About

Gateway Academy is an owner operated program, dedicated to the healthy development, education, and healing of adolescent boys. We provide a safe and nurturing environment for boys ages 14-18 struggling with depression, anxiety, impulsivity and attention problems, social and nonverbal learning difficulties, diminished self-esteem, relationship problems, identity and development issues, and executive functioning deficits. Gateway's five integrated programs: 1) therapy that is individualized; 2) education that is personal; 3) community that is empowering; 4) outdoor adventures that are therapeutic; and 5) fitness that primes the brain for learning. Grounded in our relationship and brain-based approach, each young man receives individualized therapy interventions, rigorous academic instruction, outdoor experiential learning activities, and comprehensive fitness/yoga programming. Additionally, our boys are taught skills in mindfulness based stress reduction, and learning strategies to improve executive functioning, and social emotional competencies. Through staff mentoring, peer interactions, group activities, direct academic instruction, our students build self-confidence and learn self-advocacy and empathy. Highly credentialed clinicians and teachers ensure the disciplines of academics, therapy and experiential activities are dynamically integrated. Each student receives weekly individual and family therapy, specialized groups, and on-site psychiatric services. Weekend outdoor education solidifies therapeutic gains, as activities are intentionally designed to help students grow emotionally and socially. Gateway is purposefully located in an urban community to ensure access to community-based activities and resources. The final phase of each boy's time at Gateway Academy, the Gateway Phase, is designed with the express purpose of allowing students to experience a less structured environment, while continuing to receive therapeutic support and mentorship. Independent living skills are honed as students begin to navigate their own schedule, increase their personal responsibility and autonomy. As a result, each student develops skills they can take with them in order to successfully transition to the next level.