Governor's Schools (Virginia)
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The Governor's Schools are a collection of regional magnet high schools and summer programs in the
Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...
intended for gifted students. Virginia Governor's Schools provide some of the state's most able students academically and artistically challenging programs beyond those offered in their home schools. With the support of the Virginia Board of Education and the General Assembly, the Governor's Schools currently serve in their various forms around 1000 gifted students from all parts of the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
.


History

The concept of the Governor's School actually started as a three-year grant funded program in Stafford County, Virginia, from 1970 - 1972. One hundred Stafford public high school students were selected as "day students" and 100 public high school students from across the state were invited to be "on campus" students and were housed at the then Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Shirley C. Heim, Stafford County Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools, envisioned a program where the average person would be exposed to the arts. The original title was "the Humanities Institute." Mrs. Heim, under the supervision of Superintendent Andrew Wright, persuasively argued that Stafford County, culturally wiped out after the American Civil War, was more culturally deprived than Appalachia. Her argument helped secure the three year Federally funded grant program. It was after the three-year program ended that the Virginia State Department of Education, supported by Governor Linwood Holton, Jr., evolved the program away from the Arts to include science, technology, and journalism. Begun in 1973 at the behest of Governor
Linwood Holton Abner Linwood Holton Jr. (September 21, 1923October 28, 2021) was an American politician and attorney. He served as the 61st governor of Virginia, from 1970 to 1974, and was the first elected Republican governor of Virginia of the 20th century. ...
, the first incarnation of the Governor's School program included summer residential sessions for 400 gifted students from across the Commonwealth. The first summer residential Governor's Schools were held in 1973 at Mary Baldwin College, Mary Washington College, and the Science Museum in Richmond. Isabelle P. Rucker, Director of Special Programs for the Gifted, oversaw the residential sessions until her retirement in the fall of 1979, and served as a mentor to both faculty and students for many years. Since its beginning, the program has expanded to more than 40 sites throughout the Commonwealth. Summer residential sessions are still offered, but many other programs have been developed, including the two flagship schools described below.


Academic-year Governor's Schools

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 ...
, in conjunction with localities, sponsors regional academic-year Governor's Schools that serve gifted high school students during the academic year. Currently, 18 academic-year Governor's Schools provide students with acceleration and exploration in areas ranging from the arts, to government and international studies, to global economics and technology, and to mathematics, science, and technology. They are established as “joint schools” by Virginia school law. As such, they are typically managed by a regional governing board of representatives from the school boards of each participating
school division A school division is a geographic division over which a school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elec ...
. The regional governing board is charged with developing policies for the school including the school's admissions process. While these processes differ from school to school, all applicants are assessed using multiple criteria by trained evaluators who have experience in gifted education and the focus area of the specific academic-year Governor's School. Most schools specialize in a particular subject, and each serves a single region, only accepting students whose parents or guardians live within a predefined list of nearby cities or counties.


Full list of academic-year Governor's Schools

* A. Linwood Holton Governor's School ''Grades 10-12'' *
Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts And Technology The Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts And Technology (locally and colloquially sometimes known as ARGS, Appomattox, or the Governor's School) is a public regional magnet high school in downtown Petersburg, Virginia, United State ...
''Grades 9-12'' * Blue Ridge Virtual Governor's School ''Grades 9-12'' *
Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology The Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology (CVGS) is a regional school in Lynchburg, Virginia directed by Dr. Stephen Smith. Students are chosen from Lynchburg-area county and city schools. Schools participating in the Gove ...
''Grades 11-12'' * Chesapeake Bay Governor's School for Marine and Environmental Science ''Grades 10-12'' *
Commonwealth Governor's School The Commonwealth Governor's School (CGS) is one of 18 magnet Governor's Schools in Virginia. The Commonwealth Governor's School is a half-day program for gifted and highly motivated students based on a school-within-a-school model. Admissions a ...
''Grades 9-12'' *
Governor's School for the Arts The Governor's School for the Arts is a regional secondary arts school sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education and the public school divisions of Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, ...
''Grades 9-12'' * Jackson River Governor's School ''Grades 11-12'' * Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies ''Grades 9-12'' * Massanutten Governor's School for Integrated Environmental Science and Technology ''Grades 11-12'' *
Mountain Vista Governor's School Mountain Vista Governor's School for Science, Math & Technology (commonly Mountain Vista or MVGS) is one of Virginia's 18 state-initiated governor's schools, serving primarily 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. The school is composed of two campus ...
''Grades 10-12'' *
New Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology 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, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg-James City ...
''Grades 11-12'' *
Piedmont Governor's School for Mathematics, Science, and Technology The Piedmont Governor's School for Mathematics, Science, and Technology is one of Virginia's 18 state-initiated magnet Governor's Schools. It is a half-day school program where 11th and 12th grade students take advanced classes in the morning (re ...
''Grades 11-12'' *
Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology (RVGS) is a Governor's School in Grandin Court, Roanoke, Virginia, United States. RVGS is a magnet school with students from the Roanoke Valley and Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area ...
''Grades 9-12'' * Shenandoah Valley Governor's School ''Grades 11-12'' * Southwest Virginia Governor's School for Science, Mathematics, and Technology ''Grades 11-12'' * The Governor's School of Southside Virginia ''Grades 11-12'' * The Governor's School @ Innovation Park ''Grade 11-12'' *
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (also known as TJHSST, TJ, or Jefferson) is a Virginia state-chartered magnet high school in Fairfax County, Virginia operated by Fairfax County Public Schools. The school occupies the buil ...
''Grades 9-12''


Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies

Though there are 19 Governor's Schools designated by the Commonwealth for some amount of instruction during the academic year, many are intended only to supplement the education provided by local districts; these only offer a limited subset of classes, either on a partial-day basis, or in limited form to upperclassmen. Three schools, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School(ARGS), the
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (also known as TJHSST, TJ, or Jefferson) is a Virginia state-chartered magnet high school in Fairfax County, Virginia operated by Fairfax County Public Schools. The school occupies the buil ...
, also known as "TJHSST", (founded 1986) in
Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...
and Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, also known as "MLWGSGIS", (founded 1991) in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
are full-fledged four-year university preparatory programs and two-year programs. Two are considered by many to be among the best public high schools in the country with both schools notably listed in Newsweek's Annual Public Elite list of high schools. Admission to the two schools is highly sought-after and competitive. In the
Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...
region served by TJHSST extensive courses were developed by private companies to help prepare students for the rigorous testing procedure. After public protests that this put poor and minority students at a disadvantage for acceptance,
Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...
began offering similar free public courses. As the acceptance rate is only about 15% at TJHSST, the school is currently looking to expand from 1600 students to 2000. The MLWGSGIS's acceptance rate is currently about 8% and enrolls about 700 students.


Summer Residential Governor's Schools

Also offered are summer programs for exceptional Virginia students. These Governor's Schools last up to four weeks and are held at Virginia institutions of higher learning. Students reside on the campus, but take courses taught by teachers and professors from around the state. Depending on the program, students may or may not have choices in course selection. There is typically no relationship between the institution at which the Summer Governor's School is held and the program its other than providing the infrastructure support for what resembles a college lifestyle. Selection is based on applications submitted by students during the school year, while they are attending their home high school. Often, the number of students accepted from any given high school is capped, depending on the population of the school. Selection to summer programs is limited to rising 11th and 12th graders.


Full list of Summer Residential Governor's Schools

The institutions at which the Summer Residential Governor's Schools are held can vary from year to year. The colleges indicated below are the most recent institutions selected for hosting the programs. *Governor's Mentorship in Engineering, ''at
Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia. It was founded in 1960 and is named after Christopher Newport, captain of Susan Constant, one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, Jam ...
overseen by
College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...
'' *Governor's Mentorship in Marine Science, ''at
Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia. It was founded in 1960 and is named after Christopher Newport, captain of Susan Constant, one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, Jam ...
overseen by
College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...
'' *Governor's School for Agriculture, ''at
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
'' *Governor's School for the Humanities, ''at
Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...
'' *Governor's School for Mathematics, Science, and Technology, ''at
Lynchburg College The University of Lynchburg, formerly Lynchburg College, is a private university associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and located in Lynchburg, Virginia. It has approximately 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students. ...
''
Governor's School for Medicine and Health Sciences
''at
Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
'' *Governor's School for the Visual and Performing Arts, ''at
Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...
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See also

* Governor's Foreign Language Academies * Governor's STEM Academies


References


External links


Virginia Governor's Schools Program
{{Governor's Schools (Virginia) Magnet schools in Virginia Governor's Schools