GFW Schools

GFW Schools is an independent public school district in south central Minnesota. Originally formed to serve the communities of Gibbon, Fairfax and Winthrop, the district has expanded over time to encompasses large portions of other surrounding communities, including:

• Lafayette: GFW sponsors the Lafayette Charter School.^[1]
• Brownton and Stewart: GFW absorbed much of the former McLeod County West school district.^[2]

GFW Schools
Location
Gibbon, Minnesota (district office) Sibley County, 55335 United States
Coordinates	44°32′4″N 94°31′19″W
District information
Type	Public
Motto	Fostering Lifelong Learners in a Caring Environment[citation needed]
Grades	PK – 12
Established	1987
Superintendent	Jeff Horton
Schools	Elementary (1), High (1)
NCES District ID	2712580
Students and staff
Students	788
Teachers	58.56
Staff	49.23
Student–teacher ratio	13.46
Athletic conference	Tomahawk (most sports), Gopher Valley AA (football)
District mascot	Thunderbirds
Colors	Red, black, and gold
Other information
District Song	Notre Dame Victory March
MDE ID	2365
MSHSL ID	520
Website	http://www.gfw.k12.mn.us

Schools

The district consists of two schools (before 2020, one was in each of the original three communities):

• GFW Elementary School (also the district office) - K-5
• GFW High School - 6–12

The middle school in Fairfax, Minnesota was closed following the 2019-2020 school year where the 6-8th grades were brought to Winthrop.

School Board

The district's school board consists of six members (two from each of the three communities). The term of office is four years.

Technology Initiatives

Interactive Cable TV (ICTV) System

Launched in 1985, the Sibley County Interactive Cable TV System was a groundbreaking form of distance education using interactive television that drew national media attention. ^{[3] [4]}

iPad Initiative

Launched in 2010, the iPad Initiative made GFW one of the first schools in the nation to provide all of its high school students with iPads. Because of this, it became known as a pioneer in making the switch from physical textbooks to electronic textbooks, and consequently gained local and national press coverage. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

For its trailblazing efforts, GFW was awarded the Apple Distinguished School award by Apple for the 2010-2011 school year. ^[9]