International Baccalaureate

Philosophy

Gateway fosters an ethical culture by consistently teaching and adhering to the principles of the Learner Profile.  In order to maintain fairness, trust, and credibility in assessment and data collection the school must maintain strict expectations for the administration and scoring of student work in daily learning as well as in more formal settings.  Students, from a young age, must be taught the appropriate settings for collaborative versus independent  work and how this is connected to showing respect for ourselves and others.  Academic Integrity embraces the ideal that we can “show what we know” without fear because each student is on a unique and personal journey of intellectual growth.

Student Expectations

Students will:

1. Do their own work to the best of their ability.
2. Give credit when they use information, ideas, or images from others (age-appropriate citation).
3. Work cooperatively without copying others’ work.
4. Use technology responsibly, following teacher directions for research, collaboration, and sharing.
5. Ask for help if they are unsure about expectations or instructions.

Teacher and Staff Responsibilities

Teachers will:

1. Model academic integrity in teaching practices and interactions.
2. Teach research skills and age-appropriate citation methods.
3. Create assessments that encourage original thinking and discourage copying.
4. Support students who struggle with understanding academic integrity.
5. Communicate consistently with families about expectations.

Family Partnership

Families will:

1. Encourage students to complete their work independently.
2. Support academic honesty by reinforcing classroom expectations at home.
3. Celebrate effort and learning rather than only final grades or products.

Addressing Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct may include:

• Copying work from a peer or online source.
• Using AI or translation tools without permission.
• Misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own.

When misconduct occurs, teachers will:

1. Discuss the concern with the student in a supportive, educational way.
2. Offer a chance to redo the work honestly when appropriate.
3. Communicate patterns of concern to families and administration if needed.

Review

• Review of all practices is ongoing, and the Academic Integrity policy will be reviewed and refined at least once per year.
• All IB policies will be available on the school website.

Philosophy

Gateway Elementary School exists as part of the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) system of Davidson County, Tennessee. As such, Gateway offers admission to all students residing in our geographic zone regardless of ability, language, or experience. The MNPS slogan of “Every Student Known” outlines the philosophy of the district, embraced at every school, that every student is on a unique personal journey and will be known, valued, and provided the tools and guidance they need to succeed in school and life. Additionally, as an aspiring IB PYP school, Gateway embraces the IB philosophy of inclusion so that every student can fully participate in and develop through the IB programme. We acknowledge and accommodate for the diverse learning styles of all children by providing differentiated instruction and supports. We seek to provide the same educational opportunities for all children regardless of ability in the least restrictive environment. Students with identified disabilities may become eligible for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan where accommodations and/or modifications are included to provide the student with equitable access to the general education curriculum.

Purpose

The purpose of our Inclusion Policy:

• To maintain open access to the Primary Years Program for all students
• To emphasize the responsibilities of all teachers who serve the student with a disability to provide the documented accommodations and/or modifications
• To validate and enhance the efforts of our learning community to meet the educational needs of all students
• To define the roles and shared responsibility of each stakeholder (staff, students and parents)

Practice

Differentiation

All classroom instruction is delivered in a “Tier 1”, or grade-level, approach with differentiation addressing Tier 1 issues such as personal preferences, habits, or grouping needs. The purpose of differentiation is to provide instruction which meets the learner’s level as well as to incorporate a variety of learning styles during classroom instruction.  Standards and content are not affected by classroom differentiation.

Support for Students

We are required by The Tennessee Department of Education to use the Response to Intervention (RTII) model as the starting point to identify students who may need additional academic support to make satisfactory progress towards meeting grade level expectations. At Gateway this is done in a scheduled block know as “Talon Time” where classroom teachers or interventionists provide targeted small group instruction based on the data collected in the universal screeners and recommendations provided by the MTSS-A (Multi-Tiered Support System-Academic) Team. These students are identified as Teir 2 or 3 based on scores and intensity of intervention is determined by this level.  Weekly or bi-weekly progress Monitoring is used to measure student progress.

