Welcome to Gates Chili Middle School! We are proud of our school and invite you to travel "inside GCMS" to learn more about the quality of our instructional programs, staff commitment, and community partnership. Gates Chili Middle School enjoys a proud tradition of academic excellence. We are an innovative school with an educational program that is challenging, integrated, and standards-based. Our instruction and support is focused specifically on the needs and characteristics of young adolescents. The single mid-level building within the Gates Chili School District, GCMS enrolls 900 students in grades six through eight.
GCMS establishes smaller learning communities by dividing a large school into three separate, small communities (6 – 8). The communities are designated a specific hallway in which the students attend their core, academic classes. For exploratory classes, the students have an opportunity to travel to different parts of the building and mix with other students.
Each community has an administrator, faculty, and 6th - 8th-grade students and teachers, with a student assignment process that ensures equitable distribution of students by race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), language, gender, prior educational achievement, and ability/disability. The grade levels within each community are effectively teamed, creating a small personalized learning environment in which interdisciplinary teams share the same students. The three communities are named: Amerks, Red Wings, and Rhinos. The Assistant Principals are:
Our staff is dedicated to the service of children and their families. Together we teach and inspire excellence for all learners.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lisa C. Buckshaw, Principal
The Board of Education approved several administrative personnel appointments, including Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services and Director of Technology, at a special session on May 4.
Young artists at Gates Chili Middle School and Walt Disney Elementary School are learning how to use their voices to advocate for things they believe in, and they’re gaining recognition for their efforts.
Out-of-the-box thinking is becoming out-of-the-block thinking as teachers leverage the use of Minecraft to engage students in learning.
In order to determine the best public high schools in New York State, WalletHub compared over 1,200 institutions across 26 key metrics. In addition to academic performance, our data set also considers factors like the school’s social environment, diversity and staff.
This budget season, Assistant Superintendent for Business Dr. Mitchell Ball will be breaking down all things budget in a new video series called "A Bit of Budget with Dr. Ball!" Each week leading up to May 18, he'll break down a new topic related to the district budget.
While Gates Chili has taught personal safety lessons to students in the past, this year, the elementary schools adopted a more comprehensive program called Child Safety Matters. This program was developed by the Monique Burr Foundation and is endorsed by the Bivona Child Advocacy Center.
As GCCSD continues to plan for the return of more in-person elementary learners next week, we invite you to join us for a virtual community forum on April 15 at 5 p.m. on YouTube. A recording of the event will also be available at the above link.
