Great Valley School District

Great Valley School District
Location
47 Church Rd.
Malvern, PA 19355
United States
District information
Type Public
Grades Pre-K–12
Established 1923
Superintendent Regina Speaker Palubinsky
Budget $84.4 million (2014–2015)
District ID 4210870[1]
Students and staff
Students Approx. 4,000 (2014–15)>
Athletic conference PIAA Ches-Mont League
Other information
Teachers union Great Valley Education Association (GVEA)
Website www.gvsd.org
Map of Chester County, Pennsylvania Public School Districts. Great Valley School District is in orange in the eastern part of the county.

The Great Valley School District is located in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia suburbs, specifically in the Delaware Valley region known as the Main Line, in eastern Chester County. The district provides public education for students in Charlestown, East Whiteland, and Willistown townships, as well as Malvern borough. The district is located in the general area known locally as the Great Valley.

District Administration

Superintendent

The district superintendent is selected solely by the nine-member school board. On September 17, 2007, then-Superintendent Dr. Rita Jones, serving her 16th year in the position, received a new four-year contract, the result of a 5–4 school board vote. On April 2, 2009, Dr. Jones announced her early retirement, effective in August of that year. Dr. Melody Wilt served as interim superintendent until Dr. Alan Lonoconus was appointed to fill the position on October 20, 2009. On December 1st, 2014, Lonoconus announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 2014–15 school year. Dr. Regina Speaker Palubinsky joined the Great Valley School district as the new superintendent in July 2015.

School board

The nine school board members are elected publicly; one non-voting student representative is appointed by Great Valley High School. The members are:

  • David Barratt, Region 1 (President)
  • Carol Palmaccio, Region 3 (Vice President)
  • Philip Foret, Region 3 (Treasurer)
  • Ellen Behrle, Region 1
  • Andrew Daga, Region 2
  • Patricia Gillespie, Region 1
  • Stephanie Gunderson, Region 2
  • Jennifer Armstrong, Region 2
  • Mary Ravenfeld, Region 3
  • Joshita Varshney, Student Representative

District funding

The majority of the district's funding comes from property taxes (84.66 percent for 2007–08). The 2007 millage rate of 17.44 generated $62 of the $74 million budget. The budget is prepared yearly by the current superintendent and then must be approved by the nine-member school board. The millage rate has been raised each year since 2002, when it was 12.28,[2] a 42 percent increase in six years.[3][4]

The budget funds the district's 4,207 students and 479 staff members. The student body has increased 15 percent since 2002.[4]

District schools

The district includes four elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.

Charlestown Elementary School

Charlestown Elementary School is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, within Charlestown Township. Student hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:38 p.m., with morning kindergarten hours from 9:00 to 11:45 a.m. and afternoon hours from 12:40 to 3:38 p.m. Kindergarten through fifth grade students attend the school.

The school enrolls about 378 students per year, and the student–teacher ratio is approximately 14:1. The school building was renovated in the early 2000s, when students and faculty were temporarily relocated.

Christopher Pickell is the school principal.

General Anthony Wayne Elementary School

General Wayne Elementary School is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, within Willistown Township. Student hours are from 8:55 a.m. to 3:33 p.m., with morning kindergarten hours from 8:55 to 11:40 a.m. and afternoon kindergarten hours from 12:35 to 3:33 p.m.

The principal is Bonnie Citron . From 1958 to 2000, General Wayne served as the district's middle school/junior high school.

Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School

The Kathryn Donahue Markley Elementary School is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, within East Whiteland Township. A new building was constructed in 2001, and the previous building became the district office. Victoria Morris is the current principal. Kindergarten through fifth grade students attend the school, named after a former long-time principal.

Sugartown Elementary School

Sugartown Elementary School is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, within Willistown Township. Student hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:38 p.m., with morning kindergarten from 9:00 to 11:45 a.m. and afternoon kindergarten from 12:40 to 3:38 p.m.

Mr. Kyle Hammond, former assistant principal at the Great Valley Middle School, was named Sugartown principal in July, 2016.

Great Valley Middle School

Great Valley Middle School is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, on the same campus as Great Valley High School. The school enrolls about 950 students per year in the sixth through eighth grades. The student to teacher ratio is about 16:1.

The regular student schedule, as of the 2014–2015 school year, is 7:40 a.m. to 2:29 p.m. The school also operates on a six-day (1-6) cycle. The principal is Dr. Edward Souders and the assistant principal is Dr. Amanda Pierce.

Great Valley Middle School won the National Blue Ribbon award four time.

Before 2001, the middle school was located in the building now known as General Wayne Elementary School.

Great Valley High School

The high school serves students in ninth through twelfth grade. The high school is located on the same campus as the middle school. The principal is Michael Flick and the assistant principals are Mr. Patrick Connors and Dr. Heidi Capetola.

School organization

By the 1990s, when the school had three functioning elementary schools, district population growth necessitated construction of a larger middle school and addition of a fourth elementary school. Once the new middle school was completed, the General Wayne facility was closed and converted into the fourth elementary school. Thereafter, Sugartown students temporarily used the renovated General Wayne school to allow for Sugartown's renovation and expansion. Thereafter, the high school underwent a four-year renovation that was completed during the 2006/2007 school year.

After Sugartown's elementary renovation, reassignment of students to schools within the district was necessary. This process began in June 2004 and was implemented in time for the 2006–2007 school year.. Some students throughout the district from the other three elementary schools were relocated to Sugartown.

Former schools

Two older elementary schools — Greentree Elementary in Willistown Township and Malvern Elementary in Malvern Borough — were closed in the early 1980s and the buildings sold. Greentree was renovated and enlarged to become a commercial office building while the Malvern school was renovated and enlarged to become the Malvern borough town hall, police station, and public library.

Updated information is available on the Great Valley School District webpage @ www.gvsd.org

References

  1. ↑ "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Great Valley High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Chester County Audit Chester County Audit of District, Retrieved May 7, 2008
  3. ↑ District Communication: Great Valley School District Budget Comparison, Retrieved March 17, 2008
  4. 1 2 GV School District Budget Page Official Great Valley School District Budget Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine., Retrieved May 7, 2008

Coordinates: 40°03′25″N 75°34′06″W / 40.05705°N 75.56842°W / 40.05705; -75.56842

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