Gatewood Elementary School

4320 Southwest Myrtle Street

School District

Seattle Public Schools
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on October 23, 2024

My son transferred to Gatewood halfway through Kindergarten in January 2024 from a progressive private school. I was concerned about how my spirited child would do in such a large classroom setting but much to our surprise he did very well with the amazing Mr Mo and continues to do well in first grade with the amazing Ms Sarah. From the involved and energetic principal Kyna, to the active PTA, to the welcoming community, we feel so incredibly grateful to have Gatewood as our neighborhood school. Not only has it wowed me in comparison to local private schools my son has attended (some of which started in preschool and went through elementary) with reading buddy programs, world geography programs, genuine school spirit from all ages, leadership from 5th graders, enriching afterschool clubs (learning to ride a bike, social emotional parkour, fashion design, cooking, Lego, strategy games, and more) but my heart is warmed by the number of highly regarded male teachers (which research supports is very important for many children), the accolades the teachers have given to the principle after they’ve had more than decade of experience in education, exciting field trips (supported by the PTA for the entire class and for individuals as we have a lot of economic diversity), fun weekly school assemblies, and so much more! Principle Hogg seems to be an amazing leader, she remembers everyone’s names, made the 504 process seamless with the rest of the team, shes got great energy and a great team! My son is doing very well despite what other schools would have led us to believe was possible and can’t wait for his little sister to be a gator with him. If any school give me faith in public school, it’s this one!
Submitted by parent on January 19, 2024

Calls to pick up from school when child not sick. I received 4 texts and 5 telephone calls within 1 hour for a 99.2 temperature. Then the school emergency list was called and his temperature was 98.1 upon arrival -still sent home.
Submitted by parent on October 29, 2020

With one child half way through and another just starting at Gatewood, overall a great experience. The staff has done a particularly good job adapting in the COVID climate. There is a allot of great passionate teachers at Gatewood.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2020

I’ve been very disappointed with the school since we’ve been here. Leadership is almost nonexistent. From failing to support teachers appropriately, to a complete lack of ownership and accountability, failing to follow through on commitments, etc. There are some wonderful teachers at the school, but parents are hearing a lot of rumors that many teachers in the school are unhappy there. The community is amazing, but the school needs a strong, empathetic leader, with significant teaching experience. The inadequacies have been amplified during the COVID school closures. From a lack of communication from leadership and some teachers, to completely different levels of support depending on the teacher (leaving some classes to feel left behind), to inconsistent information, and failure to act on parent feedback and concerns. We’ve seen both ends of the teacher spectrum. We’ve had experience with an amazing teacher who is no longer there, largely due to lack of support from leadership. We’ve also had a teacher that was significantly struggling, and the situation was not handled well overall by the school. It just does not feel like school leadership encourages teachers to go above and beyond for the kids, instead being satisfied with minimum expectations. I hope to see this improve in future years. I’d really be interested to know how many parents are submitting school choice forms in an attempt to move their children out of this school. It’s not a bad school. But some things really do need to change.
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2020

There are a couple amazing teachers but they are up against leadership that I truly believe is incapable of going deeper than political smoothing. It is definitely a reactive culture when it comes to interpersonal struggles with the kids rather than proactively promoting love and kindness. Also the school is one of the most porous schools I've ever seen with open playground an people coming and going through several doors all the time with nobody monitoring.
Submitted by parent on March 07, 2019

I agree with other reviewers—the Great Schools rating doesn't match the experience we have had with our three children as students. I believe the ratings do not account for recent leadership turnover. Gatewood has an involved parent community, great teachers, and a fun and passionate Principal.
Submitted by parent on January 10, 2019

What prospective parents should know about Gatewood is that Great Schools' score doesn't at all reflect what a fantastic school this is. Gatewood's small size (around 400 kids) is great for the staff getting to know each individual child. Teachers high five kids in the hallway, pay attention to what's going on in their lives and deeply care about the job they are doing. The PTA is active and very supportive of the administration and students. This is a great community of friendly parents, grandparents and caregivers and where everyone is welcome. We have loved Gatewood for our three children and will be sad when they move on to middle school.
Submitted by parent on February 04, 2016

Gatewood Elementary has been a wonderful school for our boys. They have a warm and inviting staff and school
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2015

We have two kids at the school, and are very happy with their experience. The overall tenure hasn't been optimal, but that's more a function of the school district's bumbling. To counter some of the comments here, for those considering moving to the area, if the school has its ups and downs, it's definitely in an "up" phase. With a new school in the neighboring assignment area (Fairmount Park), the class sizes are optimal and the teacher roster is top-notch. Our son is in his third year there and our daughter just started kindergarten, and I don't know what else they could possibly be doing for us that isn't already happening. I'm the proud parent of a boy who is off the end of the reading and math charts in 2nd grade, where he entered the school completely unable to do anything but identify letters and count on his hands. Contradicting another review, roughly 10% of the input on the school is a spiteful parent, angry that the school didn't close for the Seahawks parade.Additionally, the school has an excellent independently-run daycare/pre-school that is in the annex of the school. There are separate areas for younger and older students, and the before/after school care extends to the cafeteria for the really older students. Both of our children went there from ages 3 to their current grades. They are flexible and helpful to accommodate busy parents' schedules.Where I'll concede to some of the not-positive feedback, it doesn't have special facilities for those on either end of the academic continuum. There are programs to cover those on the fringe of either gifted or special-needs accommodation, but those with more involved needs would likely have to relocate. Luckily, for West Seattle, we have schools that specialize for all kinds of needs.We're really happy. Nice community, great staff, nice kids, and good policy. If you don't like this school, you won't find anything better elsewhere, as it's the district's terrible management that makes anything sub-awesome here.
Submitted by other on April 05, 2014

My grandson attends the pre-K program daily. He has learned so much and I really love that science is part of the curriculum. Excellent school. My grandson LOVES going to school everyday!
Submitted by parent on January 23, 2014

My daughter graduated from Gatewood in 2012. She is now in an awesome private middle school - near the top of her class. We were very very impressed with Gatewood. It has excellent leadership, staff and a strong parent community that supports it. I would agree with critiques in other reviews that the 2-year bands are a good idea that doesn't seem to work out. It never seemed to work out that she had the same teachers 2 years in a row I am a big fan of the staff - and amazed at all they accomplish but the District overcrowded them several years ago. Consequently, the staff seems to have little space for supporting higher-achieving kids. But for a public school, it's great. The emphasis on writing is strong. Math is good. The social environment excellent. I was impressed at the integration of special needs services. They had music and DID have a food PE teacher. I withheld one star for the limitations for achievers. I think it is a district-level issue. But, as I indicated above, our daughter got a scholarship to a private Middle School so it is hard to say her Gatewood education was lacking. Go Gators!
Submitted by parent on July 14, 2011

This school has had its ups and downs for years. We had two children there five years ago, and perhaps things have improved, but we were frustrated with lack of challenge for high-performing kids, as well as with lack of staff in areas like art and PE (the school has a great gym that has gone unused without a PE teacher). We were also taken aback to discover that our kids were being used to mentor underperformers from nearby public housing but weren't being coached to their own potential. Which may be why when we moved to another city, our "top performing" kids had some catching up to do. Gatewood does a decent job with a very mixed community, but if the school doesn't do more for its advanced students it will continue to lose them.