Gateway Exhibitions

Parker School students progress through three Divisions, the curricular standards of which are roughly comparable to late middle-school level work (Division I), foundation-level high school work (Division II), and advanced or independent high school work with transition to post-secondary education (Division III). Each Division comprises a multi-year curricular cycle, and students of mixed ages are grouped together for the entire cycle. "Promotion" at the Parker School consists of students exhibiting readiness to move from Division to Division, as follows.

Each year all Parker students assemble a Year-End Portfolio in each Domain, which serves as the basis of their Year-End Assessment report. When that Portfolio shows they are consistently meeting the Standards of Division I in a particular academic Domain or team (Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST); Arts and Humanities (AH), or Spanish), as well as making academic progress, students may advance to the next Division via the "Gateway Portfolio Exhibition".

Gateway Portfolios are quite similar to the Year-End Portfolios, but they are formally exhibited before a mixed audience of students, teachers from both Domains, parents, and community members. Gateway Portfolios also include a cover letter in which students sum up and reflect on their progress throughout the Division and their readiness for the next Division's challenges. Students' ability to reflect on their work and respond to audience questions is an important element of their demonstrating readiness for promotion.

The Gateway Portfolio Exhibition marks a student's successful progress through the multi-year Division curricular cycle, and his or her readiness to work toward the next Division's standards and goals. Students who continue in a division are not "repeating" curriculum but rather entering another year of that cycle. Students who advance to the next division move into the beginning of that division's multi-year curriculum cycle. 

Students may proceed at different times into the next Division in each Domain; for example, many students are in Division II MST and Division I Arts and Humanities, or vice versa. Gateway Portfolio Exhibitions take place at several appropriate points in school year. Teachers and advisers consult with families to decide the best time for each individual student to advance into a new Division.