Gateway School

State-of-the-art campus offers bright classrooms equipped with sound-field systems and personal FM systems, speech-language therapy rooms, a library, computer lab, auditorium, gymnasium and playground.

Gateway School is an 11-month, non-public program approved by the Maryland State Department of Education. It meets the criteria for non-public tuition assistance; private-pay students also attend. Parents of prospective students are encouraged to take a tour of our school so they can learn more, ask questions and see what a remarkable place it is.

Available; please contact for details

Gateway School offers two programs for preschool children. One is a special, Auditory/Oral preschool for children with hearing loss. Our regular preschool program is for children ages 3 through 5 with communication disorders that include speech and language delays, developmental delays, autism and other conditions that may include hearing loss. Like all Gateway School programs, classes for preschool children are small, with a low student-teacher ratio of 3:1 or less.
Our preschool students often face the challenges of multiple and sometimes medically complicated conditions. But our teachers make their preschool experience as nurturing and educational as possible. They provide each child with the attention he or she needs, and skillfully bring the students to their highest possible potential until they reach age five.
Classes for students age 5 through 12 offer language, academic and social skills instruction. Emphasis is placed on expanding and refining language skills that, in turn, support academic development and appropriate socialization. Gateway school’s individualized, multi-sensory instruction develops reading, spelling, written language and mathematics skills. Our classrooms are equipped with FM systems to meet both whole group and individual needs.

A Gateway School education emphasizes remediation of speech, language and hearing deficits that interfere with the acquisition and retention of academic and social communication skills and the development of appropriate social behavior. Language experiences and direct instruction facilitate language, cognition and academic readiness for preschool students. For older students in Kindergarten, Grades one through six or a non-graded program, the curriculum incorporates language learning within the subject areas of reading, written language, mathematics, science and social studies. The development of social and adaptive/life skills for school and the community is fostered throughout the program for all students.
Our preschool, Kindergarten, and elementary classes consist of small, self-contained groups of six to eight students with a low student-teacher ratio. Each student has an individualized education program based on his/her specific educational needs. The full-day Kindergarten and elementary classes are multi-age groupings of students ages 5 through 12 in Kindergarten, grades one through six, or a non-graded education program. Students are assigned to classes based on chronological age, language age, and the level of academic performance. Social skills and behavioral functioning are also taken into consideration in making class assignments.
Classes for pre-school aged children emphasize the development of language, cognitive and social skills as well as gross/fine motor and self-help skills. The daily class schedule includes time for directed play, a structured language group, readiness activities, free choice, motor activities and a snack.
Our Kindergarten and elementary classes provide instruction in language, academics, social skills and adaptive/life skills. Emphasis is placed upon strengthening language skills that support academic skills, social development and personal independence. Specialized instructional strategies are used to develop reading, written language, and mathematics skills. Instruction in the areas of science and social studies is hands-on, multi-sensory and emphasizes the development of language concepts that serve as the foundation for these subject areas. Instruction in social skills and adaptive/life skills is an important part of each student’s educational program and is integrated throughout the school day.
All students participate in weekly computer instruction and music, art, library, and recreation classes. Field trips and special events support the instructional program.

Related service professionals provide intensive therapeutic intervention to support the student’s participation in the educational program. Each Gateway student has an individualized education plan to guide his/her team of professionals, which may include a special education teacher, Teacher of the Deaf, instructional assistant, speech-language pathologist, social worker, audiologist, behavior specialist, occupational and/or physical therapist, psychologist and school nurse.

Computer labs available to all students

Ample free parking

no uniforms

Our program is designed for children with disabilities related to autism spectrum disorders, developmental delay, hearing loss, speech/language or other health impairment.

Our mission is to improve the lives of our students by developing their speech, language, hearing, social communication, cognitive and academic potential. Our goal is to help each child reach his or her potential so that he/she may transition into a less restrictive and/or more inclusive educational environment.

Gateway’s method is most successful with children who have been diagnosed with autism, speech-language disorders, hearing impairments or other conditions that hinder learning primarily because the development of communication skills has been limited. If communication difficulties are a child’s primary barrier to growth in other areas, Gateway School is an excellent place for the child. By working with the child to help him/her achieve better communication, other areas of development begin to emerge, sometimes dramatically so.

For 50 years, parents of children with special communication needs have relied on HASA’s Gateway School to develop their child’s fullest potential and to establish a base for life-long learning. Gateway School, founded in 1960, is a nonpublic, coeducational facility for students, ages 3 through 12, with communication disorders related to autism, developmental delay, hearing impairment, other speech, language or health impairment.

Gateway is a PBIS School. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Gateway has embraced the method because we discovered that it has an enormously positive impact on our students and teachers. The PBIS approach addresses a child’s problem behavior by identifying the environmental events, circumstances, and interactions that trigger problem behavior; the purpose of the problem behavior; the best support strategies for preventing. Using this approach, children understand clearly what type of behavior is acceptable, and what is not. They are called upon to do their best and good behavior is reinforced in a number of ways.

Gateway School operates as an 11-month, full-day program, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. and Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

-->