Gilbert Public Schools
school district based in Gilbert, Arizona
Gilbert Unified School District #41 (GUSD), also known as Gilbert Public Schools (GPS), is a school district based in Gilbert, Arizona, United States, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The 60.26-square-mile (156.1 km2) district is the 7th largest in Arizona, and serves over 34,000 students at 39 schools across Gilbert, Chandler, and Mesa.
In 2018, the district was named "4th Best School District in America" by the National Council for Home Safety and Security and "Best Public School/District" in the "Best of Gilbert 2018" issue of the East Valley Tribune. As of 2025, fifteen GPS schools have earned the "A+ School of Excellence™ Award" from the Arizona Educational Foundation. All GPS schools achieved either an 'A' or 'B' letter grade for the 23/24 school year, rating them as excellent or highly performing by the Arizona Department of Education.
History
In 1900, the first school in Gilbert was built on the southwest corner of Baseline and Cooper roads. This school was moved in 1909 to the northeast corner of Guadalupe and Cooper roads. It was named Highland because this was the highest land south of the Salt River. It was part of the Mesa Unified School District #4.
In 1913, with the completion of its first elementary school, Gilbert School District #41 was formed.
The public source identifies “Gilbert Public Schools” as school district based in Gilbert, Arizona. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gilbert, Public and Schools.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Gilbert Public Schools”, the useful work is to connect “school district based in Gilbert, Arizona” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5561160. VIAF identifies the subject as 145808666. The Library of Congress control number is no2009004814. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2018, 2025, 1900 and 1909.
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How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gilbert Public Schools”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gilbert Public Schools primary sources, Gilbert Public Schools archive and Gilbert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gilbert Public Schools” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.