Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology


The Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology is located in the Grandin Court neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia on the campus of Patrick Henry High School, and was established in 1985 as a result of the cooperative effort of seven regional school districts to improve education in mathematics and science. It is one of the state of Virginia's regional Governor's Schools. It has a faculty which included Gwen Sibert, the 2003 "Virginia Science Teacher of the Year."
RVGS pulls students from Patrick Henry High School, William Fleming, Cave Spring, Glenvar, Hidden Valley, Northside, William Byrd, Salem, Craig County, Franklin County, James River, Lord Botetourt, Liberty, and Staunton River High School.
Only students from Roanoke City Public Schools and other special cases attend the afternoon session, while the morning session takes all other students. All seniors attend the morning session.

Math

There are many math classes including Algebra II, Precalculus, Laboratory Calculus, Accelerated Laboratory Calculus, Advanced Placement Statistics, Advanced Calculus, and Multi-Variable Calculus.

Science

The variety of science classes at the Governor's school include Governor's School Chemistry, Advanced Placement Chemistry, Governor's School Biology, Governor's School Physics, Advanced Placement Physics, and Advanced Placement Environmental Science.

Electives

Every first year student at the Governor's school is required to take Fundamentals of Research as an elective. In this class, the students meet once a week to research and prepare a research project. During the month of January, all school time is spent in the Fundamentals of Research class, or, if you are in a higher grade, another research based class, where the student starts and completes his or her project. At the end of the month, the students present their projects at Project Forum, held by the Governor School. Here the projects are divided into categories depending on their project, and the students are then judged by experts in their fields. Other electives include Biotechnology, Directed study, Robotics, Environmental Research, Mentorship, Product Design Engineering, Applied Chemical Research, and Intro to Engineering Research.