Gateway School is a community day school for grades 7 through 10 aimed at giving expelled students a more structured and responsive learning environment. It is located on Railroad Avenue and is the only school in Sonoma with both middle school and high school students. Along with Creekside High School, which performs a similar role for ages 16 and up, Gateway enables kids to regroup and pursue their education while working on the behavioral problems that may have hindered them in the past.
“The aim is to help students gain the academic and social-emotional skills that will help them be successful in high school and in life,” explains Principal Nanci Mathison. Gateway provides a more intimate setting, a smaller student-to-staff ratio, and counseling two days a week.
The school also arranges field trips – to Bouverie Preserve or the Sonoma Developmental Center’s ropes course, for example – and occasionally invites guest lecturers. Jorge Luna, a 16-year-old former Gateway student now finishing his studies at Creekside, recalls a Japanese woman who shared pictures with his class of her experiences in an internment camp during World War II, which helped him visualize what that period in history was truly like. Luna also remembers his tough acclimation to Gateway’s more rigid guidelines. “I was mad at first,” he said, “but little by little got used to it and realized I was learning about respect and responsibility.”
Visiting Gateway, I stumbled upon one of the spirited volleyball games that takes place there daily. Part-time teacher Bill Sweek (full disclosure: that’s my father) encouraged me to participate, and I was informed that victory in the match would determine who cleans the classroom. Fortunately, my side prevailed, and I had a chance to speak with my fellow victors. “We play Frisbee, soccer, volleyball,” Javier Chávez tells me. Asked to contrast Gateway with Sonoma Valley High School, he and several other students stressed that the smaller class size allows students to participate more, but provides fewer distractions. The more socially inclined seem wistful, while others are grateful. “It’s not as fun socially,” sums up Georgina Carrillo, “but it keeps you out of trouble.”
Back in the classroom, the students sit down to a rather soporific National Geographic video on marine life, and I reflected with due commiseration on my own high school days, hoping that these students recognize that struggling with seemingly irrelevant facts and ideas is a necessary part of growing up.
“We are trying to instill focus and discipline,” teacher Kerry Oswald said. Oswald has been at Gateway for six years, and describes the unique task of teaching students of varying ages. “The difficult part is that you may have 14 students on five different books at different speeds with different abilities.” Fortunately, he has taught English as a second language for almosts 30 years and is accustomed to a multi-level approach, working on common points before helping students individually. Science and English can revolve around common themes, and within the task of meeting state standards, Oswald has the flexibility to get creative. Some days things go smoothly, while on others academics must take a backseat to behavior management.
There are currently 11 students at Gateway, but because of an open enrollment policy that number fluctuates. Students are often there on a contract, which they need to fulfill before proceeding either to Sonoma Valley High School or to Creekside. Gateway has a variable credit program, which allows students to catch up academically before making this transition. Going back to SVHS can be difficult for students, not only due to the advanced pace of college prep courses, but also because the peer pressure to misbehave, fight or join gangs – sometimes the very reason why they left – awaits them when they return. The majority of students ultimately decide to continue at Creekside.
“Like being thrown into the running of the bulls,” replies substitute teacher R.J. Burks, when asked to describe his week at Gateway, but he is quick to add that it is worth it, because “the alternative school environment plays a vital role in the community.” Counselor Peggy Murray concurs. “A lot of bright kids,” she said, “that don’t fit in need an alternative way to get a diploma.” Murray supports students by working with them on social skills building, career vocational exploration, job skills and academic guidance. She sees Gateway as a place where students can let their guard down. With the help of the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, she has spearheaded the launch of a new art program, which she feels will provide a valuable venue for expression.
Gateway, as its name implies, is a transitional place. Teachers and administrators cannot afford to rest on their laurels because for each student who successfully gets back on track and moves on to high school, another student enters with his own unique set of issues to work through. “Each class has a different dynamic,” explains substitute teacher Bill Norton, “but the important thing is that students learn self-control and self-reliance. The key for us in helping them is to find the right balance between positive reinforcement and tough love.”
