Gateway Institute of Technology

Gateway Institute of Technology formerly O'Fallon Technical High School
Address
5101 McRee Avenue St. Louis, Missouri, 63110 United States
Coordinates	38.621°N 90.269°W / 38.621; -90.269
Information
Established	September 1956 (1956-09) (as John O'Fallon Technical High School); August 1992 (1992-08) (as Gateway Institute of Technology)
School district	St. Louis Public Schools
Principal	Elizabeth Bender, Ph.D
Grades	9 to 12
Enrollment	1,600
Color(s)	Light Blue and Black formerly Red and Silver
Mascot	Jaguar formerly Hornets
Website	http://slpshs.schoolwires.net/gatewayhs/site/default.asp

Gateway Institute of Technology (GIT) is a high school serving grades 9 to 12 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

History

Gateway opened as John O'Fallon Technical High School in 1956, named in honor of John O'Fallon. Under its current name it opened in August 1992, in response to a court order mandating the establishment of a high technology magnet school.^{[citation needed]} The school integrates a strong academic curriculum emphasizing mathematics and science with career preparation in highly technical fields. Accelerated and advanced placement courses are available for students. Inquiry, innovation, creativity and exploration are encouraged throughout the school.

Gateway was one of ten schools recognized as a New American High School by the United States Department of Education in 1996. Gateway serves as a model school and is visited regularly by educators from the U.S. and elsewhere.

Student body

The school has 1,600 students, who are accepted on a lottery basis. Approximately 200 of the students have disabilities, including severe orthopedic disabilities, learning disabilities, and behavior challenges; students with disabilities are integrated with special education teachers in the classroom with the regular education teachers.^{[citation needed]} Gateway accepts resource students and gifted students.

Academics

At the ninth and tenth grade level students are in 'houses' of 85 to 100 students supported by four teachers (covering English, social studies, math, and science, respectively) and a counselor. The school is designed to integrate academic and technological education in career clusters that require students to have a strong background in mathematics and science. All the students take a broad mathematics curriculum, biology, chemistry, and physics.

Going into their junior year, students pick a career strand, or 'major', within one of four specialty areas:

1. Agricultural, Biological, and Health Sciences.
2. Applied Physical Sciences.
3. Computer Science and Mathematics.
4. Engineering Technology, which can include an Aviation Maintenance Program that lasts five years and is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Partnerships with businesses

The school has partnerships with local businesses. Monsanto Company and two medical schools in St. Louis provide assistance and internships in the area of agricultural, health and biological sciences; Mallinckrodt Chemical, in physical sciences; McDonnell-Douglas, in engineering technology; and Lucent Technologies Bell Labs, as well as the computer divisions of Monsanto, Mallinckrodt Chemical, and McDonnell-Douglas, in computer science and mathematics. Lucent Technologies staff also help the students.

In 1997, Bell Labs facilitated email conversations between ten students and a Nobel physicist.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• 'Transcript of National Transition Alliance Conference Call Presentation held on 04/30/97', National Transition Network Retrieved August 19, 2005