Hales Franciscan High School, founded 50 years ago to offer a private education to African American young men, has expanded its mission this fall by admitting its first young women. The school, at 4930 S. Cottage Grove Ave., now has 12 girls among its 125 students, eight freshmen and the rest sophomores and juniors, said Erica Brownfield, the school’s principal. The school’s board made the decision to become coeducational after consulting with all of the school’s stakeholders: parents and students, alumni, faculty and staff. Bringing girls in, they thought, could be a way to help increase the school’s enrollment and bolster its financial viability. At the same time, it offers girls in the area the same opportunity for a Catholic education: one that is based on Catholic teaching and values, and thus, by definition, academically rigorous and conducted in an environment where students feel safe and are respected by their teachers and peers. “We offer so much: small class sizes, community involvement,” Brownfield said. “We wanted to offer that to more than just boys.” So the school considered ways of extending is mission, including adding seventh- and eighth-grades, before deciding to allow girls to attend. “The idea actually came in some part from the girls themselves,” Brownfield said, explaining that girls from nearby schools have been cheerleaders for Hales’ sports teams, and asked why they couldn’t attend school there. Unlike in other areas of the archdiocese, where there were often nearby brother-and-sister single-sex schools in relatively close proximity, Hales Franciscan never had a girls’ school counterpart. Now Hales’ female students have the first opportunity to join the cheerleading squad, although Brownfield said there will be room to include some girls from other schools as well. Athletic coaches are prepared to start whatever girls’ sports there is a demand for, and to accommodate girls on the boys’ teams when necessary, Brownfield said. The first female athletes most likely will compete in cross country and track, because it’s fairly simple to integrate the girls’ and boys’ programs. The school had to make few modifications to its building, she said, because of the relatively small number of girls in attendance. There was already a women’s bathroom to accommodate female staff members, and the girls can use that as well. Girls are also wearing the same uniform as boys: black pants and Hales polo shirts in the warm-weather months and black pants, white shirts, ties and Hales sweater vests in the winter. Once again, when there are more girls, the school might consider a skirt option. While the number of girls this year is small, Brownfield said, she has heard community feedback suggesting that more girls will enroll next year. “People want to see how it’s going to go,” she said. The first few weeks of the school year went well, Brownfield said, and the male students have accepted the girls in their midst without any issues. “The boys were ready for this,” she said. “The real world is not single-sex.”