About the Gateway School
The mission of the Gateway School in Carteret, New Jersey is to provide a safe and nurturing educational environment dedicated to the vision that individuals with disabiling conditions are entitled to a full and meaningful life. The school seeks to empower each student with skills for life, work and recreation, believing that every individual possesses the dignity and potential to contribute to a better world.
Unique qualities of the Gateway School
The student/staff ratio varies from 2-1 to 4-1 depending on the age, learning and behavioral needs of each child.
The small classes ensure individual attention and active participation in the learning process of each student.
Gateway School accepts students with challenging behaviors and strives to assist students to develop appropriate interpersonal skills to function within community, work and other social settings. Gateway School provides a typical ten-month program as well as an Extended School Year, offering a full-time, thirty-day summer session.
The school offers specially designed classrooms, therapy suites and an ADL room that includes appliances for cooking, laundry and instruction in other domestic skills.
Each classroom is equipped with computers and internet access to allow students to learn technological skills necessary in our information society.
Therapy staff includes Speech, Occupational and Physical therapists in addition to a certified School Counselor. School nurses provide medical coverage and relevant instruction pertaining to health and family life.
Parent/Teacher conferences are held twice yearly during both afternoon and evening sessions to accommodate parents' busy schedules. Transportation may be provided to parents by school personnel for some sessions.
Music and Physical Education add to the overall functional academic and life skills curriculum.
Transition services allow for in-class, in-school and off-campus based work sampling in order to prepare students for future adult environments. In addition, transition services also enable parents to access programs provided by state agencies such as DDD and DVR.
Community-based instruction allows students of all ages to generalize skills learned in the classroom out into the real world
Mobility training teaches students how to access public bus and train travel in the central New Jersey area.
Social skills training based on Jed Baker's research teach students better interpersonal skills to get along in school, at home and on the job.
The intimate, family-like environment allows students to develop friendships, values and feelings of self-worth.
