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Dear Gateway Community,
Life at Gateway is centered by routines and rhythms; the predictability of class schedules, grading periods, holiday breaks, students traditions. So how do you keep a school community together when predictability is in short supply?
Gateway educators may not be in their classrooms this week, but teachers, mental health staff and school leaders have been pulling long hours and thinking outside the box to ensure each of their 800 students have the support and resources they need to thrive at home, and ensure they don’t miss a beat when school resumes.
If there is any bright side to this situation, I think it is the opportunity it
presents us to pause, contemplate our priorities, and move forward in a focused and innovative way. While I look forward to the day we welcome everyone back to our buildings, I am also confident we will have found some new ways to support our students and practices that support our own health and well-being along the way.
While many schools are turning to online learning for the foreseeable future, Gateway educators are mindful of how relying on technology can leave some students at a disadvantage. Not only are students being served through innovative approaches to home learning, like Google Classroom and live streams, but both the middle and high school are ensuring paper packets are mailed to students without home internet or computers.
Educators are collaborating remotely to create new lesson plans and curate resources for families, which is possible due to Gateway’s commitment to ensure staff are fully paid with benefits during the closure. Whether by text message, email, Zoom or other means, teachers are staying in regular communication with their students depending on each child’s needs- many of them balancing these commitments with caring for their own families and children. At the same time mental health counselors and learning specialists are calling home to support students with learning differences in completing school work, problem-solve with their families, and to check on their overall wellbeing.
These are not business-as-usual times, but Gateway has never been a business-as-usual place. By working together, we are all making sure that the bonds of this school community remain strong and connected, even as the campus remains closed.
Warm regards,
Sharon Olken
Executive Director, Gateway Public Schools
In a Lane of Her Own: Meet GHS’ One-Woman Swim Team
In 2019, Gateway High School added a swim team to its proud athletic tradition, with a small qualifier – it’s a team of one. Senior Vivian Redmond represents Gateway at events across the state, balancing a grueling athletic schedule with a demanding academic course load, and it’s paid off in a big way: she’s been recruited to compete with Wesleyan’s distinguished swim team when she begins college next fall.
READ MORE >
6th Graders Chart New Paths through Outdoor Ed
The incredible landscape and biological diversity of the Marin Headlands draws thousands of nature-lovers from across the world each year, but for three days in January its beautiful shore was both classroom and home-away-from-home for Gateway sixth graders’ annual overnight trip. READ MORE >
GHS Senior Named Among SF’s Youth of the Year
Gateway is celebrating the achievements of GHS Senior Masiyah Edwards, who was recently recognized by Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco (BGCSF) as one of the city’s eight Youth of the Year. Each year the award recognizes one young person from each BGCSF site for their moral character, community involvement, academic achievements, and perseverance in the face of significant challenge. READ MORE >
Check Out Photos from Project Week 2020!
Project Week is one of Gateway High’s most beloved traditions, and 2020 was no exception! This intersession between winter break and the formal start of the spring semester allows students to explore topics in-depth that they might not otherwise be exposed to at school -- from feminist fiber arts to surfing to the finer points of Dungeons & Dragons. Enjoy these photos of our students’ adventures far and wide!
Opportunities for Incredible Teachers and Leaders at Gateway in 2020
Hard as it may be to believe, planning for the next school year is already underway at Gateway, and a new school year brings with it opportunities to add inspiring and innovative educators to our faculty roster at both Gateway Middle and Gateway High School.
Gateway is currently accepting applications for middle and high school teachers in nearly all subject areas, including dance, art and Spanish as well as core academic subjects and special education. Our ideal candidates are deeply committed to educational equity, passionate about their students and subject area, and eager to become a part of our tight-knit school community. We are also in the search process for a new Principal and Assistant Principal at Gateway Middle in the wake of Mr. Watson’s transition to Director of Schools and Partnerships.
If you know an outstanding educator who may be a good fit for our faculty, please send them our way! Women, queer and POC candidates are especially encouraged to apply – as are alumni!
Second Annual Powerful Learners Conference Draws Record Crowds
More than 100 educators joined us at Gateway High’s Impact Lab on February 1 for our Second Annual Powerful Learners Conference, an incredible day of learning and collaboration focused on helping educators develop the skills and mindsets necessary to meet students' social and emotional, as well as academic needs both in and out of the classroom. READ MORE >
Great Gateway Not-A-Gathering Raises more than $70k for Students and Teachers
Longtime friends of Gateway may know that each March we celebrate the Great Gateway Gathering, an opportunity for staff and parents to toast to another great school year and our biggest family fundraiser of the year. As news of coronavirus-related school closures and the cancellation of nonessential community events became concrete, however, it became clear that the event could not go on as planned, jeopardizing tens of thousands of dollars in much needed funds for teachers and students. What to do? READ MORE >
Local Leaders Discuss Possibilities for Public Ed at Conversations for Impact Panel
Leaders in the public and non-profit sectors, academia and government convened at Gateway for Policies and Practices that Bring Communities Together For Student Success, the latest event in our recurring speaker series “Conversations for Impact.” A panel comprised of Jon Deane, CEO of GreatSchools, Phil Kim, Director of
Science, Technology and Engineering at the KIPP Foundation; Tara Kini, Director of State Policy at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) and Michelle Parker, VP Legislation at the Second District PTA shared their collective expertise about how families, educators and policy makers can work together to build better schools for all students.
Dream Big with Gateway in Challenging Times
Many friends and supporters have reached out to ask how you can help students and staff impacted by the recent school closures and shelter-in-place directives. We are amazed at our community’s eagerness to support Gateway students and teachers during this vulnerable time.
You can send your words of encouragement to our teachers by emailing communications@gatewaypublicschools.org. We will share your messages with faculty in our virtual team meetings next week.
If you would like to contribute to our efforts to support teachers, students and families through this challenging transitional period, please consider making an impact with a donation online. You can also reply to this email if you have additional ideas or resources you would like to share.
We appreciate our community's support as we work to meet this challenge.
