Every other Friday, Mike Matteo and Dr. Montaire Taylor meet with their student leadership team and carefully listen. One by one, each of the nine 4th graders share their ideas and input with Evergreen Elementary’s principal and counselor, ideas which are carefully considered and implemented. Meetings like these are commonplace across the district’s schools. Gateway High School and Middle School both have their leadership teams, but so too do all four of the district’s elementary schools,...

As bleary eyed students walk the hallways during arrival at Gateway High School, they’re greeted by a wagging tail and a friendly face: Roxie, a labrador retriever. Over at Gateway Middle School or Ramsey Elementary, the cool disposition of pint-sized Kyla, a havapoo, or Ranger, a goldendoodle, helps ease the tensions of young learners in difficult times. At the Gateway School District administrative office, Ben, a golden retriever, roams around from office to office, nudging hands for pets...

As the education world looks for new ways to tackle the nationwide teaching shortage, the Gateway School District is thinking of creative...