Mission and Belief Statements

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Gateway School District, in cooperation with parents and other members of the community, is to provide quality educational opportunities for all students, to promote academic excellence in a safe and caring environment, to enhance self-confidence through personal responsibility, and to develop life-long learners who will be productive citizens in a diverse and changing world.

BELIEF STATEMENTS

• Individuals differ as learners; these differences matter in the classroom and schools should help us understand and respect the differences.
• All learners require respectful, powerful, and engaging schoolwork to develop their individual capacities so that they become fulfilled and productive members of society.
• Students who are the same age differ in their readiness to learn, their interests, their styles of learning, their experiences, and their life circumstances.
• A major emphasis in learner development is competition against oneself for growth and progress.
• Success is measured by student growth and learning, not report card grades.
• Teachers and other adults need to help learners accept responsibility for their own growth and progress.
• Individuals and society benefit when schools and classrooms are genuine communities of respect and learning.
• Students will learn best when supportive adults push the beyond where they can work without assistance.
• Students learn best when they can make the connection between the curriculum and their interests and life experiences.
• Excellent differentiated classrooms are excellent first and differentiated second. 
• All students have worth and deserve respect and dignity.
• All students are unique and can be successful learners.
• Learning is best achieved in a safe and caring environment.
• Community, families, students, and staff share the responsibility for education.
• Communication between home and school is essential.
• The adult community has the responsibility to model high ethical standards for children.
• Students should learn to live and work together in a cooperative and productive manner.
• Education should foster the desire to be a lifelong learner.