Exceptional Education (EE)

If a student does not show adequate growth after several interventions have been tried, they are referred for a deeper evaluation.

Students who qualify for exceptional education services receive support from the EE (Exceptional Education) staff. Students’ academic skill deficits are addressed with evidence based interventions using the least restrictive environment as appropriate to their individual needs

The EE staff collaborates with classroom teachers to help provide modifications or accommodations in the classroom so a student can participate in the general/PYP curriculum.

Gifted and Talented

Students that have consistently tested above grade level are referred for additional testing for acceptance into the MNPS GATE (Gifted And Talented Education) program, a special branch of the Exceptional Education department. Testing is conducted in the spring of each school year and students are evaluated through a matrix based on multiple measures. Students who qualify for the program receive enrichment through project–based learning approximately 2-3 hours per week during Talon Time.

GATE Screening

K-5 students can be recommended to group screen for GATE every spring with these qualifiers:

• Testing at or above the 90^th percentile in a nationally normed test in reading and/or math.
• Students can be recommended for screening by their teachers as top of the class in reading, math, logic or reasoning. Final screening decision will be data driven and made by the Gifted & Talented Department.
• Parents can also request spring screening. Final screening decision will be data driven and made by the Gifted & Talented Department.
• Teachers can recommend students for GATE at any time following the S-team protocol and going through Psychology for testing.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Teachers: It is the teacher's responsibility to know their students’ needs and provide reasonable supports to ensure success. Systems and supports are set in place to identify and address exceptional needs. It is the teacher’s responsibility to seek out the appropriate supports by following the prescribed systems and procedures and documenting progress and communication. Finally, it is the responsibility of the teacher to regard the family as a partner in the work of supporting students and communicate in a timely manner.

• Exceptional Education Teachers: It is the responsibility of the EE case manager to provide all co-teachers with the appropriate information so that they may support the students and partner with the classroom teachers to accommodate or modify materials as needs arise and as outlined in the IEP. It is also the EE case managers responsibility to provide the interventions as outlined in the IEP, and to continuously track data of academic/behavior goals to ensure that IEP supports are effective. Finally, it is the responsibility of the teacher to regard the family as a partner in the work of supporting students and communicate in a timely manner.

• Para-professionals: It is the Para-professionals responsibility to support the students they are assigned to as instructed by the EE case manager and as outlined in the IEP.

• Students: It is the student's responsibility to seek assistance from adults when needed and approach challenges with grit and determination.

• Families: It is the families’ responsibility to communicate needs and concerns quickly and clearly to the school so that issues can be addressed effectively. It is also the responsibility of the family to provide updated information in timely manner so that plans can be modified appropriately. Finally, it is the responsibility of the family to regard the school as a partner in the work of supporting students.

Review

• Review of all practices is ongoing, and the Access and Inclusion policy will be reviewed and refined at least once per year.
• All IB policies will be available on the school website.

Drafted 10/7/2025

Philosophy 

Gateway Elementary believes collaborative reflection is key in developing an assessment policy for our school. Teachers, staff, and students need to reflect on, collaborate about, and communicate the types of assessment practices that will be beneficial to learners, teachers, and parents.   

Assessment at Gateway serves three primary purposes: 

1. Assessment is used to guide instruction. Teacher-directed assessments include both formative and summative assessments in formal and informal settings. These allow the teacher to determine future instruction and help in the development of future lessons.   
2. Assessments are a way to monitor a student’s learning. 
3. Self-assessment allows a student to reflect upon what he or she is learning and has learned about a concept and/or skill. This knowledge can then be communicated to the students, teachers, and parents in a variety of forms such as verbal, written, performed, etc.  

Principles of Assessments  

The purpose of assessment is designed to give a clear picture of a child’s progress. Further, it is used to focus instruction and enhance learning, and to provide feedback on the learning process. Assessment strategies may be differentiated to meet the needs of all students and to maintain and promote standards of excellence. 

