Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts And Technology

Infobox Education in the United States
name= Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts and Technology


imagesize= 175px
motto=
motto_translation= Motto translation, if not in English
streetaddress= 512 West Washington Street
city= Petersburg
state= Virginia
zipcode= 23803
url= [http://www.args.k12.va.us/ Official Site]
district= Chesterfield County Public Schools
affiliation= none
superintendent=
trustee= Chesterfield County
principal= James L. Ruffa
principal_label=Executive Director
viceprincipal= Veronica Kouassi
Larry Joyner
viceprincipal_label=Assistant Directors
staff=
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= magnet high school
grades= 9-12
language= English
campus= Urban
mascot= Dragons
colors=
founded= September 7, 1999
enrollment= 350
enrollment_as_of=
free_label_1= Focus Areas
free_1= Dance, Literary Arts, Music, Musical Theatre, Theatre, Technology, Visual Arts
free_label_2=
free_2=
free_label_3= Athletic Conference
free_3=
box_width= 25em
bgcolor_section= #f5deb3
bgcolor_label= #efefef
bgcolor_value= #f8f8ff
bgcolor_

bgcolor_address=
bgcolor_url=

The "Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts And Technology" (locally and colloquially sometimes known as ARGS, ARGSAT, Appomattox, or the Governor's School) is a public regional magnet high school in downtown Petersburg, Virginia.

One of 18 Virginia Governor's Schools, it draws students from 14 jurisdictions: Chesterfield, Richmond, Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Prince George, Powhatan, Sussex, Surry, Charles City, Amelia, Southampton and Franklin City.

Organization

Formerly fiscally run by the Petersburg school district, ARGS is now under the fiscal control of Chesterfield County. It receives approximately $5500 for each student from their home districts. The other primary sources of funding are private grants, federal grants, state money and individual donations. The school has a Governing Board, composed of representatives or superintendents from each participating district, that functions in much the same role as a school board but also rules on admissions and other school-specific issues.

History

While purported to be an overflow hospital during the Civil War, and later a morgue, in reality ARGS is the extensively renovated Petersburg High School, located at 512 W. Washington Street in downtown Petersburg, Virginia.

The building first opened its doors as ARGS on Tuesday, September 7, 1999. For the first operating year, the school was home to nearly 90 students in the ninth and tenth grades. Currently the school serves approximately 350 students in grades 9-12, with an ever-increasing student population.

Academics

Once accepted into the school, students must maintain a GPA of 2.0 and conform to all of the standards of the regional board. The student is required to maintain good academic standing and may remain in the school as long as they reside in a participating school district and funding school.

pecialized Classes

In addition to the common core classes, ARGS offers specific "tracks" in specialized classes for a student's focus area. These include: Performing Arts: musical theatre, theatre arts, technical theatre, modern dance, jazz dance, ballet, tap dance, vocal music, instrumental music, and piano performance; Visual Arts: sculpture, painting, drawing, graphic design, photography and film studies; Literary Arts: poetry, fiction, and non-fiction; and Communication Arts/Technology: computer programming and engineering.

PowerSchool

In the 2004-2005 school year ARGSAT introduced the PowerSchool program which allows parents to view grades, attendance, and teacher comments regarding their children at any time. It also allows students to check, in real time, their grades and for missing assignments.

harePoint

At the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, another communications service was introduced to the faculty and students of ARGS. Microsoft's SharePoint system is now used by most teachers, focus areas, classes, and staff members of the school as a communication area. This new system allows teachers and students to log in and view daily announcements, deadlines, important dates, club information, and sometimes individual class assignments from any computer with internet connectivity.

Alumni

ARGS graduated its first senior class in June, 2002. In the few short years of the school's existence, alumni of the Appomattox Regional Governor's School have enrolled in many prestigious colleges and universities, including Bard College, Christopher Newport University, Duke University, East Carolina University, Emerson College, Hampton University, Harvard University, Howard University, James Madison University, Louisiana Tech, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Old Dominion University, Penn State, Savannah College of Art & Design, School of Visual Arts, Shenandoah Conservatory, Spelman College, University of the Arts, University of Virginia, VCU School of the Arts, and Virginia Tech, to name a few. The 73-member class of 2006's total financial aid/scholarship award is currently the largest in the school's history, topping 2 million dollars.

In June 2007, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of ARGS' first graduation ceremony, the [http://www.argsalumni.org/ ARGS Alumni Association] was formed, to help connect the growing alumni and coordinate planned efforts for an alumni presence at the campus.

Athletics

ARGS offers its students four sports with six teams: Boy's and Girl's Tennis, Coed Soccer, Boy's and Girl's Basketball, and Girl's state winning Volleyball. The school has no fields of its own, using local Battlefield Park for Tennis and Cameron Field for Soccer.

election Process

All students who are accepted into ARGS are required to have at least a B average in the seventh grade. They are also required to have completed Algebra I by their ninth grade year. It is highly recommended that applicants have completed a course in Dance, Art, and/or Music, Basic Computer Science, and a Foreign Language. Students are required to apply and go through an adjudication process. This process consists of an interview with the department head of the focus area in which the student is applying and possibly an audition, depending on the department.

ee also

* Governor's Schools (Virginia)

External links

* [http://www.args.k12.va.us Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts and Technology]
* [http://www.argsalumni.org ARGS Alumni Association]