Commonwealth Governor’s School
http://www.cgsva.net/cgs/default.aspx
The Commonwealth Governor’s School (CGS) is a magnet school based in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, area. It was founded in 1998. It is one of eighteen governor’s school programs in Virginia. A magnet school is a public school with specialized courses, such as AP English and AP Math. CGS uses the school-within-a-school method in five local area high schools: Colonial Forge, North Stafford, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Riverbend high schools. Students who attend CGS classes do so at one of these schools via television and microphones. They also are required to attend CGS field trips. The classes are set up so that juniors and seniors take CGS classes in the morning and freshmen and sophomores take their classes in the afternoon. CGS students are required to take their four core classes (Math, English, Science, and Social Studies) through the governor school, while taking all other classes through their own local high school (which may not be one of the five CGS high schools). Students who do not regularly attend one of these five schools are transported there each day when it is time for their CGS classes. The CGS has had much success in the past. Only 10 % of its students have dropped out in past years (usually for good reasons) and the vacancies were promptly filled. The average SAT scores for CGS students in 2007 were 668 verbal, 633 mathematics, and 647 writing. The average GPA for the class of 2008 was 4.1. Out of the 88 graduates that year, there were 5 Valedictorians and 6 Salutatorians. 100% of these graduates went on to higher education for the 2008-2009 school year and were awarded a total of $2,711,700 in scholarships.
The students who attend classes for the CGS can be seen as a tightly knit group. They are all very intelligent students who are able to manage their time and work well. Being able to take more high-level classes while still getting to be around friends and family at their own school gives CGS students a competitive edge over other students. They are able to keep a normal social life and not be too stressed out while also appealing more to higher level colleges with their CGS class grades and status.
