Garnet Valley Middle School
| Garnet Valley Middle School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| State |  Pennsylvania
|
| Region | Southeast Pennsylvania |
| Map | |
| Information | |
| Member of SO since | mid 2000s |
| Teams | 3 |
| Colors | Garnet, White |
| Feeds to | Garnet Valley High School |
| Tournament Host | Garnet Valley Invitational |
| Results History | |
| Best regional | 1st, 2023 |
| Best state | 7th, 2019 |
| Best nationals | Never qualified |
Garnet Valley Middle School is located in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. They compete in the Southeast region, and feed into Garnet Valley High School, which has experienced success at the Division C level. They have also hosted the "annual" Garnet Valley Invitational since 2018.
Team Selection
Recently the coaches have been selecting students onto the team through two tests. The first test is a general science knowledge test with some questions taken from certain events. The second test changes every year. For example, in the 2022 season, students were asked to make a meet sheet for Solar System. They were tested on Solar System and their meet sheets were collected for evaluation (presumably something about organization and preparedness or something of the sort). In 2023, the event was Forestry, but with a shortened tree list because of the meet sheet requirement. In 2024, the event was Fossils with a shortened Fossil list. Looking at these trends, it is safe to say that students will be tested on Entomology in the 2025 season for the second test. The coaches take the top 45 scoring students to make up the club, and often admit all of the 8th graders that try out.
Results History
| Year | Rustin | Regional | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | - | 7th (292) | 25th (471) |
| 2011 | - | 5th (192) | 12th (359) |
| 2012 | - | 5th (248) | 23rd (484) |
| 2013 | - | 7th (252) | 24th (483) |
| 2014 | - | 6th (210) | 18th (384) |
| 2015 | - | 6th (189) | 14th (406) |
| 2016 | - | 8th (196) | 16th (407) |
| 2017 | 4th (260) | 3rd (138) | 13th (349) |
| 2018 | 9th (436) | 2nd (98) | 8th (286) |
| 2019 | 13th (474) | 3rd (109) | 7th (272) |
| 2020 | 21st (549) | 2nd (87) | Cancelled |
| 2022 | - | 2nd (91) | 8th (253) |
| 2023 | - | 1st (75) | 8th (260) |
| 2024 | - | 2nd (75) | 8th (243) |
| 2025 | - | 3rd (93) | 9th (243) |
Team culture
"Meet Sheets"
The Garnet Valley Middle School Science Olympiad team has an alternative term for cheat sheets, note sheets, etc. They call them "Meet Sheets". The etymology of the word seems to originate from a coach, but no one knows for sure.
States
GVMS has never come close to qualifying for nationals due to the Springhouse-Shady Side dominance in the state. However, due to Shady Side disbanding their Division B team in the 2024 season, the GVMS team has good reason to believe they will break into the top 5. Update: They did not make it into the top 5 due to multiple event bombs :(
Members and Alumni
Current members:
Alumni: