Maggie Walker Governor's School: Remaking an Old-School Application Process

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Each year a subset of Henrico County Public Schools eighth-grade students is selected to apply to the Maggie Walker Governor’s School. This elite public school, which draws students from 13 central Virginia localities, is a comprehensive, college preparatory program emphasizing government, international studies, science, math, languages, and fine arts. Around 1,400 Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) students are invited to apply for admission. Each year, those students and their parents are notified by a mailed letter to obtain a 21-page handbook and eight-page application in person from their school counselor. The application requires the student’s demographic and coursework information as well as include teacher recommendations before it can be returned to the school counselor. Once a counselor receives an application, the counselor forwards it to HCPS Office of Gifted Instruction for processing. An HCPS staff member then enters the applicant’s demographic and coursework information into a database and submits the application package to Maggie Walker Governor’s School for further processing and consideration. Once student selections are made, students are notified by letter from HCPS and the selected students are required to mail back a letter of intent to HCPS in order to attend the program. An online portal would provide a more efficient and cost-effective way to communicate with families and students about the application process.