Peer groups

"I love this school because everyone is like me—I'm not bored anymore!"  
GATE student

Kids at GATE are primarily grouped by skill level and maturity, not by age or gender. Peer clustering like this has some obvious advantages—kids at similar levels propel each other with their ideas and enthusiasms. They aren't struggling to catch up, nor are they bored waiting for everyone else to reach them. Peer grouping also facilitates creativity and individual effort. Put intensely inquiring minds together, point them in a direction, give them tools and choices, and creativity and productivity take off. In short, they inspire each other. "The thing about ideas is that they naturally inspire new ones... when ideas are shared, the possibilities do not add up.  They multiply." (Jonah Leher in Imagine, quoting economist Paul Romer.)