Effective Assessments 

 Effective assessments allow the teacher to: 

• Plan and integrate them into the learning process. 
• Identify what is worth knowing and assessing
• Include collaboration between the student, teacher, and other students. 
• Produce evidence that can be reported and understood by students, parents, teachers, and administrators. 

Effective assessment will allow students to:  

• Demonstrate growth and mastery of content via self-assessments, writing samples, group work, and collaboration with peers, oral presentations, and/or portfolios.   
• Reflect on their work in a thoughtful manner after a line of inquiry is completed. 
• Verbalize conceptual connections they have made throughout the unit of study.  

Assessment Practices 

What is Assessed? 

Gateway, as part of the Metro Nashville Public School system, assesses students according to the Tennessee Department of Education adopted Standards and IB Mandated Criteria through unit planners and IB Learner Profile attributes.  

How do We Assess? 

The teachers and staff at Gateway assess students in a variety of ways. Teachers will collaborate to create common assessments, formative and summative, to assess student achievement and analyze instructional practices in Reading/ELA, Math, and all PYP units of inquiry.   We also use the following methods in formative and summative assessment:

Mandatory Requirements

• Grade level teachers collaborate to create common assessments, if additional assessments are needed beyond what is provided by curriculum. 
• Grade level teachers administer weekly Sown To Grow check-ins and monthly/quarterly Navigator check-ins to all students to monitor and follow up with students social and emotional well-being.  
• All classroom teachers will administer the formative and summative assessments and the self-reflection from six unit planners. (Kindergarten teachers will administer the assessment and self-reflection from four unit planners). 
• All teachers will administer both formative and summative assessments necessary to guide instruction and assess student achievement for all subjects covered in their classroom. 
• FastBridge assessments will be used as a Universal Screener for all Kindergarten-5^th grade students in reading and math (3 times per year).  
• Wit and Wisdom End-of-Module 1 Tasks are used as a written expression screener for 2^nd-5^th grades in October
• A FastBridge written expression screener is given to 1^st grade students in January. 
• Lexia placement and iReady diagnostic tests are administered to all Kindergarten-5^th grade students. Additional diagnostic tests may be administered if more information is needed to support student learning and intervention in reading and/or math. 
• District Benchmarks in ELA, Math, and Science are administered to 3^rd-5^th grade students at the end of the first three quarters.  
• TNReady will be administered to all 3^rd -5^th grade students in the spring.  
• Our MLL team will administer ELPA21 Summative Assessment to active and waived EL students during February and March to assess language acquisition.   

Assessment Strategies and Tools  

 Assessment Strategies 

• Observation: all students are observed regularly, with the teacher at times taking anecdotal notes on the individual, the group, and the whole class. Observations include how groups work, the roles of participation within the group, and the individual student’s understanding of content during class or group discussions. 
• Process Focus: Students’ skill and developing understanding are observed in real contexts regularly, using checklists, narrative notes, and/or inventories. The emphasis is on the process and skill application rather than the product. This is often the focus in the Arts and Hands-on-Science kits’ investigations. 
• Selected Response: Single ‘snapshot’ samples of what students know or are able to do. These might be in the form of tests, quizzes, or projects.  The projects may be student created works such as posters, speeches, artwork, writings, or student performances.  
• Open Ended Task: Students are given a prompt and asked to communicate an original response.  These may be written or oral.  No two students will give the same response. In this way, the students’ understanding and application can be individually assessed. 
• Performance Task: Represents the kind of challenges that people face in the world beyond the classroom. It requires using a repertoire of knowledge and skills to accomplish a goal or solve a problem. It also requires thoughtfully applying knowledge, rather than recalling facts. The task may be open-ended, has an identified purpose, and audience, involves realistic scenarios, and has set criteria to be met.  
• Portfolio: A collection of student writing and personal reflections drawn from each unit of inquiry.
• Checks for Understanding (ELA/ Math): Grade level teams along with instructional coaches are utilizing and creating focused assessments based on standards being taught to inform and individualize instruction and to evaluate their own teaching practices.  

