- Mountain Vista Governor's School
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Mountain Vista Governor's School for Science, Math & Technology 
Mountain Vista Governor's School Logo Location 6480 College Street
Warrenton, Virginia, 20187
United StatesInformation School type Magnet governor's school Established 2006 Director Dr. Rosanne Williamson Grades 11th-12th Years Offered 2 Enrollment 108 (as of 2008-09) Color(s) Navy and teal Feeder schools Information 540-347-6237 Website http://www.mvgshome.org/ 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[1], serving primarily 11th and 12th graders. The school is composed of two campuses, one each in Middletown, Virginia, USA and Warrenton, Virginia, USA. Admission is determined via an application process.[citation needed]
Contents
History
Planning for Mountain Vista began in 2003; its participating counties were the last in the state not covered by an existing academic-year governor's school.[citation needed] The participating school systems surveyed parents and students within their respective counties to gauge interest. A plan for implementation was created and put into motion; A committee was formed, and approval was sought from the Virginia Department of Education.[2] A first review of the plan was presented to the Virginia Department of Education at their January 11, 2006 meeting.[3] The funding for MVGS (a total of $190,544) was first approved in the 2006-2008 Biennial Budget passed by the Virginia House of Delegates.[4]
On January 11th, the estimated portion of the school budget that the participating counties had to pay was approximately $216,527; it was divided among each of the counties.[5] Each county's school board was responsible for approving both the funding and a 3 year commitment in order for the project to continue.[6][7] Each jurisdiction was made responsible for the funding for each slot at the governor's school allocated to them.
In May 2006, Dr. Rosanne Williamson, principal of Brumfield Elementary School in Fauquier County, was named director of Mountain Vista.[citation needed] She assumed the post on July 1st.
On January 15, 2011, students from both campuses travelled with their teachers to Richmond, where they participated in the 2011 Volvo Construction Challenge. The Middletown team of four students placed second in the Transportation Infrastructure challenge.
Admission
Each participating county has a local committee that decides who attends from that county. Students interested must complete an application and submit transcripts and two written essays.[8] The applications along with teacher recommendations are reviewed by the local committee and admission decisions are made.
Participating localities
The number of slots at the governor's school allocated to each jurisdiction, as of September 14th, 2006:
- Frederick & Fauquier (30)
- Culpeper (15)
- Winchester (13)
- Warren (15)
- Rappahannock (4)
Currently Fauquier County Students also have the ability to apply for one of 2 slots to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. They will retain that right until the Fauquier County School board decides to relinquish those slots.[9]
Facilities
The Mountain Vista Governor's School program does not have a classroom facility of its own. Instead, students travel to Lord Fairfax Community College to take courses offered by the program, then the students return to their home schools and maintain eligibility for sports and extracurricular activities there. The area served by Mountain Vista is too large for a single location to which busing all students would be practical; LFCC was chosen because it has a campus on each end of the area covered by Mountain Vista[10]. The two sites are connected via videoconferencing that allow them to interact with each other[11].
In addition, all Mountain Vista students are given laptops by their respective county for use year round.[2] During the 06-07 and 07-08 school years, the school used the Blackboard Academic Suite of e-Education software designed to allow the students to submit and retrieve notes and assignments on snow days or other missed days of school, and to provide virtual office hours for instructors. Frederick County Public Schools provided the means of sharing their purchased BAS with MVGS. However, during the 2008-09 school year, Frederick County switched to the ANGEL Learning Management System, causing Mountain Vista to change to ANGEL along with it. MVGS also uses a private discussion board for communication between staff and students.
Academics
The Mountain Vista curriculum was designed to be a college level mathematics and science program providing a solid basis for doing research and making connections between disciplines[12]. The classes are connected in a way that when a topic is being taught in physics, a similar concept is being taught in math and humanities is discussing social applications and ramifications of the subject. Most of the courses have homework assignments assigned during the summer and due on the first day of class making learning a year round activity.[13] A number of MVGS classes are Dual Enrollment, AP, or both, giving the students the ability to earn college credits while still in high school.
The courses offered are:
- Science:
- MVGS Physics I: Mechanics
- MVGS Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism
- MVGS Environmental Science
- Mathematics:
- MVGS First Year Calculus
- MVGS Second Year Calculus with Topics in Multivariable
- MVGS Statistics
- MVGS Linear Algebra
- Humanities:
- MVGS Humanities I: The Power of Thought / English 11
- MVGS Humanities II: Applying the Power of Persuasion to World Issues /Government
- Research:
- MVGS Research I: Introduction to the Fundamentals of the Research Process
- MVGS Research II: Exploration of Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Fields (Applied Research)
The school once offered Precalculus, but this course was discontinued as participating school divisions elected to require all first year MVGS students to be prepared to enter Calculus as originally intended by the designers of MVGS.
Along with in class work, classes include projects that allow for hands on problem solving and collaboration with other students like a water balloon launch competition.[14]
Graduates
The first class graduated in 2007. Almost half of the students will attend Virginia's top 3 schools (College of William and Mary, University of Virginia, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute) according to US News and World Report with one-third of students attending UVA.[15] At the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia, Mountain Vista Governor's School has had success with students becoming Monroe and Echols scholars respectively. Other notable colleges that alumni have attended include Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, University of Notre Dame, United States Air Force Academy, and the United States Naval Academy. Top Liberal arts colleges[16] are also represented with students going to Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College. Top acceptances for the Class of 2011 have included Johns Hopkins University, Washington University in St. Louis, Vanderbilt University, University of California, Berkeley, Tufts University, and Purdue University.
Most of the remainder are going to other local universities like Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Mary Washington, George Mason University
As of 2011, the first alumni of Mountain Vista Governor's School will be matriculating at Graduate and Professional schools in the fall.
See also
References
- ^ Virginia's Academic Year Governor's Schools
- ^ a b Mountain Vista Governor’s School officially opens
- ^ Board of Education Agenda January 11, 2006
- ^ Report from the House of Delegates
- ^ Area's first governor's school on track for fall opening
- ^ Winchester Public School Board Highlights
- ^ Fauquier County Finance Committee Meeting
- ^ New Opportunities Beckoning Students in Fauquier
- ^ An Advanced Curriculum Without a Long Commute
- ^ LFCC - Our Locations
- ^ LFCC - Distance Learning
- ^ MVGS At A Glance 09-10
- ^ MVGS Summer Assignments 2007
- ^ Safety glasses on; prepare to learn
- ^ America's Best Colleges 2007
- ^ America's Best Colleges 2007: Liberal Arts Colleges
External links
Virginia Governor's Schools Appomattox (Petersburg) · Blue Ridge · Central Virginia · Chesapeake Bay · Commonwealth (Fredericksburg) · GS for Arts (Hampton Roads) · Linwood Holton (Southwest Virginia) · Jackson River · Thomas Jefferson (Northern Virginia) · Massanutten · Mountain Vista (Frederick/Fauquier Cos.) · New Horizons (Hampton Roads) · Piedmont (Danville) · Roanoke Valley · Shenandoah Valley · Southside Virginia · Southwest Virginia · Maggie Walker (Richmond)Categories:- Magnet schools in Virginia
- High schools in Virginia
- Education in Clarke County, Virginia
- Education in Culpeper County, Virginia
- Schools in Fauquier County, Virginia
- Schools in Frederick County, Virginia
- Education in Rappahannock County, Virginia
- Education in Warren County, Virginia
- Education in Winchester, Virginia
- Educational institutions established in 2006
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