WHAT'S INSIDE:
The Gateway School completed its Decennial Accreditation and has been re-accredited by NYSAIS.
Gateway welcomed back Gateway students for a holiday Alumni Reunion. Save the Date for Gateway's 2023 Annual Gala!
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We sat down with Valerie Rafal, Director of Mathematics and Chair of the Steering Committee for Gateway's Decennial NYSAIS Accreditation, to learn more about the accreditation process.
"When I was approached to lead Gateway through this important process, I really felt honored to be entrusted with the responsibility. Having been a part of this community for 20 years, I was excited to havetheopportunitytopresentourprogram totheoutsideworld.”
While becomingaccredited isatremendous amount of work, it is a meaningful process where independent schools are required to take this time to pause and really reflect and analyze their program. In a way, it forces educators to take that growth mindset approach, instead of fixed mindset (i.e., “It’s good as it is”). This growth mindset is one wherewe’realwayslearning,developing,and improving upon our skills. Our guiding questionis,"Wherearetheareasthatwecan grow as a community in the service of the students?"
Gateway's re-accreditation process began in thesummerof2021.ValerieandtheSteering Committeebeganbyfamiliarizing
themselves with past reports that had been submitted to NYSAIS (New York State AssociationofIndependentSchools)togeta sense of where the program was at the last pointinthisprocess,aswellasasenseofthe structure and formality of the document that wouldneedtobesubmitted.
Then, Valerie built an infrastructure and a plan for how the community would tackle thisprocess.ItwouldinvolveallofGateway's constituents, including faculty, staff, families, and trustees. The spirit of the process is a collaborativeonewhereeveryoneisapartof theproject,andeveryone'svoiceisreflected. To ensure that goal was met, Valerie divided the community into six main committees, led byco-chairsfocusedonadifferentaspectof theschool:missionandculture,teachingand learning, governance, financial stability, operations, and student life and community.
Valerie created a Google Classroom that includedtheresourcesneededtosupportthe team members in their work: guiding questions for each section, outlines, and draftingdocuments.
Head of School, Laurie Gruhn, and Valerie Rafal, Chair of the NYSAIS Accreditation Steering Committee, submit Gateway's final self-study to NYSAIS.
She then organized a year-long calendar devoting times during which committee memberswouldmeettofocusandreflecton one aspect
of the school. Valerie likened the process to
Gateway's hallmark Aim and Agenda. She listed tasks and goals for each meeting. "I approached this just as I would a Gateway class. I really thought about the sequencing and timeline, and how to break down the tasks so that our work as a community would result in a working draft. I had us start by exploring the guiding questions outlined by NYSAIS before we doveintothedraftingwork."
After several professional development days devoted to the reflection and outlining process,
the committee co-chairs wrote their sections, which described both what The Gateway School was currently doing, as well as goals to guide our community moving forward. Each team was also required to compile a folder of supplementary materials to support their written report. By second semester of the 2021-2022 school year, the school had a working draft, and the report movedintotherevisionprocessbeforebeing submitted.
The final step in the accreditation process wasavisitfromacommitteeofprofessionals frompeerschoolswhowouldspendfour
days reviewing the report, observing the school and the program in action, and interviewing all members of the community. There was a meeting for each sub topic, and Gatewaycommitteememberswhohadbeen involved with writing that section of the report attended that meeting and answered any questions for the Visiting Committee. At the end of four days, the Visiting Committee presented their findings and submitted their own report to NYSAIS for review. And in January of 2023, The Gateway School received the final report and a confirmation ofre-accreditation.
"This process wasn’t simply about outlining WHAT we do. It was about taking it to that next level and thinking deeply about WHY wedowhatwedo,andwhatareaswewould like to continue improving upon. The importantnextstepistodeterminethegoals that rose to the top for the Visiting Committee, so that we can prioritize for the next chapter of the school’s life. We will be diving into the process of creating an action plan,whichwecanimplementinconjunction with the Strategic Plan that was also completedthisfall."
Thank you to Valerie for her organization and guidance during Gateway's re-accreditation and taking the time to sit down with us for an interview. Valerie would like to thank Laurie and the Gateway Board of Trustees for their trust in her to lead this important process.
