Gateways Summer School

I echo the sentiments of many of the reviewers below. Due to the impacted nature of the sign up process, my daughter had a hole in her class schedule. The school does not offer any oversight outside of classes. When I called to try to work something out, I was told that there was no space and I would have to shuttle my daughter to classes 4 times a day. When I asked for a refund on the steep cancellation fee due to this «catch 22,» the director of the school was rude and disrespectful. The director actually hung up on me after I asked for some basic information to assist in the refund process. Buyer beware!

My children have had an incredible experience at Gateways for four years. Then, when they became teenagers they were hired as TA’s for two years and had an amazing summer working experience as well. This is an amazing place for educational, fun, and informative camps. I highly recommend Gateways to any parent!

My twin daughters liked the classes okay, but I noticed they were let out early from their 3^rd class (which is supposed to end at 11:50 am), and no one was waiting with them near a busy pick-​up area. This is the second time that myself or my husband arrived at 11:48 am and they were waiting alone. They were in tears. No aide, no teacher. I also noticed the car in front of me being waved through by parking security, and the driver did not have a placard. When I called to be released from the next session due to security concerns, I was told by Carolyn Wood, Director, that my earliest opportunity for the Board of Directors to review a documented request would be September. She said «nothing has ever happened here» and the place is «secure.» I will try explaining that to my scared twins. At this point we have already committed $ 500 for session two and I don’t know if I can even get a partial refund for this scary experience!

My daughter just completed the 3 week session at Gateways School, and she (and we) had a wonderful experience. This review only addresses the courses and not the enrollment and cancellation policies, as we signed up relatively late (got incredibly lucky on the waitlists) and did not cancel or reschedule once we cleared the waitlists. My daughter took a 6 classes (Disney Chorus, Physics, Geometry, Drama, Mosaics, and Meteorology) and loved all of them. She taught her little brother Disney songs, and she memorized and happily recited the script from her drama class. Many days she would come home with a different musical instrument that she had created in Physics class as she was learning principles of sound and acoustics. The highlight was the wooden xylophone – perfectly proportioned to play a C major scale. I found the high school aides to be helpful and courteous. And, the other young students were very nice. My daughter told me she made 16 new friends from Gateways, and she listed them all by name and requested playdates. We are definitely registering her for Gateways School next year, and when our son is old enough, we will be registering him as well!

Our daughter has gone to GW X 5 years. She loves it and has learned a lot. It takes a while to gain senority to get popular classes, but it is always great to lean new things. The GW program rents out space in a beautiful campus setting

This school MAY be run by volunteer parents, but those same volunteer parents have LONG forgotten what it is like to try to place children in educational opportunities for the Summer. The registration system is INCREDIBLY non-​user friendly, puts pressure on parents to REGISTER FOR ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, just to save a space, then hits parents with steep cancellation fees. Attempting to speak with a «human» garnered additional frustration. Terribly snobby… no empathy. Great school, but good luck getting by the dragons at the gates.