CHARLOTTE, N.C. - At the brand new Charlotte Community School for Girls, the shelves are stocked, the uniforms ready and the doors are almost open. The single gender school is the "life dream" of founder, Cathy Sheafor. "Our school is really about, not about excluding boys, but empowering girls," she says.

Single gender education pivots on research that shows girls prefer collaboration and less competition where as boys thrive in environments where they can move around. It's an idea that's gaining in popularity. The Washington Post reports there are more than 500 single gender classrooms in public schools across the country. FOX Charlotte asked Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools how many single gender classrooms it has; the CMS public relations department tells us "they don't keep track of that information."

Sheafor acknowledges that single gender education doesn't work for every child but says the option should be available. "The more choices we have in our community, the stronger all of our education systems are going to be,” she says.

The American Civil Liberties Union has a well documented position against single gender education, saying it perpetuates gender stereotypes and that it doesn't prepare students for the "real world."

Bruce Taylor, a UNC Charlotte professor and director of the university's Center for Adolescent Literacies, disagrees. He says, "I think for some children the single gender dimension takes away, I don't want to call them distractions, but a variable, that allows them to concentrate more on their studies."

Taylor calls single gender education "nothing new," but says its crucial to provide the option. "There's no one size fits all to solving the educational needs of our children,” he says.

The new Charlotte Community School for Girls also targets low-income students. All 18 girls accepted into the inaugural fifth grade class qualify for free or reduced lunch. Historically, single gender schools have only been available to the affluent.

The new school opens its doors in August. It is funded entirely by private donations.  Meanwhile, CMS granted its principals the right to separate boys and girls in 2008.