The New Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology (NHGS) is a magnet school located in Hampton, Virginia. Students of this school are chosen from the

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, Hampton,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

Poquoson Poquoson (), informally known as Bull Island, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,460. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Poquoson with surrounding York Count ...

, Williamsburg-James City and York County School Divisions. Students attend the Governor's School during their junior and senior years. They take mathematics and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

courses at the Governor's School in the morning or afternoon, depending on school division, and attend their home high schools for the remainder of their classes. Apart from its math and science courses, the Governor's School also offers Junior Research and Senior Mentorship classes. These classes are designed to expose students to areas they may not have had in their regular schools. Junior Research introduces NHGS juniors to research and the scientific process, skills that are invaluable later on in college environments. Senior Mentorship provides NHGS seniors with work experience in a specific field of science or technology.

Financial support An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

for the school is provided by the participating school divisions and the Gifted Programs Office of the

Virginia Department of Education The Virginia Department of Education is the state education agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is headquartered in the James Monroe Building in Richmond. The department is headed by the Secretary of Education (currently Aimee Guidera), w ...

Curriculum

New Horizons students may choose between three subjects: Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Computational Science. Every student enrolled is required to take a specific research class depending upon grade level, as well as the appropriate math class.

Engineering

''Prerequisites:'' Pre-Calculus *Calculus-based Engineering Physics I: Foundations & Modeling (2 HS/4 TNCC Credits) *Calculus-based Engineering Physics II: Maxwell to Hawking (2 HS/4 TNCC Credits)

Biological Science

''Prerequisites:'' HS Biology, HS Chemistry, Algebra II/Trig *Advanced Chemical Analysis (2 HS/8 TNCC Credits) *Advanced Biological Analysis (2 HS/8 TNCC Credits)

Computational Science & Engineering

''Prerequisites:'' Algebra II/Trig *Inquiry Physics & Programming I – Dynamics (2 HS/7 TNCC Credits) *Systems Modeling and Simulation & Scientific Programming II (2 HS/4 TNCC Credits)

Research

The

junior year A junior is person in the third year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In United States high schools, a junio ...

research experience involves various aspects of research methodology, ethics and statistics, critical thinking skills, and scientific writing and communication skills. The class centers around a research project that each student is required to submit to a panel of in school judges, and are allowed to the Tidewater Science Fair. Students in the past have done very well there. *Junior Research Methodology and Ethics (1 HS/3 TNCC Credits) The senior year mentorship allows students to participate in a real-life work experience with professionals from a scientific area of the students' choosing. Students work closely with a mentor on a research project. Mentorship locations include, NASA Langley,

Jefferson Lab Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), commonly called Jefferson Lab or JLab, is a US National Laboratory located in Newport News, Virginia. Its stated mission is "to provide forefront scientific facilities, opportunities and ...

, colleges, and other local businesses. Final projects are presented to the local scientific and professional community as a culminating experience in May. The opportunity to work with a professional in research is an invaluable experience toward career pursuits. *Senior Environmental Science/Honors Research & Mentorship (2 HS/6 TNCC Credits) Provides broad background needed to understand the natural environment and to address issues in the modern world. Specific topics include sustainability,

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, environment management,

human population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, and

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

Mathematics

*Modern Pre-Calculus (1 HS/6 TNCC Credits) *Calculus (1 HS/8 TNCC Credits) *Multi-Variable Calculus/Linear Algebra (1 HS/7 TNCC Credits) *Statistics (1 HS/3 TNCC Credits)

Notable alumni

*Bruce Chittenden, former senior vice-president of software products at Citrix Systems. Former scientific programming teacher. *Dr. Julian Pittman, silver-medalist juggler and renowned toxicologist. Former junior research and ethics teacher. *Marcus Bromander, game designer and co-founder of Innersloth LLC. Most notably recognized for his work on the popular videogame

Among Us ''Among Us'' is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by American game studio Innersloth. The game was inspired by the party game Mafia and the science fiction horror film '' The Thing''. The game allows ...

., which started a class project during his education. Bromander was a former computer scientist student at the Governors School. *Ilkka Paananen, game designer and CEO and co-founder of

Supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms ( ...

. He is most notibly known for the hit games

Clash of Clans ''Clash of Clans'' is a 2012 free-to-play mobile strategy video game developed and published by Finnish game developer Supercell. The game was released for iOS platforms on August 2, 2012, and on Google Play for Android on October 7, 2013. ...

in 2012, and

Clash Royale ''Clash Royale'' is a free-to-play real-time strategy video game developed and published by Supercell. The game combines elements from collectible card games, tower defense, and multiplayer online battle arena. The game was released globally ...

in 2016. In an interview with Ilkka Paananen, he said "Clash of Clans was an idea sparked in the innovative classroom environment of Computer Sciences, at the Governors School for Science and Technology."

References

External links

New Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology

Pittman Magic

Faculty Webpages
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Horizons Governor's School For Science And Technology Public high schools in Virginia Magnet schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1985 1985 establishments in Virginia