Teaching & Learning
Engage all students in learning that leads to academic growth, achievement, and readiness for high school, college, career, and life.
Raising the bar and expecting more is hard work, particularly for students and teachers. Academics are at the core of Gulf Shores City Schools, with a goal of having each student achieve his or her full academic potential by the time they graduate. New standards mean new ways of teaching and learning, and ultimately harder tests. To help our families achieve a greater understanding of what these new standards mean, Gulf Shores City Schools provides fact sheets, frequently asked questions, and links to information about Alabama's College and Career Ready Standards.
As a four-year high school with academically diverse students, Gulf Shores High School provides a challenging range of courses and a rigorous college preparatory program. We are a community committed to fostering a safe and nurturing environment in which all students can achieve their greatest potential in every endeavor. We are dedicated to developing confident, well-rounded, life-long learners ready to become productive individual contributors and the leaders of tomorrow. GSHS provides courses and a rigorous college preparatory program for its academically diverse students. In a supportive environment that promotes respect and responsibility, students also develop through a rich performing and creative arts program and a wide variety of extracurricular and athletic activities.
Gulf Shores High School is dedicated to the promotion and achievement of academic excellence.
We…
- Strive to create a secure and supportive environment which promotes the intellectual, emotional, and physical well-being of all members of the school community
- Celebrate diversity and encourage tolerance and respect for individual and cultural differences, …uphold the tenets of a democratic society
- Provide our students with experiences that enable them to make ethical choices and function in our ever-changing and technological world
- Foster the development of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and love of learning
- Encourage the recognition of learning as a life-long process.
Gulf Shores High School will continue to cultivate these ideals and invites all members of the school community to share in this endeavor.
Our school is committed to your child's complete wellness and life-long health; therefore, throughout the year, we will be utilizing the evidence-based P.A.T.H. curriculum from ThriveWay. Prevention and Awareness for Total Health (P.A.T.H.) is a schoolwide approach to address state-mandated topics, promote positive coping skills, and strengthen character building. The purpose of this comprehensive curriculum is to concentrate on critical prevention areas and expand into additional life skills and character traits. The program contencts include grade-level comprehensive lessons focused on prevention mandates: bullying, substance awareness, types of abuse, and mental health; plus, seven lessons on character education for elementary grades K-6. The curriculum is delivered to the students; students do not have direct access to lessons.
Each developmental phase for elementary students brings its ownunique set of challenges and opportunities. We strive to equip our students with personal tolls that will help them combat those challenges, protect physical health and safety, foster kindness, enhance relationships, promote mental wellness, maintain perspective, employ positive coping skills, and build resiliency. We want our students to do more than survive - we want them to thrive!
We believe that schools and families must work together for the betterment of the whole child, and our communication with you is a key factor in the success of that mission. We are excited to share this information with you as we use P.A.T.H. to empower students to make choices that will protect their safety, enhance connectedness, and encourage life-long physical and mental health.
Academic Links
Content Standards and Curriculum
Gulf Shores City Schools content standards and curriculum align with the standards outlined in the Alabama State Course of Study. You may learn more about state standards by clicking on the Standards tab on the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) website.
Information regarding textbooks, curriculum, materials, and instructional resources used in Gulf Shores City Schools is linked below.
NBC Teachers
Gulf Shores City Schools are proud of their teachers and how they continue learning as they teach! Click here to view the Present and Future National Board Certified Teachers.
We Encourage Our Students To:
- Dream big
- Learn with intent
- Realize their own potential
- Enhance the lives of others
- Be inclusive, inventive and curious
We Do That Through:
- Continually transforming the way we teach and learn
- Exploring new ideas and approaches to learning
- Being rigorous with assessment and learning outcomes
- Being inventive in the way we teach
- Offering individualized learning paths
- Integrating technology in all that we do
- Fostering and celebrating diversity