GATES Family Newsletter
December 2023
Important Dates
October 7th: No School, PRAD for teachers
October 8th-11th: Student Led Conferences, students released at 10:20am
Early release Wednesdays: October 15th, 22th, and 29th
Message from the Principal
Dear Gator Friends and Families,
The 2025 school year is off to a great start! Thanks to all of you who attended our community night. Connecting with our Gators’ friends and families was truly uplifting.
We are almost halfway through our first learning cycle and conferences are coming up next week. Parents and guardians, please do your best to make an appointment for fall conferences. If attending in person is challenging, let us know, and we can arrange a meeting via Zoom, Teams, or phone. The important thing is that our students can share with you where they are in their academic career and what they are doing and learning to help them graduate and have a fulfilling life beyond high school.
We have been having fun! Besides our awesome community night, our student leaders sponsored our second annual Gator Olympics and a blood drive. Many Gators were walking around with bandaged arms and may have helped save a life! We have also had several students step into club leadership roles and will begin facilitating clubs that our students said they would like to join. Clubs will meet on early release Wednesdays, offering all students a chance to join a club, or explore different options weekly.
With all the fun and learning happening, we do have one area for growth that we need your help with. Student attendance is critical and required by the state law. When our students do not have regular attendance, we all suffer. Regular attendance is crucial. When students are absent, they miss out on key learning, risk falling behind, and affect the overall classroom experience. We know that there are a variety of reasons students do not come to school and want to support their academic growth. If you need support with medical, dental, mental health, or food and housing needs, let us know. We’re here to help.
Thanks for being a Gator. We love and appreciate you!
GATES High School
Email: klevendoski@fpschools.org
Website: https://gates.fpschools.org/
Location: 4608 128th Street East, Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone: 253-298-4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GATESHSgators