GSA Middle School

GSA Middle School Parents and Guardians,

We hope you had a wonderful spring break. As we get back into the swing of things for the end of the year, we ask that you take a few minutes to complete our 2025 Concept Schools 5 Essentials Parent Survey. The survey is open and will close on April 18th.

We guarantee that survey responses will never be connected to the identity of you or your child. School reports will only present aggregated information of how parents and students responded as a whole.

A parent survey report will be generated if at least 20 percent of parents respond to the survey. While the parent data will not be made public, the parent report will be made available to Dr. Sukru Kaya, GSA Principal, and Mr. Blackstone, GSA Superintendent, and will enable them to make considerations based on the responses given by GSA Middle School parents. Your participation in the parent survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Again, your identity and individual survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.

Teachers and 4th through 12th graders throughout the district are taking the teacher and student 5Essentials Survey. School-level 5Essentials Reports will be generated if teachers and/or students meet their 50 percent response-rate thresholds. These research-based reports will be sent to schools and districts in June 2025.

Please visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/conceptschools/survey/parent/ to take the parent survey.

Once on that page, you’ll be asked to enter the school’s county and the school.

For each, type the first two letters and select the county and school from the drop-down list that will appear.

If you have difficulty, please email impact-surveys@uchicago.edu or call 866.440.1874 for assistance.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kaya

Gateway Science Academy - Middle School

Principal

Throughout the month of February, five dedicated teams worked to develop a solution to this year’s Codeathon challenge. The theme for 2025 was Code for Justice. Teams were asked to focus on Target 16. As noted by the United Nations website, goal 16 states “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels” (Collected from: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16)

The requirements for the product include:

• Teams may not use a pre-built product! All product development and coding must take place during the Codeathon.

• Teams must clearly show in their project documentation that the coding has been completed by the students themselves during the Codeathon.

• Students could create their coded project using Scratch, Code.org App Lab, or Thunkable.

• Teams must record and submit a video walkthrough of their product after it is completed.

Teams also submitted a crafted presentation that documented their process of development, research, and inspiration. All of these individual projects are submitted for judging by each team.

GSA Middle School teams did fantastic work and their scores reflected that. In fact, their dedication earned the 1st Place All School Junior Division award. Hooray!!

We are so proud of these individuals and their accomplishments. Go Gators!!

Our Yearbook Club has finalized this year’s middle school yearbook, and it's officially on sale for just $15!

Extra copies will sell out fast, so pre-order now to guarantee yours. Don’t miss out on the memories!

Order today: Click here to purchase!

"On behalf of the GSA Middle School Student Council (STUCO), we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your generous support during our recent Canned Food Drive. Thanks to your contributions, we collected over 3,000 ounces of canned goods. This collection is an impressive demonstration of the kindness and compassion within our school community.

These donations will soon be delivered to a local food pantry in St. Louis, where they will directly assist families in need. Your participation helps feed our neighbors and sets a strong example of civic responsibility and empathy for our students.

Thank you for partnering with us to make a difference. We are proud to be part of a community that consistently steps up to support others.

With appreciation,

Mr. Ballman & Mr. Hlinak

GSA Middle School Student Council Faculty Advisors"

Students pay $3, cash or check, on the day of the dress down day. Again, we do not take app payments.

Friday- April 11th

Friday- May 9th

Parent Teacher Conferences 12:30-6pm

Enjoy the Long weekend

Get Ready to Dance the Night Away!

Students in Science classes are taking their End of Year assessments and so many are doing wonderfully. Please encourage your student to take the test seriously so they can show what they know.

About 35 students from the middle school involved in Math Olympics, Robotics, Science Demos and Science Fair are preparing to go to Chicago on April 25 and 26. A meeting is scheduled at 8:00 on Monday to hand out forms and review expectations. If your student is involved, please ask for the forms to sign so they can be returned promptly.

8th grade students will be taking the Science MAP on April 22 and 24. Please encourage your students to attend, get plenty of sleep, eat breakfast and do their best to represent themselves and our school.

we want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your generous support as the Gold Sponsor for our weight room. Your sponsorship plays a crucial role in enhancing our facilities and providing students with the tools they need to stay active, healthy, and strong

Thursday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m: General meeting & Elections

PTO Website

ms.gsastl.org/pto

hs.gsastl.org/pto

Please join the PTO Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/GSAMiddleSchoolPTO

Gateway Science Academy of St. Louis - Middle School provides its students with an innovative world class education, rich in math, science and technology focused on preparing students to become bold inquirers, problem solvers and ethical leaders, skill-ready for post-secondary education to meet the challenges of a competitive global workforce.