Download the Gateway High School Charter (doc) 

Gateway High School, A Brief History:

Gateway was founded by a group of parents and educators who believed there was a need in the Bay Area for a smaller, personalized, college preparatory public high school with a commitment to and expertise in serving a diverse student population, including a significant number of students with learning differences.

Guided by parent and future board member Lisille Matheson, these "Founding Mothers" discovered they were far from alone in their desires for a high school that offered individual student attention and program enrichment. With an inaugural freshman class of 85 and a vacant hallway at Newcomer High School in San Francisco's Pacific Heights, the school was set to open its doors in September1998. As with any new school, Gateway's most critical decision lay in choosing its leader. Peter Thorp, a highly-motivated, student-oriented and articulate alternative schools head, accepted the tender. Gateway was off and running!

Gateway has achieved a number successes and awards including being named a California Distinguished School and a 21st Century School of Distinction. Principal and former Gateway teacher Sharon Olken leads Gateway and its talented and committed faculty. Sharon began her career at Gateway as a Humanities teacher and Dean of Faculty. Sharon earned a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. in education at Stanford University where she also taught a course titled "Educating for Equity and Democracy. Peter serves as the School's Executive Director focusing on external issues for the school and serving as a mentor to charter and start-up schools

across California.

Nine Years of Excellence in Public Education
Measuring Success One Student (and One Step) At A Time

• 2007
  Gateway receives the California Distinguished Schools Award again – the only charter high school to be so honored twice.

• 2006
  The U.S. Department of Education named Gateway one of the top eight charter high schools in the country.

• 2005
  Gateway selected as a school that "exemplifies success" for raising academic achievement for African-American and Latino students in the UCLA independent evaluator's report of SFUSD's desegregation efforts.

• The School begins its 8th year in a permanent new home in the Western Addition with:
  440 students in grades 9-12, representing more than 100 middle schools;
  32% qualifying for the Federal Free or Reduced lunch program;
  25% who have an identified learning disability;
  A uniquely diverse profile: 20% African-American; 23% Hispanic; 23% Asian; 31% White.
  

• 2004
  The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) grants Gateway a 6-year accreditation.

• Boy’s Basketball team is BCL champions and ranked 8th in California in Division V. The Chronicle lists them as one of top 10 high school sports stories of the year. And all this with no athletic facilities!
  

• 2003
  Gateway becomes only the 2nd charter high school to win CA Distinguished School honors.

• The Washington Post ranks Gateway #542 of the top 800 high schools in the nation.
  

• 2002
  Gateway’s first graduating class—99% matriculate to college, including UC Berkeley, Brown, SF State, Colorado College, and Yale.

• San Francisco School Volunteers awards Gateway “best volunteer program” recognition.
• Gateway is awarded a California Public Charter School Dissemination Grant to share best practices on topics such as Governance, Finances, Professional Development and Facilities.

 

• 2001
  Gateway junior, Erika Goncalves, is appointed to the California State Board of Education, the first charter school student to serve in this position.
  

• 2000
  Gateway’s entire curriculum receives University of California “a-g” approval.
  

• 1999
  Gateway moves to 1350 7th Avenue, its home for the next 6 years, with 200 9th and 10th graders.
  

• 1998
  Gateway ‘s first day of school with 104 pioneering ninth-graders, in 6 classrooms at Newcomer High School.