Assessment Tools  

• Success Criteria: Performance lists offer practical means of judging student performance based upon identified criteria aligned with grade level standards. A performance list, or checklist, consists of a set of criterion elements, but not performance levels. These are used for students to know the criteria before embarking on their work, to assess that they met the criteria. These do not measure how well the students performed. 
• Holistic Rubrics: A holistic rubric provides an overall impression of a student’s work; they yield a single score or rating for a product performance. They provide a quick snapshot or impact of overall performance. These are used to get a general impression of a piece of work. 
• Analytic Rubrics: An analytic rubric divides a product of performance into distinct traits or dimensions and judges each separately. Since rubrics rate each of the identified traits independently, a separate score is provided for each. These are used for larger projects, summative assessments, and narrative, opinion, and expository writing.
• Benchmark/Exemplars: These are samples of student work that serve as concrete standards against which other samples are judged. These can be used in conjunction with rubrics.
• Anecdotal Notes: Anecdotal notes are written notes based on observation of a student. These notes need to be systematically compiled, organized, and analyzed. In addition to the informal formative notes teachers may use in daily practice, the Multi-Tiered System of Support-Academics (MTSS-A) team meets regularly to evaluate student progress and needs.

Reporting and Recording 

• Report Cards: Teachers input all student grades into Schoology and link to Infinite Campus.  Parents and their student can access Schoology remotely to check assignments and grade progress. Students will receive a formal report card every nine weeks as required by Metro Nashville Public Schools. This report card will include grades for all curriculum subjects
• Progress Reports: Additionally, students will receive 4 Progress Reports that are sent home approximately midway through the nine weeks. 
• Conferences 
  • Parent-teacher conference: These conferences are held in the fall to discuss the child’s progress, areas of need, and goals. Additional conferences may be scheduled if the classroom teacher or parents deem it necessary. 
  • Teacher/student conferences, called Data Chats, are a time for students to reflect on their progress, habits, and goals for the next academic term.
• FastBridge data: Beginning, middle, and end of school year screeners used to determine areas of instructional gaps, students in need of MTSS-A Tier 2 and 3 academic interventions, and track progress over time
• TNReady: state required achievement test
• Student Reflection and Work Portfolios: for each unit of inquiry the students will complete a reflection/self-assessment to be kept in a digital binder.  Their portfolio will follow the students from year to year.   

Grade level teams will provide copies or electronic access to copies of all assessments, rubrics, tests, and performance tasks, both formative and summative, to the PYP Coordinator via the Toddle platform, for all common units of inquiry assessments 

Location 

Student Writing and Reflection portfolios will be kept by the classroom teacher.  These portfolios will be available to the student, teacher, parent, staff member, and the administration.  Examples of Student Reflections and summative assessments from unit planners will be compiled into a folder for review by authorized school visitors.   

Analyzing 

After data received from FastBridge, District benchmarks, and Common Assessments are compiled, the Instructional Coaches and administration will meet with grade level teams and individual teachers to plan for instruction.

When TNReady data becomes available it will be used to analyze areas of strengths and weaknesses as a school, grade level, and individual teacher. Current practices and future plans are based on these reflections.   

Reviewing 

• Review of all assessment practices is ongoing and takes place during weekly collaborative meetings.  Specifically, the formative and summative assessments for each unit of inquiry are evaluated for modification during the reflection on the unit. 
• The full Assessment Policy will be reviewed and refined at least once per year.
• All IB policies will be available on the school website.

Philosophy 

Gateway Elementary believes that language is the driving force of learning, allowing knowledge to be both shared and acquired. Language learning is a complex process and occurs in all realms of daily life, therefore every teacher at Gateway is a language teacher to some degree. All students at Gateway are Language Learners, whether they are learning English as a new language, exploring the complex rules of language development, or discovering Spanish as a new language.

