Academic Overview
Focused on student-centered and inquiry-based learning style
The Bridge Way School Educational Philosophy
Standards-Aligned Project-Based Learning and Hybrid Credit Recovery Options
Our Curriculum Attributes:
Student-Centered Inquiry.
We believe that students achieve higher levels of academic success if they are meaningfully engaged and given the opportunity for choice, so student-driven inquiry and project-based learning are central to our curricula. We also provide a Civic Pathways course where students explore their deepest interests and passions. All students complete postsecondary planning; every student leaves Bridge Way with an identified success plan. Beginning in Fall 2023, all students will also participate in bi-monthly team meetings where they set goals with their supporters on recovery, behavioral/mental health, academics, and postsecondary planning. We believe that an ethic of care where students are seen and heard is the key to dismantling distrust, sculpting connection, and making progress in a learning community.
Creative Community.
We seek to create a community of learners who can problem solve and think outside the box in all facets of life including coping skills, emotion regulation, STEAM subjects, and literacy. The Fall 2023 launch of our Recovery Artist-in-Residence and continuing community garden program provide ample space for students to create, connect, reflect, and grow. Our in person classes for English, Math, and Social Studies paired with online courses for Science and World Language with certified teachers is a blend built to help students succeed in managing their time, developing their own projects, and using standards-based skills to create new things all in the context of their recovery.
Stewardship.
We foster stewardship through service learning so that students grow into active, responsible citizens while fulfilling Act 158 requirements. At this time, our students specialize in the subject of food instability, volunteering at a local food pantry while planning for an expansion of our community garden that will serve our neighbors with free produce. This approach is human-centered and recovery-inspired. We know that “giving back” is a core step of the 12-step program, and research shows volunteerism has a positive impact on a student’s personal, social and cognitive outcomes.
Contact us to apply.
Our Instructional Model Engages Students.
Our student enrollment is designed to be small, so there are mixed-grade levels in each classroom.
The school is based on the treatment model for adolescent substance use disorder and is a member of the Association of Recovery Schools. To be accepted into the program, students must have at least 30 days of sobriety and be between the ages of 14 and 20. Students must be committed to following the 12 Steps. The school recommends that students stay at the school for a year. Credits from the school are transferable to traditional public or private high schools.
English and History
Instruction across all grade levels is focused around standards-based themes and concepts, but instruction, assignments, and assessments are differentiated to address specific grade-level learning objectives.
Students enrolled in English class might read Macbeth, which is discussed as a multi-age class together in the same classroom.
Students work on their reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills. Our teacher assigns various passages, texts, poems, and speeches for students to summarize and fully analyze. Various writing assignments and projects for each individual week are also assigned.
In History class, all students might explore the impact of civil unrest on a society, but students enrolled in U.S. History might examine the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement, while students in World History examine the rise of Fascism in Italy following WWI, and students in Civics and Government examine the 13th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Students also learn about the roles and influences of political parties, interest groups, and mass media on our government, and the basic political and social responsibilities that come with citizenship.
Math and Science
Instruction is more individualized to meet the needs of students’ grade levels and course requirements needed to graduate.
Teachers use textbook and online curricula, increased small group and one-on one instruction, and classroom management techniques to support students individually while others work independently.
Students develop computational fluency and deepen conceptual understanding. Students begin each lesson by discovering new concepts through guided instruction, and then confirm their understanding in an interactive, feedback-rich environment.
Modeling activities equip students with tools for analyzing a variety of real-world scenarios and mathematical ideas. Journaling activities allow students to reason abstractly and quantitatively, construct arguments, critique reasoning, and communicate precisely. Performance tasks prepare students to synthesize their knowledge in novel, real-world scenarios and require that they make sense of multifaceted problems and persevere in solving them. This course is built to state standards.
Scientific inquiry skills are embedded in the direct instruction, wherein students learn to ask scientific questions, form and test hypotheses, and use logic and evidence to draw conclusions about the concepts.
Lab activities reinforce critical thinking, writing, and communication skills and help students develop a deeper understanding of the nature of science. This course is built to state standards and informed by the National Science Education Standards (NSES).
Studio Art
Each student is encouraged to find their own means of self-expression within the parameters of the assigned projects. The projects are designed to introduce students to as many types and techniques of art so that they may each find their expressive niche.
For example, our students enjoy a balanced experience between 2-D and 3-D projects. Students study art movements and then create projects in that style which dovetail with their own experiences in this world. Some of the projects we dive into are: Pop Art, Surrealism, and The Harlem Renaissance. We will research a handful of artists from each movement and learn in a way that adds “flesh” to history. Students research and build their own Ndebele House models, design and build a painting pendulum, learn digital photographic composition and editing, and compose their own intuitive, expressive painting.
Physical Education
Our overall objective is to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to make active living a way of life. Cooperation, fair play, sportsmanship, communication, and respect are conveyed in the practice of these activities and sports. These life skills are emphasized as they relate to the recovery process and demonstrated throughout our students’ time in the classroom.
Students Learn In Different Ways And With Different Styles.
Our staff is well-versed in serving students with diverse learning styles and providing enrichment and remediation for learning differences as necessary.
They come with years of experience in teaching in school communities with diverse learners.
Encouragement of Diverse Learning Styles
Our instructional model requires that teachers scaffold lessons and assignments based on grade and developmental abilities. To that end, our staff uses research-based practices proven to meet the needs of diverse populations, including:
Before-learning strategies, such as activating prior knowledge and assessment of pre-skills
Attention to sequencing of information,
Assessing the need for direct instruction and need for enrichment; direct instruction of learning strategies
Use of graphic organizers and study guides.
When a student’s academic performance falls below 70% on assessment measures or when a student’s academic need is apparent at point of admission, the student receives the first tier of intervention our school offers: weekly one-on-one tutoring in the specific content or skill area.
If the student does not respond to this level of intervention, a more intensive, second tier strategy is designed. This second tier of intervention may include increasing number of weekly tutoring sessions or implementation of specific remediation program. A third tier of intervention involves a strategy designed in conjunction with learning specialist, teacher, head of school, and any other relevant staff, to create a balance of remediation and curricular accommodations.
The Bridge Way School Is Licensed And Accredited By The Pennsylvania State Department Of Education
The Bridge Way School provides core academic courses and credits as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education so that the graduating student can transition to another secondary school, a post-secondary program and/or employment. The curriculum at our school is designed specifically to meet the individual needs of our students, with a particular emphasis on issues that research indicates often arise in students with addiction, such as ADHD and other co-occurring disorders.
A copy of The Bridge Way School’s comprehensive curriculum and alignment to state standards is available for review in the main office.