Gateway is always working to prepare students to transition to the next appropriate school setting when they can do so successfully.

The goal of the placement process is to find the right match for every student and to support families throughout the year-long application process. In any year, the majority of students in transition are graduating from 8th grade. Through regular student assessment and discussions with parents about their child’s overall learning profile and development, administrators and faculty also identify younger students ready to transition.

For questions related to the placement process, please contact Tanya Ehrlich, Director of Placement, at [email protected] or at (212) 777-5966 x822.

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8th Grade Graduates

The placement process begins in the spring prior to a student’s final year at Gateway. The Director of Placement guides parents throughout the many steps in the placement process. Familiar with the independent school community and the admissions directors at the ongoing schools, she advises parents on school selection, research and touring, applications, interviews, and testing. She helps parents seeking public school placement enter the school selection process and recommends specific schools. To prepare for school visits and interviews, students participate in an after-school elective in the fall. The Director also oversees the preparation and dissemination of documentation for testing accommodations, school transcripts, and teacher recommendations. During the year, she consults frequently with the admissions teams at the various schools to ensure successful placement.

Undergraduates

Gateway assesses students regularly and from a variety of standpoints to understand how best to address their areas of need and to decide when it is time for a student to leave Gateway.

Typically, the Division Head initiates a conversation with the family, but any parent interested in learning more about their child’s readiness to transition to their next school is encouraged to contact Dr. Christy Brockhausen, Assistant Head of School and Director of Lower School, or Julie Nguyen, Director of Middle School.

These conversations occur in the spring prior to the child’s final year at Gateway or early in the fall of the final year. The Director of Admissions and Placement then works with each family throughout the placement process.​​​​​

Gateway was an incredibly formative experience for me. I find it difficult to put into words how Gateway changed my life; stepping into my classroom the first day was the first time I felt seen and understood and not reduced to the sum of my learning difficulties.

Gateway Alumnus

Life After Gateway

Gateway students are known for their work ethic, skill in self-advocacy, and the very positive contributions they make to the school communities they join. In an annual panel discussion known as Life After Gateway, selected graduates talk with the Gateway community about their educational experiences both at Gateway and beyond. Attendees also gain insight into the students’ lives as they transition into young adulthood and enter college and the workplace.

Below is a partial list of schools to which Gateway’s graduates have been accepted in recent years.