8216 California Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98136

My son transferred to Gatewood halfway through Kindergarten in January 2024 from a progressive private school. I was concerned about how my spirited child would do in such a large classroom setting but much to our surprise he did very well with the amazing Mr Mo and continues to do well in first grade with the amazing Ms Sarah. From the involved and energetic principal Kyna, to the active PTA, to the welcoming community, we feel so incredibly grateful to have Gatewood as our neighborhood school. Not only has it wowed me in comparison to local private schools my son has attended (some of which started in preschool and went through elementary) with reading buddy programs, world geography programs, genuine school spirit from all ages, leadership from 5th graders, enriching afterschool clubs (learning to ride a bike, social emotional parkour, fashion design, cooking, Lego, strategy games, and more) but my heart is warmed by the number of highly regarded male teachers (which research supports is very important for many children), the accolades the teachers have given to the principle after they’ve had more than decade of experience in education, exciting field trips (supported by the PTA for the entire class and for individuals as we have a lot of economic diversity), fun weekly school assemblies, and so much more! Principle Hogg seems to be an amazing leader, she remembers everyone’s names, made the 504 process seamless with the rest of the team, shes got great energy and a great team! My son is doing very well despite what other schools would have led us to believe was possible and can’t wait for his little sister to be a gator with him. If any school give me faith in public school, it’s this one!

Madison just cancelled its honors classes from 2020-21 onward (same as all the other middle schools in Seattle.) HCC still exists for the few who can test into it, but everyone else will be stuck with dumbed down general ed.

This school is a majority white school with terrible SpecialED support. The school also suffers with nonstop vaping, smoking, and drugs being done in the bathrooms with no apparent efforts to stop it from happening (I can't go to the bathroom due to how hazy it is in there and how strong the smell of vape is in the bathrooms, every one is like this). Besides that, I have been miserable due to the majority of classes using older, outdated "Chair tables" I'm unsure if that's the name or not. I would highly advise against attending this school, or having your child go here. I'd also like to say there are maybe 20 mixed race students in the school including myself.