Background

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Silver Gate Elementary opened in 1951. Originally Silver Gate was to be named Orchard School, reflecting the property's history, however since the site also overlooks the entrance to the San Diego Harbor, known as the "Silver Gate to San Diego," the school was renamed Silver Gate Elementary before construction was completed. The first school year opened with 445 students in 14 classrooms, educating Kindergarten through fourth grade students. Ms. McIntyre was Silver Gate's first Principal; she remained for 17 years until her retirement. In 1952 the student population rose dramatically to 874 students in 24 classrooms. With the opening of Corey Junior High in 1963, student enrollment dropped back to under 600. In 1968 Silver Gate became a Model School and opened its doors to students from around the city. Silver Gate was only one of two schools to offer the Model program that later came to be known as the Magnet program.

With class-size reduction impacting facilities throughout Point Loma, Silver Gate again experienced changes when Dana School reopened as an all sixth-grade campus, servicing all of the Point Loma Cluster. Three years later, our fifth-grade students joined the sixth graders at Dana, making that site Point Loma's lower middle school.

In Sept 2005, Silver Gate completed the application to become a California Distinguished School. After an exhaustive application and review process, in April of 2006, Silver Gate was recognized at one of the top schools in California and was given the Distinguished School designation.

Today, Silver Gate Elementary welcomes over 430 K-4 students and has 22 classrooms. Throughout its history, Silver Gate has appreciated and benefited from its strong parent and community involvement. It continues to work toward the building of strong relationships between our classrooms and families and believes that in working together we can make a difference in the educational experience of all of the children at Silver Gate.