While tagging along with her family to parent-teacher conferences years ago at Regis Jesuit High in Aurora, Colorado, kindergartner Jessica Gentry proudly announced to me that she was going to go to this all-boys' school, just like her older brother. I was principal then, but even I had no way of knowing her prediction would come true.

Over the years I wondered if Jessica's childhood dream could become reality. What would students and alumni say if Regis ever went coed? I have seen other Jesuit principals go through the implementation of coeducation, and it was painful at times. Would our friends and supporters accept such a change? But having been an educator at Jesuit high schools since 1974, I wished my college-age daughters could have experienced a Jesuit high school education.

By 2000, eighth-grade girls in Denver found that there was just not enough room for them in the four Catholic high schools. Actually, 550 fewer seats existed in the high schools for girls than for boys. Desperate parents sought to have existing schools expand or to start a new high school, but they were not successful. With the metro area predicted to grow by 1 million by 2020, Catholic parents were becoming increasingly alarmed.

An informal group of parents from St. Thomas More Parish and Catholic elementary school principals sought assistance from Regis, pleading for the school to go coed or to sell part of the campus's 61 acres for an independent Catholic school for girls.

Author Sullivan remembers Jessica Gentry (above) when she was a kindergartner boasting that she was going to go to Regis just like her brother; he just didn't know how prophetic her words were.

During its 128 years, Regis has earned an excellent reputation and is now the only all-male high school in Colorado. Students, parents, alumni, and teachers believed in the benefits of single-gender education for young men. Senior Ryan Bieshaar echoed the sentiments of many students when he said, "Regis encompasses my whole life. It made me a better person, and the guys became my brothers. We have tons of fun, and the bonds of friendship are lasting."

Information the school gathered demonstrated that a program for all girls would benefit them as well, as they could assume leadership roles in school and achieve higher grades. Many studies indicated that girls and boys have different learning styles. Boys tend to be more active and independent learners who like to physically engage the curriculum. Girls seem to learn best when dialogue, discussion, and a thorough understanding of the material occurs. Regis wanted to provide an environment for boys and girls that would foster the best learning climate for both.

We all wondered how the school could consider such a change while maintaining the time-honored benefits of a single-gender education and the support of our community. This was the vortex at which our commitment to justice, mission, and service were about to collide.

Board members did not originally leap to embrace this new idea. How would this change affect our current students and alumni? What would happen to the other Catholic schools? Regis had enough on its plate already; couldn't someone else take responsibility for the girls? After much discussion and participation in a discernment process led by Fr. Vincent Hovley, SJ, the board agreed that Regis was the best option for young women. Board member Dan McCallin said, "While I was skeptical at first, once I saw the commitment of the Jesuits, I was ready to support it 100 percent."

Freshman Mike Ziccardi will be among the first boys in Regis Jesuit's long history (it was founded in 1877) to share the graduation stage with girls. The school decided that responding to the demand for Catholic education for Denver-area girls was simply the right thing to do.

While fifteen Jesuit high schools in the United States are coed, Regis became the only co-institutional high school--one school, one president, one board, but one division for boys and another for girls, each with its own faculty and administration.

I loved being the principal. But when presented with the opportunity to help lead the school's transition and to design a new building and campus, I jumped at this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

According to Fr. Walter Sidney, SJ, president, "We have a wonderful new option for Jesuit education, and sometimes I wonder if we are being innovative or crazy ... only time will tell."

Other serious questions arose. How would the school change? Could it move from a $5.2 million operation to one with a $13 million budget at full enrollment? How would the other Catholic high schools react?

Nervously, Regis started talking with the four other Catholic high schools in the Denver area, including St. Mary's Academy, an all-girls' school of 300 students run by the Sisters of Loretto. The meetings were intense and honest, and Regis ended up with their support. We agreed not to accept any girls who wanted to transfer from the other Catholic schools during our first year. Some families disagreed with this policy, but it demonstrated to the other schools that we were not interested in hurting their enrollment, budget, or school culture.

At that point the committee work began; many were formed to tackle the next batch of questions. How best to teach and listen to the needs of girls? How to design the classrooms? What instructional strategies work best for girls? "It was an exhausting and exciting time," says assistant principal Susan Resnick.

One major decision was that the new building would better serve the 850 boys; they were crammed into a structure designed for 750. So, almost $1 million went into updating and upgrading the boys' building for the girls, including bringing in new furniture and equipment so that what was to become the girls' facility, built in 1990, looked new. The total tab? Almost $21 million, but that included the new Boys Division, the updates on the Girls Division, parking, new athletic fields, and tennis courts.

Social studies teacher Jane Schissel, who taught boys at Regis for four years, is now teaching in the girls' division. "My sophomore girls gave me a tiara and a bouquet of roses," she wrote in a Regis publication. "The boys never did that, but they did write a rap song for me."

Construction got under way in April 2003 and was completed in time for the 2004-05 school year. For the Girls Division's inaugural year, which began in August 2003, the 170 freshmen and sophomores attended class seven miles from campus in a recently completed school owned by St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church.

That wasn't so fun. Parents and students did not always feel connected to Regis, and St. Catherine did not have the facilities that we had on campus. The girls shared the building with others who used the classrooms at night.

Rick Sullivan, Regis Jesuit's VP for development and planning, taught and served in administration at Creighton Prep (Omaha) and St. John's Jesuit High (Toledo) before starting as principal at Regis and then accepting his current position there. Rick and his wife, Donna, have been married 31 years and have two daughters, Beth and Kelley.

But being off-campus allowed the girls to establish their own identity, culture, and traditions before arriving on campus in 2004 with 334 students. It was an army of girls I saw marching confidently down the hall arm-in-arm during new-campus orientation. They had benefited from that year at St. Catherine, and the rest of the school was ready as well.

Bernie Bouillette, vice president of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, had warned us that the interdivisional communication on every level could be our biggest challenge. With twice the number of sports and teams, I have seen the two athletic directors locked in serious conversations about field usage, game times, and facility needs. Luckily, no technical fouls have been called. We are all learning that "our school" now means the same thing for boys and girls.

"I love Regis. It's like a family. The teachers are cool, and I wouldn't like being anywhere else," says freshman Alan Vickers. The first dance in the fall drew over 850 students, and homecoming was a huge success as well. Each day after school, the girls and boys gather in Tradition Hall, dubbed "Tradition Mall" by the Boys Division principal, Charlie Saulino, and they get to know each other as friends.

So, here at Regis we're living out our commitment to provide an Ignatian education to both young men and young women in an environment that respects the unique qualities of each gender. "This co-institutional model is the best of both worlds for our students and faculty," according to Gretchen Kessler, principal of the Girls Division.

I beamed like a father when Jessica Gentry first wore her sweatshirt blazoned with Regis Jesuit across the front and said, "Being a part of Regis is a dream come true, and I really feel at home here. I'm so happy that I get to follow in my brother's footsteps."