Gloucester County Public Schools is a Virginia public school division serving Gloucester County, Virginia.
The school division operates eight schools: five elementary (grades K-5), two intermediate (grades 6–8), and one high school (grades 9–12). There have been numerous proposals for the school system to switch to year-round school like a few neighboring counties, but the board has rejected each proposal.
Elementary schools In Gloucester County the five elementary schools start class at 9:00 am and end 3:50 pm. The five schools are as follows: Abingdon (Panthers),Abingdon Website Achilles (Warriors),Achilles Website Bethel (Bears),Bethel Website Botetourt (Bulldogs),Botetourt Website and Petsworth (patriots).Petsworth Website Unlike the middle and high schools, these schools give a group of around twenty students to a teacher for a whole school year.Elementary Schools
Middle schools Gloucester County also has two middle schools that start at 7:20 am with homeroom and end at 2:40 pm. The schools' names are Peasley (Lions), and Page (Eagles).Page Middle School Peasley Middle School On April 16, 2011, part of Page Middle School was destroyed by a tornado that passed through the area.Elsa Cooke Verbyla, "Powerful tornado strikes Gloucester: Three dead; Page Middle School devastated" , Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, April 18, 2011.Matt Sabo, "Middle school staff, students join forces", Daily Press, April 21, 2011. The 6th and 7th grades of Page were moved to Peasley the following school year while the 8th grade of Peasley and Page were moved to trailers located near the Gloucester High School campus. Page was rebuilt in a different location on TC Walker Rd, and opened for use September 2015.
High school The county has one high school, simply called Gloucester High School (GHS). The school mascot is the former Duke of Gloucester, and school hours are 7:45 am to 2:46 pm.Gloucester High School Advanced classes are offered in English, Foreign Language, History, and Mathematics. In mathematics, attendees can take courses two years before they are required, and in language, students can take "advanced language", which is at a higher level than their peers. In history, a student can take AP or Dual Enrollment Courses Gloucester County Public Schools
Transgender policy controversy
In December 2014, the GCPS Board passed a policy to restrict the use of its schools' single-sex bathroom and locker room facilities "to the corresponding biological genders".G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board (4th Cir.), Opinion of the Court, April 19, 2016 The policy was made after receiving a complaint about a student, Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy attending Gloucester High School. Grimm sued the Board, and won in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is a form of discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. Then in August 2016, the Supreme Court issued a stay of the Circuit Court's decision, and in October 2016, the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case. In August 2021, a settlement was announced under which the district agreed to pay the student $1.3 million for his legal fees.
References
External links Gloucester County Public Schools website