Great Valley School District

Infobox_School
name = Great Valley School District


imagesize =160px
motto = Creating a new age of learning
established =
type = Public
website = [http://www.gvsd.org GVSD Website]

thumb|right|300 px|Map of Chester County, Pennsylvania Public School Districts. Great Valley School Districtis in orange in the eastern part of the county.

The Great Valley School District is located in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It is in the Delaware Valley region known as the "Main Line", in eastern Chester County, and provides education for the residents of Charlestown, East Whiteland, and Willistown townships, and the borough of Malvern. The district is in the broad area named Great Valley.

District Administration

uperintendent

Dr. Rita Jones is the current superintendent of the district. The district superintendent is selected solely by the 9-member school board. Dr. Jones is entering her 16th straight year as superintendent, and recently received a 5-4 vote to extend her contract another four years ( [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/chester/nabes/11420886.html Inquirer] ).

chool Board

There are nine members of the school board, elected publicly.
* Elizabeth McGarrigle (president)
* Nicholas Vastardis (vice president)
* Suzanne Carr
* Eugene Kozik
* Jack McDowall
* Kevin McTear
* Scott Oswald
* Katherine Pettiss
* Ralph Tang

District Funding

The majority (84.66% for 2007-08) of the district's funding comes from district property taxes. The 2007 millage rate at 17.44 brings in $62 of the $74 million budget. The budget is set yearly by the current superintendent which then must be approved by the nine-member school board. The millage rate has been raised each year since 2002 when it stood at 12.28 [Chester County Audit [http://www.auditorgen.state.pa.us/Archives/School/225favtq.pdf Chester County Audit of District] , Retrieved on May 7, 2008] , a 42% increase over the current 17.44 millage rate [ District Communication: [http://www.greatvalleystakeholders.citymax.com/page/page/5034456.htm Great Valley School District Budget Comparison] , Retrieved on March 17, 2008] [GV School District Budget Page [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2432 Official Great Valley School District Budget] , Retrieved on May 7, 2008] .

The budget serves the district's 4207 students and 479 staff members. The student body has increased 15% since 2002 [ GV School District Budget Page [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2432 Official Great Valley School District Budget] , Retrieved on May 7, 2008]

District Schools

Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School

Kathryn Donahue Markley Elementary School is one of four elementary schools in the Great Valley School District. It is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2373&isa=Category&op=show] A new building was made in 2001, and the previous building was demolished. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10700&isa=Category&op=show]

Dr. Karen L. Schneck was the former principal of Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School, but was made the principal of Sugartown Elementary School after its rebuilding and reopening. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10700&isa=Category&op=show] [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10688&isa=Category&op=show] [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10687]

The school teaches grades Kindergarten to 5th Grade.The school enrolls about 676 students per year. The student to teacher ratio is about 16:1. [http://pennsylvania.schooltree.org/public/Kathryn-D-Markley-Elementary-074100.html]

Administration

*Principal: Mrs. Juliette Pennyman [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2340]

ugartown Elementary School

Sugartown Elementary School is one of four elementary schools in the Great Valley School District. It is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Student school hours are from 9:00 a.m.-3:38 p.m., morning kindergarten hours are from 9:00-11:45 a.m., and afternoon kindergarten hours are from 12:40 p.m.-3:38 p.m. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=14222&isa=Category&op=show]

Mrs. Karen L. Schneck was the former principal of Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School, but was made the principal of Sugartown Elementary School after its rebuilding and reopening. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10700&isa=Category&op=show] [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10688&isa=Category&op=show] [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10687]

Administration

*Principal: Mrs. Karen L. Schneck

Charlestown Elementary School

Charlestown Elementary School is one of four elementary schools in the Great Valley School District. It is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Student elementary school hours around the school district generally are from about 9:00 a.m.-3:38 p.m., morning kindergarten hours are from about 9:00-11:45 a.m., and afternoon kindergarten hours are from about 12:40 p.m.-3:38 p.m. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=14222&isa=Category&op=show]

The school was part of a redistrict in 2001 due to the opening of General Wayne Elementary SchoolFact|date=March 2008, previously the General Wayne Middle School. The building was renovated in the early 2000's, and students and faculty were temporarily relocated.

