Michele Bauman Joseph, EdD

Head of School

Michele holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and a Master’s degree in Education. She has served students with social and learning differences for over 30 years. Michele has been a resource teacher in public school, the principal of The Joy School and the Co-Founder and Head of School for Gateway Academy and the Advance Program. Michele’s unique background and her track record in addressing social, behavioral and learning challenges make her a relevant and engaging speaker. She has shared her knowledge at conferences such as CHADD, LDA, TAAPS, various school in-service workshops, and has created curriculum around important topics impacting teens with learning differences. She is pleased to share her knowledge and is prepared to address teacher, professional, parent and student audiences.

Brodie Simmons MS, LPC, LCDC, NCC

Director of Counseling

Brodie is a Board Certified, Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Houston and his Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Capella University. Brodie was the Choices Counselor for The Gateway Academy and St. Thomas High School, where he provided ongoing prevention programming around 15 high-risk behaviors. This program was uniquely tailored to both schools and their student populations. In addition to developing programming, Brodie provided therapeutic interventions to students, faculty, and parents at these schools. Brodie has a private therapy practice and recently joined the staff of Gateway as Dean of Student Advancement. Brodie has presented at The Southwest Adolescent Treatment Providers Conference, Katy Autism Alliance, and is in demand as a presenter where he addresses parents, teachers and government officials. Brodie is a current member of the American Counseling Association and received his National Certified Counselor recognition from the National Board for Certified Counselors.

Bonnie Jones, MS, CCC-SLP

Director of Admissions

As a Certified and Licensed Speech Language Pathologist, Bonnie worked for several years as both a lead Preschool Teacher and part of the support team in multiple elementary classes facilitating group language remediation at The Parish School. In 2017, Bonnie joined the Gateway team to create the Social Communication program aimed at helping students share space effectively with one another cultivate 21st Century Skills (e.g., communication and collaboration), build relationships and become effective public speakers. Bonnie’s varied background and experience in addressing language, social, and learning challenges make her equipped to speak on a variety of topics. She has shared her knowledge at conferences such as HBIDA, early childhood conferences, various school in-service workshops, and parent education, and has created curriculum around important topics impacting student’s social emotional learning.

Sue Hoyer, MEd

Dean of Instructional Technology and Culinary Arts

Sue worked in a suburb of Chicago as a classroom teacher for 15 years. During this time she started and ran an award-winning Best Buddies program, started a district-wide Special Olympics team, and organized and taught a peer buddies elective class. She recently joined Gateway Academy to teach with the transition program, teaching Internship, Culinary and Digital Citizenship classes. Along with her teaching duties, she helps with Assistive Technology and Instructional Technology for the entire student population. She headed a successful move to distance learning during the Covid Pandemic.  Sue has recently spoken at the Texas Autism Conference, as well as CHADD in 2020.