Who Gateway ServesIs Gateway a school
for my student?

Yes. Every Gateway student has a clinical autism diagnosis. Students here are academically capable and also need real support during the day, and Gateway is built for both of those things at once.

Not on its own. Gateway is built for students who are academically bright and have a clinical autism diagnosis, often written as Level 1 on an evaluation. Plenty of students here also have ADHD, anxiety, or a learning difference alongside that, and all of it is supported during the day. If ADHD is the whole picture, a college-prep school with strong support services is usually the better fit, and admissions will tell you that on the phone instead of putting you through a tour first.

Twice-exceptional, often shortened to 2e, describes a student who is academically bright and neurodivergent at the same time. Most schools are set up to handle one or the other. A 2e student is often too capable for a program built around support and too unsupported in a program built around rigor.

Yes. Gateway is built for students with a clinical autism diagnosis, and that is what admissions looks for. An IEP that lists autism as the category also qualifies. It does not need to be recent, because autism does not expire, though we will ask for recent documentation so we understand what your student needs now. Arizona ESA, which covers tuition, can also be based on a current IEP, so admissions will walk you through what applies to your family.

Yes. Bring what you have. An IEP that lists autism as the qualifying category works on its own. An IEP for something else does not, because what Gateway needs is the autism. Gateway's own support is built into the school day rather than delivered as a separate service, so the plan informs the work instead of sitting beside it.

Counseling, social skills, executive functioning, pragmatic language, and sensory strategies are integrated into every day. Classes are about 12 students in middle school and 14 in high school, taught by subject expert teachers.

That's the most common story here. Social skills are taught through UCLA PEERS as a real class rather than an afterthought, and pragmatic language is part of the school day.

Gateway Academy is at 3939 E. Shea Blvd. in Phoenix, at the base of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, serving grades 6 through 12. Families come from across the Valley, including Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and the North Phoenix area.