Preschool Program

The Preschool Program at Gateway serves three and four four-year-old children.  New faces join our classes all through the year as children reach their third birthdays and are placed according to their needs through the Guilford County Schools Preschool Department with the student's Individual Education Plan Team. For a student to be placed at Gateway, it must be determined that they would require a placement at a self-contained special education school to meet their educational needs. We currently have eight classrooms, all serving children with varying types of developmental delays and those on the autistic spectrum.

In our classrooms, we are working on communication, self-help, motor and independence skills.  Students participate in preschool activities with adaptations as needed.  We focus on individual skill development in one-on-one sessions and in groups with teachers, teacher assistants, support staff and therapists (PT, OT, Speech/Language, VI, and HI).

The fun thing about preschool is that our "work" is play and our play is "work"!  All of our fun activities are really teaching tools to meet specific objectives. 

Children may stay with us until they meet the 5 year old criteria for being school age by turning 5 prior to October 16th of the school year.  The IEP team can also recommend a change in level of service at times prior to this date if appropriate.