Gateway Academy, a private school in Phoenix for students in grades 6-12, is investing more than $325,000 in capital improvements, launching a new state-of-the-art curriculum and hiring additional subject matter expert teachers to round out the advanced placement curriculum.
Considering 1 in 36 children in the United States have autism, Gateway Academy is preparing for future growth. Founded in 2005, the school is set on 8.5 acres near the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and serves about 125 students who are considered “Twice Exceptional,” academically bright with high-functioning autism. The private tuition is free with Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. The school has a two-story classroom building, full-size field, full-size gymnasium, playground, on-site therapy dog program and an on-site desert tortoise habitat, plus Mochi the Axolotl. Typical class size is 12-14 students. Students take multiple field trips a month and upperclassmen participate in dual-enrollment classes at Scottsdale Community College.
“Gateway Academy is the place where previously bullied and ostracized students finally find their tribe,” said Robin Sweet, Gateway Academy’s Executive Director, CEO and Founder. “Students blossom academically and socially here. They attend prom, join a rock band, eat lunch with friends, participate on a basketball team, and feel comfortable in their own skin. Our new curriculum challenges students even further with more AP classes and more rigorous content. And our students thrive on the challenge.”
Gateway Academy’s new Savvas curriculum is award-winning, next-generation 6-12 curriculum designed to engage academically achieving students. As part of the modernized curriculum, Gateway Academy has changed the way it handles regular parent-teacher conferences, known as Warrior conferences. In previous schools, the parents and teachers met privately, and the student was left to wonder about the assessment. At Gateway Academy, the students meet with all their teachers at the same time as their parents to hear positive feedback.
Gateway Academy engages the students to embark on their own educational journey, said Stefanie Liberatore, whose daughter is a seventh grader. “Gateway has given my daughter her joy back,” Liberatore said.
“My daughter has gone from not wanting to go to school to really enjoying being at Gateway,” Liberatore said. “She loves the teachers. She is getting a great education and is learning a lot socially from her counselor and peer relationship teacher.”
Antoinette Goldberg’s daughter, a 12th grader at Gateway Academy, has participated in music therapy, art therapy, equine therapy, the yearbook committee and an after school rock band during her seven years at the school. She enjoys Gateway’s many social events such as Halloween dances and high school proms.
“I’m amazed by how far she has come. She is a lead singer or a back-up singer for her rock band performance each year,” Goldberg said. “Her ability to articulate her feelings and needs and her overall communication skills have improved.”
For the 2024-25 school year, Gateway Academy hired new teachers to complete a slate of almost 20 teachers who are all subject matter experts. The educators bring a varied background such as serving as the CEO of an Ai company, teaching English in China, coaching Olympic athletes, and providing music therapy.
“Gateway Academy is a magical school. Teachers and students read books out in nature with beautiful mountains in the background. Students can pet one of our therapy dogs when they need a break. I interact with the students in many different ways, including throwing a football with them or swinging on the swings,” said Curt Bobo, the Director of Student Services. “We are building a culture of positivity.”
