Gateway Programme

The Gateway Programme integrates the NEW American School academic components (Customized Curriculum, Accelerated Learning Strategies, Comprehensive College Preparation, and Personal Mentoring) into an Advanced Academic Approach to prepare, package, and position students for college success.  However, beyond the components of the programme, it is the way we implement these in order to prepare the student for success in education, business, and life.

What Makes Us Different – The Advanced Academic Approach

The Advanced Academic Approach is the crux of Gateway Programme and what separates us from all other programs.  Although it has been tailored and integrated into our curriculum, the Gateway Programme can be applied to any curriculum, indeed, to any type of learning process.  The Advanced Academic Approach consists of seven core models that we put into practice:

Mastery Model

We believe  that every student can master the learning material.  It is physically and mentally possible to find the answers to all of the questions the student may have over a given set of material.  The only difference between someone who scores a 70 and someone who scores a 100 is their mastery of the material.  Students who learn how to score 100s and develop the habit of mastering their material will succeed not only in school and in college, but in any endeavor in their lives.  And our learning system  trains and equips students so that it is easier for them to make a 100 than it is to make a 70 or an 80. Mastery and Excellence come from a trained mindset and the exercise of good habits.  In the Advanced Academic Program, we hold students to a Mastery Standard, give them the tools to achieve it, and patiently show them how to do it on their own.

Programmed Academic Model

To achieve the Mastery Standard, we use the Program Academic Model—a process that requires a student to answer all the questions, to get all of the questions correct, and to continually go back and re-work their assignments until they get all the questions correct.  This model strips out all of the conventional excuses that are made for low student performance.  The student progresses as he or she completes the task – all of the task – to the Mastery Standard.  This reduces student performance and advancement to only two variables: Application and Effort.  If the students will apply the tools they are given in the Learning Strategies, they will learn that will take considerably less effort to achieve that 100 score.

Student assignments are programmed such that if the student applies the tools that he/she has learned, the student will move through a course considerably faster than a student would in a conventional school.  We use the term “Student Paced” to describe how the student should progress.  This is not “Self-Paced,” because with many students “Self-Paced” means no pace all.

With the Programmed Academic Model, every student can make an “A” if he or she will simply apply themselves and put forth the effort.

E³ Scree – The College Learning Model

The College Learning Model is used to prepare students for college success.  It involves the three elements of college learning: Erudition, Elucidation, and Elocution.

Erudition is the ability to read and teach oneself.  Most of the learning that takes place in college will be based on Erudition – the student reading and acquiring knowledge through their own efforts. It is not enough to just listen to a professor give a lecture.

Elucidation literally means to bring light to.  This is a process where knowledge in information is shared.  College professors elucidate when they give lectures; they bring additional information and knowledge beyond what the student should have read.  They Enhance, or add more detail to, information the student should have learned in their reading.  They Enrich, or add more related information to, the information the student should have learned in their reading.  This also works the other direction with the student demonstrating to the professor how much he or she learned.

Elocution is the capacity to express oneself in writing and speech.  Here is where the student must find a way to stand out from among his or her peers.  We train students using protocol and other methods so that the student is prepared to make it easy for their college professor to give them a high-grade.

Blocked Schedule Model

We use a Blocked Schedule for our academic courses – much like many colleges do today.  The regular load is three courses plus literature reading and skills development.  We allocate two hours per day per course (total of six hours) with about one hour per day on skills development (reading and writing drills; test preparation), and about two hours of literature reading in the evening.  The actual times may vary with each student.  Most of the lessons in our curriculum are designed to take two hours to complete.

Each semester course is about 60 applied hours, so with 2 hours per day applied to each course, the standard course should take 30 school days to complete plus another week for testing and transition, and should take about 8 weeks to complete.  Students new to the program may take longer; experienced students usually move faster.

The Blocked Schedule is flexible to allow students to double up on a particular course to finish faster, or to place a course on hold and use that time to prepare for an SAT or ACT.  The Mentor will help the student manage the Blocked Schedule.

FAST Learning Model

In the Gateway Programme, the Accelerated Learning Strategies are put into action.  Beyond simply learning the Accelerated Learning Strategies, we train the student how and when to implement the Strategies, Methods, Applications, Routines, and Techniques.  We use the acronym FAST for First Apply the Specific Technique.