The school teaches grades Kindergarten to 5th Grade.The school enrolls about 367 students per year. The student to teacher ratio is about 14:1. [http://pennsylvania.schooltree.org/public/Charlestown-Elementary-074097.html]

Administration

*Principal: Christpher Pickell [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2398&isa=Category&op=show]

General Wayne Elementary School

Sugartown Elementary School is one of four elementary schools in the Great Valley School District. It is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Student school hours are from 9:00 a.m.-3:38 p.m., morning kindergarten hours are from 9:00-11:45 a.m., and afternoon kindergarten hours are from 12:40 p.m.-3:38 p.m. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=14222&isa=Category&op=show]

Administration

*Principal: Mr. Don Fraatz(to retire at end of the year)
*Assistant Principal: Mrs. Bonnie Citron [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2385&isa=Category&op=show]

Great Valley Middle School

Great Valley Middle School is a middle school in eastern Chester County. It is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It is located on the same campus as Great Valley High School. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2359&isa=Category&op=show] It is the only middle school of the Great Valley School District.

General Wayne Middle School, now General Wayne Elementary School, was the district's middle school from 1958 to 2000, but became General Wayne Elementary School after the Great Valley Middle School building was built next to the high school campus, and became Great Valley School District's middle school. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2359&isa=Category&op=show]

The school teaches grades 6th Grade to 8th Grade.The school enrolls about 950 students per year. The student to teacher ratio is about 16:1. [http://pennsylvania.schooltree.org/public/Great-Valley-Middle-074098.html]

Administration

*Principal: Mr. Ed Souders
*Assistant Principals: Mrs. Heidi Capetola; Mr. Anthony Freeman [http://www.gvsd.org/index.plid=2358&isa=Category&op=show] [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2364&isa=Category&op=show]

chedule

Great Valley Middle School's regular student schedule, as of the 2006-2007 school year, is 7:30 a.m.-2:27 p.m. The school also operates on a 6 day (1-6) cycle. [http://web.gvsd.org/gvms/FORMS/HANDBOOK2006p1-20.pdf]

Great Valley High School

grades 9 - 12, Acting Principal(terminated after the 2007-2008 school year): Mr. John Fidler, Assistant Principals: Mr. Chuck Bonner; Mr. Marshal Hoffritz [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2338]

chool Organization

Four elementary schools cover the subsections of the district. The four are merged into the sole middle school.

Formerly General Wayne Middle School, a recent growth in the school district's population motivated the need for the new Great Valley Middle School to be built for the larger student body. After the new school was complete, General Wayne was closed for repairs and turned into a fourth elementary school. Sugartown Elementary students temporarily used this new building to allow for Sugartown's own renovation. Upon completion, the district had four functioning elementary schools that now feed into Great Valley Middle.

The high school also underwent a 4-year renovation that was completed during the 2006/2007 school year.

Redistricted

After Sugartown's elementary renovation, redistricting was required for Sugartown to reopen. This process was started in June 2004 and implemented before the 2006-2007 school year. [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=9479&isa=Category&op=show] [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=13393&isa=Category&op=show] [http://docushare.gvsd.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1386/] . Some students throughout the school district were moved into Sugartown, from either KDM, General Wayne, or Charlestown. [http://docushare.gvsd.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1695/]

References

External links

* [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2340 KDM Website]
* [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=10687 Sugartown Website]
* [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2342 Charlestown Website]
* [http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?id=2341 General Wayne Website]
* [http://www.gvsd.org/gvms Middle School Website]
* [http://www.gvsd.org/gvhs High School Website]