Head's Message
Bridges Academy has a unique, exciting, challenging, rewarding, and important mission: to educate twice-exceptional (2e) students. You probably know or are a parent of a twice-exceptional student, even if the term itself is unfamiliar.
Our 2e students are often creative, ingenious, outside-the-box thinkers. Some seem like little professors, demonstrating encyclopedic knowledge in the areas of their interest. It’s not unusual for our students to enjoy the company of adults and younger children. They may find traditional coursework challenging, but also dull and boring. Instead, their quest for knowledge may lead to voracious reading and inventing. Some are avid creative and analytic writers and enjoy Manga and graphic novels. Others excel at communicating through the arts, engineering and/or design.
These gifted and highly gifted students also have mild to moderate visual and/or auditory processing deficits, non-verbal learning disabilities, AD/HD, and/or other learning issues that make learning next to impossible in other school settings. Completing and submitting homework on time is often an issue that causes personal and familial turmoil. 2e students can also face challenges in the areas of productivity, decision-making, and executive functioning. Some gifted students who do not have diagnosed learning disabilities or differences are a perfect fit for Bridges. These students like the challenge, the stimulation and the company of other bright, interesting kids.
In two ways, then, the students who arrive at Bridges Academy deserve something more than they are receiving with a mainstream education. They need a type of education all their own, one that allows them to explore and develop their gifts and teaches the way they learn.
Students at Bridges flourish because we have developed a strength-based and talent development-driven model, and because we get to know our students. We know our students are smart, but we ask how are they smart? What inspires them and stimulates them? We create individual learning profiles based on clinical testing data to guide teachers in designing curriculum and instruction. This is vital. However, our 2e students are so much more than their evaluations. Our profiles reflect our ongoing, evolving experiences with each child. We support, inspire, and respond to the real student in front of us, engaging and observing them in real activities, under real pressures and expectations, in real social interaction.
Students often come to us defined by what they can’t do. At Bridges Academy, we help students graduate defined but what they can do. I don’t know of any other independent school in the country that has taken on this important mission.
Please take time to explore our website, and don’t hesitate to call or visit us to learn more about strength-based education.
Carl Sabatino
Head of SchoolBridges Academy