Frequently Asked Questions

Don Bosco Technical Institute is shifting to coeducation because it allows the school to expand its unique mission to include young women.

Absolutely. As a Salesian school, the objective is to educate and impact the lives of young people, whether that is a young man or young woman. Salesian schools around the world have evolved and expanded their mission successfully to include young women. When Cardinal James McIntyre founded Bosco Tech in 1955, he did so with the intention of bridging the gap in the Southern California workforce between management and labor. In 2024, the workforce has shifted dramatically since then and continues to evolve. Offering our unique program to young women further meets our founding principles to prepare upcoming generations with relevant and meaningful educational opportunities in engineering, science, and technology.

In 2021, Bosco Tech proposed conducting a feasibility study on coeducation, as a part of the Strength & Spirit Strategic Plan. At the start of the 2022-2023 school year, Bosco Tech engaged the internationally recognized independent school enrollment and marketing firm Ian Symmonds & Associates to perform a nine-month study. The process included surveys and interviews of internal and external stakeholders, current and future population analyses, and extensive market research. After analyzing the data and responses, ISA presented recommendations to the Tech’s Board of Trustees. After thorough review and discussion in the Spring of 2023, the Board voted positively to support the coed resolution.

Bosco Tech will begin enrolling young women into the program no earlier than Fall of 2026. The admissions process for this time period will begin in Fall of 2025. Our popular Summer Scholar program, which prepares middle school students for Bosco Tech’s specialized curriculum, will begin enrolling 7th grade girls in Summer 2024.

All aspects, requirements, and expectations of Bosco Tech’s current college-preparatory curriculum and project-based learning approach will remain the same. Changes will be made to accommodate girls athletic teams and extracurricular programs, as well as remodeling locker room facilities and restrooms. Staffing additions, professional development, and campus modifications will be made over the next three years to prepare for the shift to coeducation.

There is no question that a shift to a coeducational environment will affect the young men enrolled at the school. However, the advantages of offering equal opportunities, creating greater social interactions, and building a more diverse learning community better aligns with our Salesian mission. Our young men will benefit from an educational experience more reflective of the university and professional environments for which we are preparing them.

Since August of 2023, the school has been working closely with Ian Symmonds & Associates on transition planning. A Coed Transition Taskforce, made up of nine administrators and staff, meets monthly to review and prepare for adjustments in Facilities, Culture, Program, and Communication. We anticipate this process to be an incremental one, with various changes and additions being integrated into the community systematically as we approach coeducation.

Facility renovations started in the Spring of 2023, beginning with campus restrooms. Also, expect to see some of our marketing and admissions information shift beginning in Spring 2024 as we prepare for 7th grade girls participating in our 2024 Summer Scholar program.

Please check this page (www.boscotech.edu/coed) regularly to stay up to date on this process.

Frankly, it’s not easy, but what helped get us started was engaging the services of consultant Ian Symmonds & Associates. They directed our efforts in forming a Coed Transition Task Force that focused our attention on the major areas of preparation; Culture, Communications, Facilities, and Program. Also, we didn’t have to look any further for guidance and advice than two other Salesian schools that are already coed. Salesian High School in Richmond, CA, transitioned from an all-boys program to a coed campus in the early 1990s, and St. Francis Salesian High School in Watsonville, CA, opened in 2001 as a fully coed institution. Discussions with administrators, instructors and staff from those two schools have provided a wealth of knowledge and insight into preparing for the transition and the practical operations of a coed campus.

In Fall 2026, young women will, for the first time in Bosco Tech’s 70-year history, be included in the freshman class.

Bosco Tech is making the transition to a co-education format because it allows the school to expand its unique mission to include young women. As such, we are not setting limits on the number of seats that will be made available to girls or boys. Any qualified young person who enjoys and can benefit from the school’s focus on college-preparatory applied science and engineering education will have a place saved for them. 

Absolutely! Bosco Tech has existing sports fields and facilities comparable to most other coed high schools. Typically, sharing these spaces comes down to scheduling practice times and games to allow both boys and girls events to occur unencumbered.

Currently, Bosco Tech has a 4,000+ square foot locker room facility in our gym that is not used to its full potential. The current layout of the space will allow a relatively simple division and remodeling into two separate and defined areas, for both boys and girls locker rooms, each with restroom and shower facilities. Design work to plan this remodel began over the summer of 2024 and remodeling construction work will be completed before Fall 2026.

At times, yes. Certain topics in health classes are better handled in a single-sex environment. Most sports will maintain separate programs for boys and girls, as guided by the CIF-SS guidelines, but that does not preclude opportunities for shared practices and scrimmages in certain sports. Some retreats and youth ministry activities may find that some single-gender events can be conducive to a more comfortable environment.

Multiple professional development presentations and speakers are being scheduled for the year and half prior to Fall 2026. These will include exploring a more diverse classroom pedagogy, an inclusive curriculum development, and the social/emotional development of girls, as well as that of boys in a coed environment.

Although several faculty have only taught at all-boys schools, a large percentage have significant experience teaching at mixed gender institutions. Their insights are vital to the overall knowledge base, and will be shared with other teachers and staff members over the next year and a half. Additionally, there are multiple professional development opportunities being scheduled to help the entire campus prepare for a coed environment.

The colors of black and gold will likely be prominent! Bosco Tech’s emphasis on hands-on applications of science and technology mean that, in the interest of safety, we often have to limit what our students can wear. Beginning in January 2025, a focus group that has experience with traditional Catholic school uniforms for both girls and boys, composed of faculty, staff and parent stakeholders, will begin the process of planning out uniform options. Our uniform provider, Vikki Marsh Uniforms, has also offered to be a part of this ‘design team’, to collaborate on how we can best meet the requirements of safety, comfort and style.

We would love to share more about the planning going into this important addition to our school. Feel free to reach out to any member of our school administration or any member of the Coed Task Force - Memo Gutierrez (School President), Phil Consuegra (Vice-President), Jeff Krynen (Principal), Luis Garza (Assistant Principal of Technology), Tom Hogan (Admissions Director), Christi Gambill (Director of Counseling), Ricardo Gonzalez (Athletic Director), Rudy Herrera (Coordinator of Youth Ministry), James Iaconis (Facilities Manager).