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 districts. It is located 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. Admissions. Prospective RVGS students must: 1. Be currently enrolled or enrolled for the proceeding year in one  of the seven school districts: Patrick Henry High School, William Fleming, Cave Spring, Glenvar, Hidden Valley, Northside, William Byrd, Salem, Craig County High School, Franklin County, James River, Lord Botetourt, Liberty, and Staunton River High School. 2. Maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher and only one B throughout the school year. 3. Have completed Algebra I and Geometry I. 4. Fill out an application. 5. Franklin County: Complete three timed tests after school after they signed up. One Math test, one Science test, and one essay. After an applicant completes their application and aptitude tests, they must submit them  to their local school board, who will decide which students can go to Governor's School for the academic year. The student is then sent a letter by mail, which they must submit by a certain date to enroll. Curriculum. Mathematics. RVGS offers mathematics classes, including Algebra II, Precalculus, Laboratory Calculus, Accelerated Laboratory Calculus, Advanced Placement Statistics, Advanced Calculus, and Multi-Variable Calculus. Science. RVGS also offers science classes, including Chemistry, Advanced Placement Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Advanced Placement Physics, and Advanced Placement Environmental Science. Electives. Every first-year student at RVGS must take Fundamentals of Research (FOR) as an elective . There are three separate courses to choose from: Microbiology, Animal Science, and Plant Science (Botany). Each course is taught by a different teacher and has different experiments, expectations, and methods. To prepare for the final projects, the class meets once a week to discuss the completion of a formal research paper, working with a partner to collect data, analyze data through observation/statistics tests, and research to bring all of the data together into one final research paper/presentation. During January, "Intersession" begins, and all school time is spent in an elective class. Although, during this time, students in the  FOR courses will rotate a 1-3 day period to do a mini version of the other's project. This will be done twice for each class so that each student can experience each course somehow. Allowing them to learn different methods of collecting, observing, and analyzing data, giving the students more tools and experience with various statistical tests to provide them with a broader scope of knowledge that one course cannot contain. Several more options are available to second-year students. They are given more research topic options. All electives at RVGS require a formal research paper, verifiable  data, a presentation, and professionalism. At the end of the month, the students present their projects at Project Forum, held by RVGS. During this time, several professionals from various STEM fields can volunteer to judge. In years before 2020, the forum was an open house where the public could view the projects of every student. However, RVGS modified several conventions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the 2022 Project Forum saw the students submitting a video recording of their projects in case they were absent during the presentation slot allotted. Then, every student was given a specific Microsoft Teams session  to join. They had a particular order in which to present. A code system was created to organize the forum. Each class topic was considered its own group. However, due to the sheer volume of presenters, most electives had to be split into sessions. Each session in every category assigned a letter to denote which session that student would join. Next, each student in every category would have a number attached to each letter. The order of presenting would follow the numerical order of the presenter(s) presentation code, with some exceptions. Some benefits of such a system may be that  it allows the judging sessions to be more easily managed by the judges, and, by not forcing judges to attend in-person, allowed for more volunteers because it could help to alleviate fears of COVID/allow judges with more busy schedules or lack of transportation to attend. It also allows students to present with a recording if they cannot attend their presentation meeting. Example: FOR(Animal Science) B3[A student in the class FOR - Animal Science, in session B of this class, and, if there are no special cases, this student will present third.] Students may take such electives after the  first year as Biotechnology, Directed study, Robotics, Environmental Research, Mentorship, Product Design Engineering, Applied Chemical Research, and Intro to Engineering Research.