Yellowknife (Apr 07/06) - Seiji Bullock said he likes the fact there are only boys in his math and language arts classes.

"I get to see all my friends in class and we talk about guy stuff," said Bullock, 12.

He's in Grade 7 at Weledeh Catholic School where for the past three months girls and boys have been separated for the two classes.

Girls like it, too.

"I'm discovering my talents, like writing stories, and the boys can't tease me," said Phoebe Lo S. Patigdas, 12. She joined the school last week, having moved from the Philippines.

The gender-split classes started in January.

"I've been interested in gender-split classes since the early 1990's when there was a focus on getting girls to catch up in math," said principal Merrill Dean.

Apart from gym classes and private schools, gender-split classes are unusual, said Dean.

There was some initial hesitance from staff about whether the split classes would improve learning, Dean said, but the experiment appears to be paying dividends.

Girls and boys learn in different ways and language arts teacher Lori Bailey said she uses different teaching methods and materials, depending on which class she is teaching.

"With the boys I have to change the topic more frequently. Girls find it easy to focus, even for 40 minutes," said Bailey.

She has seen boys who wouldn't normally discuss assignments around girls start participating in class.

Girls who are usually shy have done the same, Bailey said.

Generally, girls learn better in quite environments and work well in groups.

They also tend to be more expressive in their writing, said Dean.

Boys, on the other hand, see better in bright lights and have more excess energy they need to burn off, according to Dean.

Boys are louder, said Dean, because they are less sensitive to sound than girls are.

Because the program is so new, Weledeh teachers don't have any concrete marks to compare with the semester or year before.

However, a majority of the students said in a survey that they like split classes.

Most also believe they were doing better academically and learning more in the split-class environment.

The survey showed 14 of 17 girls said they were getting better in math, and 15 of 17 said they were improving in language arts.

For the boys, 10 of 16 said they were doing better in math and 11 of 16 said they were learning more in language arts.

"We were surprised that ... they said they were achieving better. It's not just about marks, it's how they perceive (they're doing)," said Dean.

One difference between the genders is most of the boys wanted to expand the gender-split classes to encompass all core programming, and only eight of 22 girls agreed.

The survey showed girls liked the program because "boys interrupt class," and there are "no girl cliques when the boys are gone."

Boys liked the program because "it's more comfortable," and "it makes for fewer fights."

Grade 7 language arts and math were chosen because they are part of the core curriculum that all students must take throughout middle school and high school, said Bailey.

Dean said the split program will continue for the Grade 7 students next year.

So far Dean said she hasn't had any negative feedback.

"My mom likes it because my test grades are higher," said 14-year-old Christine Angel.