Day in the Life
Day in the Life of a Govian
Gow students days are busy from about 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. The structured daily routine is what sets our students up for success. Students are working hard and through that process, magic happens.
7:30 a.m.
Alarms start going off in the dorms. Resident assistants and dorm parents start going around the dorms to ensure students are getting up and making it to breakfast by 8:00 a.m.
8:00 a.m.
All school breakfast. Students arrive to the dining hall at 8:00 a.m. in their uniforms ready for the day. Students have assigned seating in the dining hall for breakfast and lunch sitting with different faculty members and students every month.
The health office has a satellite office in the dining hall to ensure all students who need morning medication can see her.
Once announcements are made at the end of the meal, students head off to house jobs, our version of chores. Students are assigned to a specific duty on campus; wiping off the desk in study hall, vacuuming, taking out the trash. House jobs not only help keep our campus clean, but it gives our students the responsibility of keeping their homes clean.
8:45 a.m.
Classes start for the days. Classes are 45-minutes long with the average class size being 3-7 students. With small class sizes students gain confidence in themselves and ask for questions instead of hiding in the back of the class.
Students work off a seven period rotating schedule with six classes meeting Monday - Friday and four class on Saturday. One of those seven periods will be a day time study hall. Every Gow student will take Reconstructive Language, our in house remediation program on top of the standard course load, English, Math, History, and Science.
12:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday at 12:00p.m. our community meets as an entire school for Assembly. Assembly is our Head of School, Mr. Munro, time to teach. Every week he comes up with the new theme, some past examples are: the four pillars, wear your seatbelt, water, and save your money. Everyday the theme is built on and most weeks he asks for students to provide input on how it pertains to their lives.
Assembly is also a great time to push information out to our students about club meetings, games, practices, and presentations. It is Gow tradition that at the start of every year, all of the new students introduce themselves to the school during assembly. Students are encouraged to practice their public speaking skills every day.
12:25 p.m.
Time for lunch! Lunch is done in two shifts, grades 6-10 and then 11 and 12. When the first group is eating, the second half of the students are enjoying some free time outside when the weather is nice or in the Gow Center when the snow arrives. Students have assigned seating similar to breakfast but their breakfast and lunch seats are not the same. This lets students meet kids in different grades and connect with teachers they may not have in class.
Faculty are also at the table to ensure students are eating balanced meals every single day and to work on table manners, and social skills.
1:15 p.m.
Students head back to class for two more academic periods.
3:00 p.m.
At the end of the day students have a 30 minute window of time known as tutorial. Tutorial is similar to college office hours. Students are able to go to their teachers if they missed something in class, have a question on homework, or just feel as though they need some extra support. If students do not sign themselves up for tutorial, teachers can sign students up to attend if they think the students needs a little bit more help.
4:00 p.m.
After the academic day is done, our students head back to their dorms and change for athletics. At Gow, students do not take gym class, instead athletics are built right into their schedules. All students are required to do a sport but with options like, soccer, basketball, dance, outdoor education, skiing, lacrosse and more, there is something for everyone.
6:00 p.m.
After games and practices are done, students head back to the dorm to get ready for dinner. Students change into what we call dinner dress and head over to the dining hall. Dinner is a little bit more relaxed as students do not have assigned seating and once they are done eating they can leave.
Faculty members supervise dinner as well but dinner is also the time that our faculty members spouses and children join us for a meal.
7:00 p.m.
At 7:00 p.m., all students head over to study hall upstairs in Orton Hall for evening study hall from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.. Study hall allows for students to get their homework done while being able to ask the teachers that are proctoring. Every night five teachers are on duty representing the five main subjects. This ensure that is students have a math question they can ask a math teacher.
9:00 p.m.
After study hall is over, the students academic responsibilities are done. They head back to their dorms and hang out with friends, play videogames, get laundry done, shower, or just relax in their rooms.
10:00 p.m.
By 10:00 p.m. lights are out and the dorms are quiet. Students head to bed and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
For our middle school students dorm parents collect all electronics, charge and lock up all phones and computers to ensure students are going to bed and not staying up to late. Older students are not required to turn in their electronics but at 10:00 p.m. the wifi is shut off to ensure they are going to bed.