Campbell Co. girl asked to stop attending school because of her "boyish" looks 
 
 LYNCHBURG, Va. - 
 
 You won't have any problem getting Sunnie Kahle to open up about her hobbies. 
 
 The energetic eight-year-old will proudly show you her collection of coins, hunting knives, and autographed baseballs. 
 
 "It's fun," she explained, when asked why she enjoys collecting those items. 
 
 Kahle likes teddy bears and colorful bracelets, but for the most part she's interested in things that might be considered "boy hobbies." 
 
 "Sunnie realizes she's a female, but she wants to do boy things," said Doris Thompson, Kahle's great-grandmother and legal guardian. "She wants to play rough and tough." 
 
 Thompson has raised Kahle since she was an infant. When she turned five, Thompson said she asked for a short hair cut. 
 
 "She had hair down to her waist and she wanted to give it to a child with cancer," said Thompson. "After we cut her hair she started wanting to wear jeans and a t-shirt. She didn't want to wear her frilly dresses anymore." 
 
 Her appearance started leading to awkward questions at school. 
 
 Kahle said her classmates would occasionally ask if she was a boy or a girl, but she said the question did not hurt her feelings. 
 
 The issue caught the attention of administrators at Timberlake Christian School, where Kahle was a student. 
 
 Elementary principal Becky Bowman sent home a letter last month, reminding Thompson of the school's religious affiliation and it's right to refuse students who contradict a "biblical lifestyle." 
 
 "We believe that unless Sunnie and her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education," Bowman wrote in the letter, which was given to WDBJ7 by Thompson. 
 
 Thompson said she was offended by the letter's language and its references to biblical passages about sexual immorality. 
 
 "To claim that we are condoning sexual immorality in our home is nonsense," Thompson said. "We are Christians. We understand the Bible. Sunnie knows it very well. She has accepted Christ." 
 
 Thompson says Kahle is simply a tomboy, and that she's too young to understand sexual orientation or gender issues. 
 
 "If my child grows up to be homosexual or transgendered, I will love her that much more," Thompson said. 
 
 Although she wasn't forced to leave, Kahle is now in public school and no longer attending Timberlake Christian. She wishes things would have turned out differently. 
 
 "I should just be able to be me and not let them worry about it," Kahle said. 
 
 Jeff Abbett, administrator of Timberlake Christian Schools, sent WDBJ7 the following statement Tuesday afternoon: 
 
 "We are heart-broken that Sunnie’s grandparents have made her the subject of a public discussion. We regret that they made the decision to withdraw Sunnie immediately from Timberlake Christian Schools. 
 
 For confidentiality reasons related to a minor, it is not possible for us to explain in full detail the volume of documentation we have concerning the situation that the grandparents have made public. There is much more to this story than has been revealed related to Sunnie and the classroom environment. Our documentation shows a significantly different narrative than the one portrayed in the original news report. 
 
 You can be assured that we have cared for Sunnie and worked with her grandparents for several years to assist them. Our TCS teachers and administrators love Sunnie and we can assure everyone that this has never been an issue of hair length or boots as it has been portrayed. It has been our constant desire over the last several years to work with this family and to shepherd this precious little girl in a way consistent with traditional values. 
 
 As a private Christian school, we have the responsibility to all our students to assist parents to instill the Christian values upon which our school is founded. 
 
 We reiterate that the decision to remove Sunnie was entirely that of the grandparents." 
 
 Thompson said that Kahle never had any behavioral issues at TCS and maintained a 4.0 average in her academic work. She said the only disciplinary issue that Kahle might have caused was that she wanted to wear boy's pants as part of her school uniform. ||||| Little Girl Taken Out Of Christian School After Told She's Too Much Like A Boy Posted: Monday, March 24, 2014 10:22 PM EDT 
 
 Timberlake, VA - Sports, sneakers, and short hair; it's what makes eight year old Sunnie Kahle unique. It's also what had her removed from Timberlake Christian School. Her grandparents pulled the plug on her time there after they said she was no longer welcome. 
 
 The family received a letter telling them that if their eight year old granddaughter didn't follow the school's "biblical standards," that she'd be refused enrollment next year. She's out and in public school now. 
 
 Sunnie Kahle has short hair and a huge heart, and as far as her grandparents are concerned, she is a completely normal little girl. 
 
 "She cries every morning to get on the bus, she cries when she comes home because she wants to go back to Timberlake Christian with her friends," said Doris Thompson. 
 
 Doris and Carroll Thompson are Sunnie's grandparents. They adopted and raised the little girl and took her out of Timberlake Christian School when they received a letter from the school's K-8 Principal. 
 
 "You're probably aware that Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible believing institution providing education in a distinctly Christian environment," read Doris from a part of the letter. 
 
 The letter goes on to say that students have been confused about whether Sunnie is a boy or girl and specifies that administrators can refuse enrollment for condoning sexual immorality, practicing a homosexual lifestyle or alternative gender identity. 
 
 The letter goes on to reference specific Bible verses that affirm these beliefs. 
 
 The letter reads in part, "We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education." 
 
 "How do you label a child, eight years old, or discriminate against an eight year old child? It just don't happen" said Carroll Thompson. 
 
 "Sunnie says, 'I'm a girl, I know I'm a girl' and she said then you know, you're acting like and looking, and wanting to look and act like a boy" said Doris. 
 
 An administrator from Timberlake Christian, said the problem with Sunnie goes "far beyond her hair length" and that the little girl is a good student, but that "things disturbed the classroom environment." 
 
 "How do you tell a child when she wants to wear pants a shirt, and go out and play in the mud and so forth, how do you tell her, no you can't, you've got to wear a pink bow in your hair, and you've got to let your hair grow out long, how do you do that? I can't do that" said Doris. 
 
 School administrators said they have not accused Sunnie of being anything or anyone and simply asked that her family follow the guidelines they set forth for all students. The Thompsons say they have no desire to re-enroll Sunnie at Timberlake Christian
– An 8-year-old girl's grandparents received a warning letter from her western Virginia school: Sunnie Kahle, the letter suggested, isn't feminine enough—and risked getting kicked out of the institution. "We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that (Timberlake Christian School) is not the best place for her," the letter said. Kahle's grandparents, Doris and Carroll Thompson, didn't wait for the school to take action; they pulled her out of TCS themselves, ABC 13 reports. "How do you label a child or discriminate against an 8-year-old child?" asks Carroll Thompson. At age 5, Sunnie "had hair down to her waist and she wanted to give it to a child with cancer," Doris Thompson tells WDBJ7. Kids would sometimes ask about her gender, but she didn't mind. "Sunnie realizes she's a female, but she wants to do boy things," Doris Thompson notes. Now Sunnie is at public school, but she's struggling. A TCS administrator says the issue "goes far beyond her hair length," adding that "things disturbed the classroom environment."