Commonwealth Governor's School

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Commonwealth Governor's School
Established	1998
School type	Magnet school
Grades	9-12

Location	Fredericksburg, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, King George County, Virginia, USA
Students	423
Website	Commonwealth Governor's School

The Commonwealth Governor's School is one of 18 magnet Governor's Schools in Virginia. Admissions are competitive (involving, among other things, a timed essay, an interview, and teacher recommendations), and students are selected from Spotsylvania, King George, and Stafford Counties. Students may apply for admission for all grades 9 through 12.

1 Program structure
2 Culminating
3 Criticism
4 External links

[edit] Program structure

Enrolled students take all of their core classes at one of the five Governor's School sites. (Spotsylvania, Riverbend, Colonial Forge, Stafford, and North Stafford) Students who are not based at a school with a CGS site are bused to a different site for these four courses. They are however considered students of their neighborhood high schools where they take their non-core courses. Ultimately, students graduate from their "base" school with special recognition for completing the Governor's School curriculum.

Sylvia Wadsworth was the first director of the Commonwealth Governor's School, retiring from that position in 2005. David Baker took over the post after her departure.

[edit] Culminating

As an integral aspect of the CGS program, students are required to complete a year-long research project to count as final exam grades in all core courses for each of the four years of program. Students are guided through this process by their teachers and must give a presentation and create a "product" at the end of the year. Seniors are required to meet with an "expert" in the relevant field, who guides them through their research during the year, and students must present to their experts at the end of the year. Seniors must also present at some public forum at the end of the year. Projects are proposed by the students and approved by the teachers.

[edit] Criticism

Sometimes raised as a concern is the workload that the program requires. Many fear even the most responsible of students are incapable of balancing both the workload of CGS and extracurricular activities. In addition, isolation is sometimes raised as a concern, since students have only three or, in certain cases, four classes with students outside of CGS each year. Often students do not mix with other students from their own grade during the school day. There's also an issue of elitism. Other students see governor's school students as having more field trips and less discipline, and thus resent students.