Dear Gateway Community Charters Families and Staff,

We have reached the halfway point of summer. Our campuses are quiet and our classrooms are still, and from the outside that can look like rest. I want to offer a different picture, because summer is not when the work slows at Gateway. It is when some of our most important work begins.

Every year, we ask ourselves the same question: how do we give our students a better year than the one before, a year where they learn more, reach further, and leave more prepared for what comes next? That question is not answered in a single week or a single season. It is answered through a deliberate cycle that runs all year long. We study what is working and where we can do even better. We decide what to keep, what to strengthen, and what to build. And then, in the summer, we implement it. Summer is the engine room of the whole year, the season when those plans finally take shape.

Here is what that work looks like across Gateway right now:

Our Student Services team is building a systemwide Parent and Student Handbook, updating our annual family notifications, strengthening our mental health supports, and continuing to invest in the services that support our students with disabilities.

Our Educational Services team is launching new teacher onboarding and new employee orientation programs, making sure the adults standing in front of our students this fall are equipped, supported, and ready to teach every student well from the very first bell.

Our Community Engagement team is reaching out to families, advancing our Community Schools work, and planning the welcome events that connect families with what they need before the school year begins.

Our Communications team is rebuilding school websites, getting enrollment ready for new families, and planning the newsletters and updates that keep our community informed all year long.

And our Facilities team is transforming our campuses by completing work orders, deep cleaning classrooms, making repairs, modernizing spaces, and coordinating with contractors so that students return to schools that are safe, welcoming, and ready for them.

This is the part most people never see: the instruction we strengthen and the buildings we rebuild over the summer are two halves of the same promise. A stronger lesson and a safer, brighter classroom both serve the same student. The people who keep Gateway running, our operations, facilities, technology, finance, and central office teams, have spent these weeks preparing for the students and teachers who return in August.

None of this began in June. The handbook now being written, the supports now being strengthened, the campuses now being rebuilt: every one of them was identified last fall, planned through the winter, and funded this spring. So what you are seeing this summer is the result of months of planning, of decisions made well in advance, with your children in mind. This is simply how we improve Gateway, the same way, year after year.

That work rests on a belief: belief that every student deserves a school fully prepared for them, belief that preparation is how we keep our promises to your children, and belief that doing right by your students is a commitment we honor in everything we do.

So as you enjoy the rest of your summer, know that ours is full. We are not waiting for the school year to begin. That work is already underway, and it is all for them.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back soon.


With gratitude and great optimism,

Jason Sample
Superintendent/CEO
Gateway Community Charters

 

Dear GCC Staff and Families,

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and honors the resilience, contributions, and achievements of African Americans throughout our nation’s history.

I want to share a little bit about the origin of this holiday. On June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people were free. For many African Americans, Juneteenth marked the first realization of a freedom that had long been promised but delayed. Since then, Juneteenth has been observed as a celebration of liberation, perseverance, community, and hope.

For the nearly four million newly freed African Americans, education quickly became one of the most urgent priorities after emancipation. For generations, enslaved people in the South were deliberately denied literacy and learning because knowledge symbolized power, opportunity, and self-determination. Despite these challenges, formerly enslaved individuals and families made remarkable sacrifices, building schools, hiring teachers, and striving to ensure that future generations could learn. Most importantly, education became more than a pathway to employment; it became a pathway to freedom, dignity, and the ability to shape one’s own future.

As a Black educator and leader, this history is deeply personal to me. I am a product of the opportunities that education can create, and I have seen firsthand how learning transforms lives. Education has given me the ability to grow, lead, serve, and contribute to our community. It has opened doors that previous generations fought hard to make possible.

 

That is why I believe education remains one of the most powerful vehicles for opportunity. Every day at Gateway, we are doing more than teaching academic content. We are helping students discover their potential, develop their voice, and build the knowledge and confidence needed to pursue their dreams. We are strengthening not only individual students, but also families, schools, and communities. When we invest in education, we invest in a future where every child has the opportunity to thrive and where the promise of freedom is reflected in access, achievement, and possibility for all.

This Juneteenth, I encourage you to take time to reflect on its history and honor those who came before us. Consider joining one of the many celebrations across the Sacramento region this weekend, or set aside time as a family to discuss what Juneteenth means and how freedom, opportunity, and education continue to shape our communities today.

 

Thank you for being part of a community committed to learning, belonging, and opportunity for every student.

Sincerely,

Jason Sample

Superintendent/CEO

Gateway Community Charters

 

Dear GCC Staff and Families,

While the traditional school year has ended, learning continues across Gateway Community Charters through our summer school programs.

Summer school provides students with an opportunity to maintain academic momentum, explore new interests, and prepare for future success. In fact, students who remain engaged in learning throughout the summer are better prepared to begin the new school year with confidence.

Across Gateway Community Charters, hundreds of students are participating in academic and enrichment programs, including robotics, science experiments, art, sports, LEGO building, crafts, leadership development, career exploration, and field trips throughout the Sacramento region.

For example, at Higher Learning Academy, students are spending their mornings focused on academics and their afternoons participating in enrichment activities through a collaboration with the YMCA. At Futures High School, student-athletes are building leadership, teamwork, and social-emotional skills through summer basketball training.

Our summer programs also help students prepare for their future. GCC's Transition Vocational Coach, Catherine Day, is helping students explore career pathways, create resumes, and develop job-search skills. These experiences help students connect classroom learning with future education and career opportunities
While each summer program is unique, they all help students continue learning and prepare for the year ahead.

Thank you to everyone who is helping make summer learning possible for our students, including our teachers, support staff, school leaders, and community partners.

For questions about Gateway's summer school programs, please contact your school site or Summer School Coordinator Gloria Hernandez at Gloria.Hernandez@gcccharters.org. 
Sincerely, 

Jason Sample

Superintendent/CEO

Gateway Community Charters

 

Dear GCC Staff and Families,

 

One of the greatest privileges of my work is watching students discover that their future can be bigger than they ever imagined.

 

This weekend, approximately 324 SAVA students will cross the stage and officially become graduates! For these students, a new chapter is about to begin—one filled with opportunities and possibilities that are uniquely their own. As these graduates prepare for what comes next, they carry with them the knowledge, experiences, and confidence they have gained along the way. Wherever their paths lead, they leave Gateway equipped with the skills and determination to pursue their goals and make a positive impact in the world.

 

At the same time, another group of Gateway students is preparing for an opportunity they may have never imagined when they first walked through our doors. Later this month, members of the Futures High School Hydrogen Grand Prix team will travel to Switzerland to represent Sacramento at the Hydrogen Grand Prix World Finals. There, they will compete against teams from around the globe while showcasing the engineering, teamwork, and problem-solving skills they have developed through months of hard work and dedication.

 

While these stories may seem very different, they remind me of the same truth: when students are given opportunities, incredible things can happen.

 

Every day across Gateway, students are discovering their strengths, exploring their interests, and building the skills they need for the future. Some will pursue college. Some will enter careers. Some will serve their communities. Others will travel the world, innovate, create, and lead. Our role is not to determine their path—it is to help them see what is possible.

 

That is why I remain so optimistic about the future.

 

I see students accomplishing things they never thought they could do. I see staff opening doors and creating opportunities. I see families supporting dreams and encouraging students to reach higher.

 

As we celebrate our graduates and cheer on the students who will represent Sacramento in Switzerland, I am reminded that the future is bright because of the incredible students we have the privilege to serve.

 

Thank you for being part of that journey.

Sincerely,

 

Jason Sample

Superintendent/CEO

Gateway Community Charters