One of Napa's oldest school sites is now the home of its most modern high school. "New Tech," as it has been known since its founding in 1997, has been so successful in its mission to "prepare students to excel as responsible citizens in an information-based, technologically advanced world" that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested millions of dollars to reproduce the Napa school's program in other communities. New Tech is officially classified as an alternative school in the Napa Valley Unified School District.