The GATE curriculum.

Math, every morning.

At GATE Academy, the school day starts with 70+ minutes of mathematics instruction. Each student progresses at their own rate through a curriculum with a standard scope and sequence, so individualized instruction lets every student reach their greatest potential.

Core math teachers pose complex applied problems, oversee math-team games, and facilitate math competitions. Every year GATE has participated, students have scored in the top 10% internationally in the worldwide Math Olympiad program.

Into the lab.

Upper school students take a weekly science lab class and engage in hands-on investigation of the scientific process. With labs such as extracting DNA, reacting acids and bases, and designing structures, students get a feel for the unpredictable, fun nature of scientific discovery.

We take them beyond the theoretical into the complications of real-life implementation. Kids also have rich exposure to science during their inquiry periods — physical, earth and space, technology, and life sciences.

A language a day.

We offer each student a daily opportunity to become familiar with a foreign language. Children in grades preK–3 have classes in play-based spoken French and French culture with a native speaker.

In addition to French, upper school students participate in the Duolingo immersion program, choosing from over twenty languages. The language lab is customizable, allowing individualized progress and pacing.

Move every day.

Physical education is a core part of the GATE program and an essential part of each student’s day. Taught by Coach Roland Johnson, our PE program integrates four primary components:

• Basic fitness & skills — balance, coordination, strength, agility, cardiovascular health
• Dance — an individual discipline incorporating all the fitness components
• Outdoor hiking and environmental stewardship
• Interpersonal skills — self-regulation, conflict management, cooperative play

A mindful moment.

Each GATE student’s day starts with a mindful moment. Students learn focused attention (concentrating on the breath), open attention (monitoring sights, sounds, thoughts and sensations without reacting), and compassion and kindness intentions.

These techniques affect different brain regions — those controlling attention shifts, those connected to anxiety, and those facilitating empathy. GATE’s mindfulness program is evidence-based and secular: it reduces stress, increases self-control, improves awareness, decreases anxiety, and increases empathy.