How We Teach

We exist to meet individual learning needs in the classroom and expose students to learning opportunities beyond the traditional school setting. Our curriculum centers around multi-age cohorts, where every learner participates in his/her own education, while serving an essential role in leading and serving the whole school community. The cohort model promotes learning and leadership.

Pre-kindergarten 1 & 2
& Kindergarten

Age 3+

Lower Elementary Cohort

Grades 1 – 2

Upper Elementary Cohort

Grades 3 – 5

Junior High Cohort

Grades 6 – 8

High School Cohort

Grades 9 – 11

If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. ~ Ignacio Estrada

Curriculum

The curriculum of Gateways Academy is intentionally crafted as an adaptation of frameworks focused on integrated learning and critical thinking.  While the Massachusetts Department of Education frameworks provide a strong foundation for our learning, we have selected the British Columbia New Curriculum Model as our overarching model for education.  Selection of this curriculum design affords Gateways Academy the ability to maintain consistency across cohorts in the multi-age groups while emphasizing student discovery and learning through collaboration.

Instructional Design

Within an integrated educational design, visual arts, music, and world languages readily incorporate into project-based learning.  Intentional infusion of these components into everyday collaborative learning time enhances the learning experience and increases student interest for later more intensive student study.

Our instructional design will include: a blend of on-site and digital instruction, Socratic seminar, and project-based learning.  Given our academic and professional skill set, we are also able to offer support services for students with individualized learning plans and provide direct reading instruction through the Wilson Reading program.

Conquer – Collaborate – Create

Students achieve and grow at their own pace, moving beyond traditional curriculum limits

Students apply critical thinking skills through inquiry-based  instruction and hands-on projects

Student engage with peers school-wide, mimicking a real world environment for multiple ages and abilities

Students think outside the box as they become inventors, take academic risks, and explore our world