For over two decades, Gateway Public Schools have been committed to preparing an incredibly diverse student body with the skills and mindsets necessary to create a more just world. In order to make that a reality, we are required as educators and as a school community to acknowledge the ways in which public schools have traditionally been used to further white supremacist norms and policies, and interrogate the ways in which white supremacy and anti-Blackness can continue to operate in education.
We are firmly committed to fighting systemic racism both within and beyond our campuses, and to developing students who will continue that work as young adults. To that end we:
- Implement evidence-based, developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive teaching methods in which we explicitly teach about identity development, diverse cultures, and anti-racism.
- Provide opportunities for students to engage in identity, diversity, and social justice work both in and out of the classroom, alongside supportive faculty in a variety of contexts.
- Encourage student voice, choice, and community action through an educational approach centered on student agency, restorative justice, and intentional community-building.
- Work alongside families from a lens of inclusion, partnership and humility, with the belief that they are the first, best experts on their children and co-architects of our school community.
