Great Valley School District is located in southeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

suburbs, specifically in the

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

region known as the

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

, in eastern

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire or the County Palatine of Chester, a ceremonial county in the North Wes ...

. The district provides public education for students in Charlestown, East Whiteland, and

Willistown Willistown Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The population was 10,497 at the 2010 census. At the 1860 census, the population of Willistown was 1,521, and in 1980 it was 8,269. History Originally occupied by Lenape Native ...

townships, as well as

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

borough. The district is located in the general area known locally as Great Valley. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the district operated virtually from March 12, 2020 to August 30, 2021 and had a mask mandate implemented from 2020 to 2022. Its headquarters are in East Whiteland Township.

District schools

The district includes four

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s, a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, and a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Charlestown Elementary School

Charlestown Elementary School is located in

Malvern, Pennsylvania Malvern is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is west of Philadelphia. The population was 3,419 at the 2020 census. The borough is bordered by Paoli Pike on the south, Sugartown Road on the west, Willistown Township on the east, and ...

, within Charlestown Township. Student hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:38 p.m. The school enrolls about 378 students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade per year, and the student–teacher ratio is approximately 14:1. The school building was renovated in the early 2000s, when students and faculty were temporarily relocated. Christopher Pickell is the school principal.

General Wayne Elementary School

General Wayne Elementary School is located in

, within Willistown Township. Student hours are from 8:55 a.m. to 3:33 p.m. The principal is Dr. Melanie McCarthy.

Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School

The Kathryn Donahue Markley Elementary School, named after a former long-time principal, is located in

, within East Whiteland Township. Dr. Marshall Hoffritz is the current principal. Kindergarten through fifth grade students attend the school.

Sugartown Elementary School

Sugartown Elementary School is located in

, within Willistown Township. Dr. Kyle Hammond, former assistant principal at the Great Valley Middle School, was named Sugartown principal in July 2016.

Great Valley Middle School

Great Valley Middle School is located in

East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania East Whiteland Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,650 at the 2010 census. Mailing addresses associated with East Whiteland include Malvern, Frazer, and a small area of Exton. History Fo ...

, on the same campus as

Great Valley High School Great Valley High School is a comprehensive, college preparatory, public high school located in eastern Chester County. It is located in East Whiteland Township, near Malvern, Pennsylvania. Located on the same campus as Great Valley Middle School ...

. The school enrolls about 950 students per year in the sixth through eighth grades. The student to teacher ratio is about 16:1. The regular student schedule is 7:40 a.m. to 2:29 p.m. The school also operates on a six-day (1-6) cycle. The principal is Dr. Edward Souders and the assistant principal is Dr. Sharon Cohen.

Great Valley High School

The high school serves students in ninth through twelfth grade. The high school is located on the same campus as the middle school. The principal is Dr. Heidi Capetola and the assistant principals are Mr. Pat Connors and Mr. Henry McCloskey. Mr. Michael Semar, serves as Athletic Director for Great Valley.

School organization

By the 1990s, when the school had three functioning elementary schools, district population growth necessitated construction of a larger middle school and addition of a fourth elementary school. Once the new middle school was completed, the General Wayne facility was closed and converted into the fourth elementary school. Thereafter, Sugartown students temporarily used the renovated General Wayne school to allow for Sugartown's renovation and expansion. Thereafter, the high school underwent a four-year renovation that was completed during the 2006/2007 school year. After Sugartown's elementary renovation, reassignment of students to schools within the district was necessary. This process began in June 2004 and was implemented in time for the 2006–2007 school year. Some students throughout the district from the other three elementary schools were relocated to Sugartown.

Former schools

Two older elementary schools — Greentree Elementary in Willistown Township and Malvern Elementary in Malvern Borough — were closed in the early 1980s and the buildings sold. Greentree was renovated and enlarged to become a commercial office building while the Malvern school was renovated and enlarged to become the Malvern borough town hall, police station, and public library.

References

External links

KDM Website

Sugartown Website

Charlestown Website

General Wayne Website

Middle School Website

High School Website
{{Coord, 40.05705, -75.56842, display=title School districts in Chester County, Pennsylvania 1962 establishments in Pennsylvania School districts established in 1962