The Gateway School District Middle School Program exists to respond to the needs and characteristics of the mid-level students in grades 5-8. It is the mission of the program to provide a child-centered approach to education that ensures that all students develop their skills and talents to learn to live and to work together in a cooperative and productive manner. It is designed specifically to meet the educa­tional, social, and emotional needs of the young adolescent. It provides a gradual transition between life in the elementary and high school levels but is a unique experience apart from both.

Specifically, the program serves to facilitate the coordination of adolescent development with the functional aim focused on such concepts as experimentation, exploration, and socialization. Through broad utilization and application of the guidance function, the program assists the indi­vidual in seeking a growing knowledge of himself/herself and a rapidly changing world so that he/she may be better prepared to make decisions concerning his/her educational and vocational future.

The middle school program is designed to provide a broad general education in basic knowl­edge and skills, to allow for individual development of specialized learning and to foster concomitant learning which will aid the student in his/her transition from childhood to adult life. Students are urged to strive toward a degree of academic maturity commensurate with their abilities in the areas of listening, reading, thinking, speaking, and writing critically, so that with purpose and appre­ciation they can accept their responsibilities as citizens of their school, their families and the community in which they live. The middle school program also strives to develop a sensitivity to cultural and aesthetic values so that the student may learn to use his/her leisure time wisely.