Bridges Academy

Our child graduated last year and got into Cal Arts for animation. At Bridges she was allowed to learn and mature with the twice exceptional gifts she has. She is now doing all the exective funtioning required for her college experience. As parents we went from tears and fears to smiles and joy. Our twice exceptional daughter is on her way to a sucessful college experience. We love Bridges and will always be thankful.
--Submitted by a parent

Bridges Academy has been a perfect fit for our son. The classes are small and the teachers don t overburden the students with homework. He is thriving both academically and socially in a school that understands gifted students with learning differences. They also have a wonderful theater program that has helped him overcome his shyness. In just a few short years, he has gone from being painfully shy to belting out a solo in the school musical. And for the first time in his life he actually enjoys going to school.
--Submitted by a parent

There are great private schools in Los Angeles for gifted and highly gifted kids. There are some good schools for kids with learning disabilities other special needs. But Bridges is the only school that offers a superior college-prep education to gifted and highly gifted kids who have learning disabilities. These '2-e' kids often find a positive school experience for the first time in their lives. Bridges celebrates their differences, teaching to the strengths and talents of the kids and not just to the remedial needs. Imagine being a kid who loves English and history but cannot do math; who hates being in math class; in fact he hates school because how math class feels. Other schools would remove this kid from English and history (because he doesn't 'need' to be in class for these subjects) to spend more time on 'remedial' Math. The kid hates school more. At Bridges, they try to encourage the child to use his passion for one subject to learn another; it tries to find opportunities to think about math while doing a history lesson.

This school changed my son's life and I couldn't be more thankful with each and every educator and staff member. The 2e or twice exceptional concept (and movement) is revolutionary at Bridges. My son is an exceptionally smart and gifted teenager who struggled with his ADHD in other schools. All got even worse when we opted for not giving him medication. Now we finally found a place where he can flourish and excel not only academically but socially. He's been on Bridges Academy for a few months and for the first time in his life, he loves school. If you have an exceptionally academically gifted child that has ADD, ADHD and similar challenges and learning issues, Bridges Academy is the perfect middle school and high school for them. It's expensive but it's more than worth it!
--Submitted by a parent

My son is starting his 4th year at Bridges, having started in 6th grade. It has been an incredibly positive experience for him and for our family. My son had social problems in public grade school, including bullying, teasing, and not fitting in. This caused no end of pain for him and for us. The school has helped him discover and develop his strengths and mature as a student and a person. Teaching kids with learning differences is a special challenge, and the faculty at the school take extra coursework and attend seminars to learn continually ratchet up their game. The school has to balance dealing with the social/emotional issues of the students with education, and still maintains high academic standards. They teach kids organizational skills and teach parents about their kids. They use smart boards, laptops, and LANs and teach courses from algebra to robotics. I have another son at a well known, traditional private college prep school in Los Angeles, and I don't see a difference in homework, projects, tests, or grading standards. Oh, and did I mention he has made friends and has a social life? I have no doubt that this is the place best to get my son ready for college.
--Submitted by a parent

My son has been at this school for the last 3 years and I have many concerns about their program. For one, they don't address their weaknesses. They play up their strengths and ignore their weaknesses, making them sound like they're geniuses at parent-teacher conferences. All of these kids have learning disabilities as well as some degree of giftedness in one or more areas. They could all benefit from remediation which Bridges refuses to do. They also require that each kid have a laptop computer that they bring to school everyday. Instead of working on their writing, they have them type everything on their computers. In life, you need to be able to write. I'm forced to send my child to an educational therapist at my own expense to work with him in all the areas that Bridges is lacking. They also don't use any textbooks and let the kids sit on the floor in beanbag chairs. It's very undiciplined and there are so many behavior problems in the classrooms that are tolerated by the staff. There is no homework-at all. The projects that are assigned are like summer camp projects. Most of the students there are either on the high functioning autism spectrum or ADHD.
--Submitted by a parent

i am currently a bridges high school student. i completely agree with the one who said that the label of college prep is a joke. what bridges does is for middle school you don't have homework or grades and field trips every week. it is basically like camp. and then during high school the basically don't care. the teachers are cool and help you educationally a lot, but if you expect your child's social issues to be helped at bridges, they won't. the staff just ignores them and says that they can act as they want. what i would say is that this school is practically a high class babysitter that leads your kids to a high school diploma and then kicks them to the curb of life.
--Submitted by a student

this is the best school i have ever attended all the teachers and students are very kid to us i would highly recommend this school to everyone interested
--Submitted by a student

I am an alum of Bridges. I loved it when I was there. However, the label of 'college prep' is a joke. I couldn't study for a test because I hadn't taken one without a study guide (aka cheat sheet) since elementary school. I had difficulty with deadlines as I had never been expected to follow them before. Basically, Bridges just worked around my issues instead of working on them. When I graduated, the same problems I had gone to Bridges to address were still there. I'm not the only one either- you should see the long list of colleges Bridges kids have gotten kicked out of or left. If you simply need a place to protect your child from bullies and ferry them to a high school degree, then Bridges is perfect. If you really want them to graduate from college, look elsewhere.
--Submitted by a student

I am a student at bridges and am very pleased with the school. It has helped me a lot with lots of things. I am in the 8th grade.
--Submitted by a student