforming significantly and consistently compared to girls in English, while the school's girls had lost ground tremendously in math from sixth grade to seventh grade and from seventh to eighth grade.

She said she hopes that is a trend that can be reversed through single-gender classes, and will keep detailed data on the students' grades to develop viable statistics to present in about a year.

Underscoring the academic possibilities, Ponce said her research has found that students enrolled in the classes can make better social and emotional transitions through middle school.

Thompson offered several single-gender academic-support courses last year, and students in those classes said they could concentrate better. Teachers said those classes ran more smoothly.

Ponce said she scheduled most of the all-male classes early in the morning, as boys have a general tendency to be more energetic in class than girls, as well as more antsy in the afternoon.

"I wanted to avoid high energy on top of high energy," she said.

For the students who were not enrolled in one of the classes despite requesting one, Ponce said sometimes the single-gender class offering conflicted with the student's enrollment in a specific band or choir class, a student leadership elective, and some advanced placement courses.

There is a waiting list for some classes, and Ponce said officials are adding a few students here and there to classes, which are capped at about 32 students. In some cases, however, there was not enough student interest in a certain class to create one that was full, she said.

"If we did a class of 20 students, that means another class would be overloaded," Ponce said.

In sixth grade, the school is offering two boys and two girls math and science classes, and one boys and one girls English/Social Studies class. In seventh grade, there is one boys math and science classes, and two girls math and science classes. In eighth grade, there is one boys and one girls science class, and two girls algebra classes.

Next week, several of the teachers leading the single-gender classes are going to a conference in Las Vegas to be led by a renowned researcher on the subject of single-gender education.

"We are hopeful they will gain further insight, techniques, and teaching strategies that not only they can use but that all of our staff can use," said Principal Dale Velk, who said the teachers will present their findings at a staff meeting.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.