Learning

- Our Learning -

Students whose formal education has been interrupted by war need the individual attention that GVS teachers are trained to give. Starting with an assessment of individual need, teachers and trained volunteers provide an enhanced education including intensive English, math, science, and social studies.

Our teachers, whose experience includes ESOL and a wide range of classroom experience, use research based methods to help students achieve a solid grasp of English and other academic subject areas.

Key features of our curriculum include:

• Students engage in critical thinking and reflection in an environment with high academic and behavior standards.
• Using “place-based” learning, students acquire life skills necessary to succeed in the United States.
• The home languages and cultures of students are honored and their families welcomed into the GVS community.
• Using multiple assessment methods, GVS keeps comprehensive records of student achievement, enabling students to transfer to other schools.

Books Books and More Books!

Here are the new teachers preparing the resources for the coming year.  (This video was a sneak attack, and you can see that it's not only students who need to organize, but teachers too! And this is how you do it, piece by piece.)
Download Books books and more books!

School Trip to our Nation's Capitol

Through micro-economy classes teaching business basics, GVS students  worked hard to fund a four-day trip to Washington, D.C. The goal of the trip is to give students a first-person look at the workings of government, American history and culture.

The trip surpassed our wildest hopes on many levels, thanks to many gifts of expertise and hospitality. First came a phone call from the immediate past president of the Washington DC Guild of Guides, Shirley Timashev. Shirley's son Scott Hayes is a supporter here in Atlanta, and when Shirley learned of the school's trip she offered to be our guide, pro bono, for 5 days (and many hours of preplanning). Through her many other doors opened: Spirit Tours with a big blue bus, meals at Harriet's, and the how to of everything in the capitol.

GVS will never forget the kindness of Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church offering a wonderful potluck and free lodging for the girls, the Creole-Mauritian dinner prepared by Nanchin, Yang Li's sister, John Boyle's wonderful dinner and lunch, the Kennedy Center, the Women in the Arts Museum with its terrific exhibit on Turkish women artists, the staff of Congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis who did everything possible to welcome us, and  more, much  much more.  Were our feet sore? Yes!  Did we learn how this democracy works? Yes! We saw the health care bill passed, a Ways and Means Committee meeting, the whole National Mall filled with people exercising their voices peacefully. 

We saw America in action.