On the first day of school, nerves are sometimes high especially for those sixth grade students setting foot onto a new campus at Mirabeau B Lamar Middle School.
Today was not only the first day for students, but also for a pilot program that offers single gender classes.
Four classrooms at the school were full of students whose parents chose for them to take part in that program.
Our Lauren Kendrick was at the campus today and has that story.
"The boys are participating. The girls are participating. I think at this age...it's a crutial age not only coming to sixth grade which is a little scary."
Taboada says after talking to a school outside of Houston that has single gender classes, they were confident about implementing the pilot program. She adds they feel excited Lamar Middle School is the only school in Laredo that offers this new way of learning.
"I really think this is going to be a great year with this pilot and I'm anxious to see how it's going to grow."
"We spoke to a student from each single gender class who both say they think this new program will help cut down on distractions throughout the year."
"I think it will help a lot because when I was in elementary, there were tons of girls I liked and now this is helping to get on the path I need to work on to get a good career."
Eleven year old Andrew Medellin says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up. He says he misses having girls in his class, but feels very comfortable in a class of all boys. And even though he's young, he's determined to stay on track in school to reach his goals.
"School helps me for my education when I grow up so I can get a masters degree when I grow up and become a doctor."
Another student taking part in the program is sixth grader Jessica Cortez.
"I think it's going to help me learn more because no boys are distracting me with a lot of notes and 'hey he likes you' and 'hey she likes you'."
She says there's also an added comfort about her class of all girls.
"Girls are going through a lot of adult stages and you don't have to be embarrassed because every single girl knows you're going through that."
For those people who don't agree with this learning environment, Taboada says to check back at the end of the year.
"We're going to see grade wise comparing scores of the star tests with those boys and girls in single gender classes versus those is co-ed classes."