Academics

All 9th grade students take 9th Grade Seminar. This research-based course is intended to ensure successful transition from middle school to a rigorous, college-prep high school, and to develop the social-emotional learning skills and awareness for adult life. This course also addresses healthy decision-making, and fulfills the state health requirement.

Gateway believes that education must be broader than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Students are required to take at least two full years in the arts, one of which needs to be a UC/CSU-approved course, and can choose from a range of courses including Visual Art, Drama, Dance, Film Appreciation, and Creative Writing.

Gateway students take four years of English Language Arts and social science; in 9th and 10th grade, these subjects are combined into humanities.

Our math program reflects the Common Core's focus on deep understanding of key concepts through exploration and problem-solving. All students will pass at least three years of math through Algebra 2. 

Our science program places an emphasis on inquiry-based learning techniques. Gateway students take three years of hands-on, collaborative science. 

Students take three years of a language other than English. We encourage students to take advantage of our Spanish program , which offers a world language approach for students who are new to Spanish, as well as classes designed to meet the needs of native and heritage speakers of Spanish or those who have participated in a Spanish-immersion educational setting prior to Gateway.

Students complete 240 hours (or 20 credits) of supervised physical activity (PE) in order to graduate. More information about how students can earn PE credit can be found here.  

Gateway High School students are required to complete 240 hours (or 20 credits) of supervised physical activity in order to graduate. Student-Athletes will be given credit for their participation on interscholastic sports teams and do not need to keep track of their hours for their season(s) of sport.

Credit allocations are as follows: 10 Credits (120 hours) for full participation in Varsity sports and for Boys JV Basketball, 7.5 credits (90 hours) for Girls JV Volleyball.

Students may also earn PE credits from specific Project Week activities. Credited PW Courses from 2015-2016 include: A Question of Sport, Beginners Guide to Camping, Boxing, Gardening for A Healthy Planet, Golden Gate Park Adventures, Mindfulness: Meditation & Yoga, & Surf's Up! 2017-2018 Project Week activities that will award PE credit will be announced before Project Week registration.

Those who complete supervised exercise outside Gateway are responsible for filling out a Physical Education Alternate Activity Record with dates and times of physical activity and the signature of their supervisor/coach. Parents or relatives may not sign off on completed hours without a pre-approved Parent Sign Off Application. This Parent Sign-Off Application must be renewed with each completed Alternate Activity Log and requires the student and parent to agree upon and monitor progress towards at least three stated and measurable fitness goals. These goals should reflect and inspire continued effort by the student to improve his/her performance during physical activity and should be revisited before each completed sheet is turned in for credit. 

Students who go to a gym or fitness center may have the facility manager print out their login sheet and sign it for credit. Other acceptable supervised activities include participation in the Girls Run Gateway Club or in “Houseball” intramurals at Gateway, yoga, Pilates, dance, rock climbing, martial arts, participation on a sports team outside of Gateway, a job or internship that requires strenuous physical exercise, or participation in selected project week activities. If you have any questions about the validity of an alternate activity for PE credit, please do not hesitate to ask. Gateway does offer one PE Class elective, the enrollment for which is limited to 24 students each semester.

Students have until five days before their graduation to have completed all of their hours and to have submitted (and had approved) all of their alternate activity records. If hours are not completed, seniors may participate in the graduation ceremony, but diplomas will not be issued until hours are completed. Physical Education Alternate Activity Records should be turned in as soon as possible for entry to the online system, to transcript, and to avoid losing track of hours or sheets. They may be scanned/emailed at any time. Forging these forms is a serious infraction and will be dealt with by Gateway’s administration accordingly. All completed Physical Education forms are subject to review.

"Physical Education Alternate Activity Records” are available in Gateway’s main office, outside of the Athletics & PE Office, and are posted for download on Gateway’s website.

Completed forms should be turned in to Coach Flynn’s mailbox, handed to him directly, or scanned/emailed to [email protected]. Once approved, hours are entered to a Google spreadsheet and are entered to transcript at least once each quarter. All Gateway students will have access to the Google form through their student email account, so they can monitor their progress at any time. Parents may have access to this form upon request, as well. All completed forms will be kept on file for future reference.

• View your student's progress towards Gateway's PE hours graduation requirement
• PE Hours Alternate Activity Log
• Alternative Activity Parent Sign Off