Language learning at Gateway serves three primary purposes: 

1. To support academically minded, future driven scholars, students must develop strong foundational skills in the primary academic language of Tennessee, English.
2. To develop globally minded, peaceful citizens students must have exposure to a second language and empathy for the language learning process.
3. To strengthen and deepen the scope of language learning, students must understand the interconnectedness of language and culture.

Language Profile of Gateway

Gateway comprises of a diverse population of students with 44% considered Limited English Proficient (LEP) and 43% receiving active Language Acquisition Instruction from 3.5 English Language (EL) support teachers. 

96% of our LEP population speaks a form of Spanish as their home language or “mother tongue”, therefore Gateway has chosen to honor Spanish as our second language. 

Effective Language Instruction 

 Effective language instruction includes: 

• Foundational skills from spoken language to print concepts including phonological awareness, phonetics, phonics, listening and retelling skills, and writing
• Exposure to a rich and broad range of texts, print materials, spoken and performed language experiences
• Developing fluency in all aspects of language usage including listening, speaking, reading, writing, and viewing
• Vocabulary development with transdisciplinary connections leading the transfer of knowledge across contexts
• Continuous opportunities to practice and refine developing skills across all contexts
• Instruction in more than one language

Effective language instruction requires the teacher to: 

• Consider prior knowledge, including vocabulary exposure, and plan for gap closures
• Hold high expectations for student growth and monitor progress
• Plan for a broad range of text exposure outside of required texts
• Plan for many and varied opportunities to practice language skills
• Monitor for gaps in knowledge and plan to remediate

Effective language instruction will allow students to:  

• Access a broad range of knowledge when language is not a barrier
• Express themselves effectively in a variety of ways
• Communicate successfully across multiple languages

Language Practices 

What is Taught? 

Gateway, as part of the Metro Nashville Public School system and according to the Tennessee Department of Education, must provide instruction in English and considers English the primary language of instruction.  As an aspiring IB PYP school, Gateway has chosen to offer Spanish as our second language of instruction based on our school language profile.

English Language Instruction and Tools

As the primary language of instruction, English is taught in all contexts throughout the school.  For formal language instruction all students attend daily English Language Arts (ELA) classes that focus on foundational skills such as spelling and morphology, reading, writing, critical thinking, and literary analysis.  Per district requirements, we use TN Foundational Skills and Wit & Wisdom as our Tier 1 ELA curriculums.

Spanish Language Instruction and Tools

Beginning the Fall of 2025, all 2nd through 5th Grade students receive weekly live virtual Spanish Lessons through Meg Languages. This occurs on Mondays during Talon Time, which is personalized learning time, and all students are included.  These lessons also incorporate elements of cultural instruction allowing students to not just learn the Spanish language, but to also expand their global perspective.

Other Language Supports

We also strive to provide Bilingual support throughout the building:

• Pledge of Allegiance displayed and spoken in English and Spanish on Morning Announcements
• Bilingual environmental labels with picture support throughout building
• Bilingual Learner Profile Attribute Posters in cafeteria
• Attendance and PBIS incentive posters in both languages
• All parental communication is sent in both languages in print, text via Remind, emails, and street billboard
• Weekly parent newsletter, “Hootmail”, is sent via email using Smore and automatically populates in the family's language of choice
• Translators available at all family events
• IXL, an instructional resource used for homework and review, can be set to a student’s home language
• Library resources:
  • Gateway’s library offers books in Spanish as well as bi-lingual texts.  These books are marked for easy identification.
  • Limitless Libraries, in partnership with Nashville Public Library, students can request books in any language to be delivered to the school.
  • Gateway’s Book Vending Machine, a student incentive, offers books in both English and Spanish

Review

• Review of all practices is ongoing, and the language policy will be reviewed and refined at least once per year.
• All IB policies will be available on the school website.