All too often students simply “dive” into an assignment without taking a few moments to properly plan and program their effort according to our Accelerated Learning Strategies.  Thus we have poor learning, poor performance, and a laborious process that takes so long the student loses interest and doesn’t complete the task.

Indeed, with our own students, it becomes almost immediately apparent when a student does not apply the proper learning strategies or when he or she abandons them.  Thus we instruct our Mentors to strongly encourage and ruthlessly enforce proper application of the Accelerated Learning Strategies.

SMART Goal Model

Jason Leitner – GA Air Force ROTC Scholarship Georgia Tech

We train our students to set goals.  This starts a routine and builds the habits we want our students to practice.  We want them to Plan-Program-Perform: Plan what they want accomplished, Program what they need to do to get there, and Perform – Do It!  Students are asked to prepare a Wish List of 101 things they want or want to accomplish.  From there, students learn to set 10 SMART Goals (Specific-Measureable-Attainable-Realistic-Time Specific).  They have a Daily Goal and Affirmation journal where they write and track their Goals each day.  From their Goals, they set Monthly and Weekly Objectives, and Daily Targets – what they GOT (Goals-Objectives-Targets) to do.  Again, we instruct our Mentors to strongly encourage and ruthlessly enforce SMART Goals.

Accelerated Achievement Model

Stephen Terry – TX Graduated Univ. of Texas – Arlington at 16 with a 4.0

Tabitha Ting – CO Scholarship and 4.0 at Univ. of Colorado

All of the previous models fold into this final model  – where students accelerate their overall academic progress – taking less time to achieve greater results.  Our students make academic progress without conventional constraints seen in public and private schools.  By setting SMART goals, the students are more purpose driven.  By applying the FAST Model, students get their individual lessons done faster and get more lessons done in less time.  Because courses are Blocked, it is easier to concentrate and apply more time on task.  With the College Learning Model, students become more independent and self-sufficient.  With the Programmed Academic Model, students are able to make corrections and make progress based on their own efforts.  With the Master Model, students learn to make better grades with less effort.  Overall, the student’s actions are more efficient and effective.  This allows us to provide the student opportunities they would not be able to enjoy in a conventional school.

Year-Round School – We operate year-round.  Although many of our Satellite Schools operate fewer months of the year, we want our students in courses year-round.  Several reasons for this:

• In public and private schools, students get “Spring Fever” about April 15 and “coast” the rest of the school year – losing their last six weeks.  When they return to school in the fall, it takes until Columbus Day (middle of October) before they get back to April 15 – a loss of six months – half a year!  Thus we have the parable of the “Tortoise and the Hare.”  If students will simply continue their academic progress year-round, they will get TWO academic years of work done in ONE calendar year!  Add in Accelerated Learning Strategies, and we see students who complete three years of middle school in one calendar year!
• Adding the extra three months provides for more flexibility throughout the year.  In public and private schools, families have to schedule their lives around “school.”  With our program, you schedule you life around… YOUR life.  There are students involved in activities and a year-round school year allows a lot of flexibility with travel and pursuing those activities.

Early High School Graduation – With students moving faster, getting coursework done earlier, our students can graduate earlier than their peer group.  Students have the opportunity to advance as fast as they want.  We have had students finish high school 2-3 years early and have had 16, 17, and 18 year-old college graduates.  However, early graduation is not compulsory.  We have our share of 17, 18, and 19 year-old graduates, and our oldest graduate was 92!

College Credit Opportunities – We provide a whole array of college credit opportunities.  See Earn College Credits below for details.

Click to view the other elements of the Gateway Programme:

Customized Curriculum

Accelerated Learning Strategies

Comprehensive College Preparation

Personal Mentoring

Earning College Credit

A group of our students after CLEP testing

We provide many opportunities for our students to earn college credit while in high school.  Students can challenge the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams, take extension courses from colleges, or cross enroll at local colleges for dual high school-college credit.  A significant number of our students earn 15-30 hours of college credit before graduation.

Please contact us at DElder@newcollegeprep.com for more information.