in this issue

GateWay Community High School has a new Principal, Dr. Gloria Smith. Smith said some of the new goals for the upcoming school year reflect the theme of the school - "GateWay is a Perfect FIT for both students and staff." Using the theme as an acronym,

P is for Personalizing your educational experience.
F is for Facilitating your academic growth and achievement.
I is for Intervening with support and resources.
T is for Transitioning from high school graduation to post secondary education, training, or career opportunities.

Smith said teachers will take on special assignments in order to provide each student with an adult mentor, personal progress plan and learning specialist for AIMS intervention and career specialist for transitions within and beyond high school. Upon graduation, all students will take with them portfolios on CDs that will include examples of their work, especially applied projects connected to career choices, pictures of field experiences, progress reports, grades and teacher recommendations.

In addition, GateWay Community High School faculty and staff have identified goals for group and individual pay for performance from state 301 funds. They include increasing attendance, reducing the dropout rate, and increasing AIMS Scores by at least three percent. If all goals are achieved, teachers will receive bonuses of $2,048.00.

In order to help them to reach these goals, teachers will also participate in staff development opportunities designed to help them maintain quality instruction while promoting high expectations for learning, student designed quality products, problem-based learning and curriculum alignment with state standards

This summer, Corneil Yazzie and Sally Baca, both juniors at GateWay Community High, attended the Hunnicutt Future Educators' Institute at Arizona State University for four days in June. They participated in a variety of activities and experiences introducing them to a career in teaching and developing leadership skills. Their parents attended a closing brunch where students presented plans for their model school of the future as well as plans for their individual futures in teaching. Yazzie and Baca will also participate in the high school's newest elective for both high school and college credit, Introduction to Teaching, which includes an internship in an elementary school setting. This was the fourth annual event sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa in partnership with ASU, businesses, corporations and friends of education.