Bridges - Opinions Needed

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the info on aftercare and Sharpe! The aftercare sounds like it would work well for my child. Is there a discount if you do the whole month of aftercare, or is it just drop in only for $20/day? Thanks again for this info; it is very useful.

I had heard originally that DC would decide on Sharpe in December, then in January. Here's hoping they decide in the next few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a Bridges parent. We are very happy with the school. The focus on literacy development was key to us taking a spot there and they do it in a developmentally appropriate way. They are excellent at differentiation and have a good system for assessing all children throughout the year in order to address individual educational needs. The school spends its money on all of the rights things, in my opinion - no fancy or gimmicky bells and whistles. Very high-quality teaching staff and great curriculum/learning support and administrative staff. The principal is excellent (we were sold on the school after talking with her) and can provide clear information on the curriculum, educational values, etc. The school is expanding to 5th grade and we feel lucky to have gotten in. They are careful and thoughtful in what they do. Our child is not special needs, but to our untrained eyes, they do a wonderful job in that arena and the inclusion classrooms are all great (18 kids in our PreK room with a teacher and an Asst. teacher). It is not expeditionary learning -- it is project-based learning. It is a Title I school and some on this board may not be comfortable with that for their own reasons -- we are not uncomfortable with attending a Title I school. What matters to us is that the focus always be on providing a high quality education and this is definitely their focus. Hope this helps. Attending an open house will give you more info.

OP here. Thanks, this is helpful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many thanks for the info on aftercare and Sharpe! The aftercare sounds like it would work well for my child. Is there a discount if you do the whole month of aftercare, or is it just drop in only for $20/day? Thanks again for this info; it is very useful.

I had heard originally that DC would decide on Sharpe in December, then in January. Here's hoping they decide in the next few days.

The person who answered the phone at Bridges this week told me that they still do not know about Sharpe but that given the late date, if they do get the building, it would be for the 2015-2016 school year. So there will definitely be one more year with the status quo.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this thread. This is a question i have wondered about for years.

[Anonymous]

I hope to make it to a Feb open house, but can anyone comment on what "inclusion" entails? That page of Bridges' website says "coming soon". Is it just mixing in kids of different learning abilities all together, whether diagnosed with special needs or not? How does this affect the students' experience, as compared to a non-inclusive class at any other school?

[Anonymous]

All the charters that get talked about on DCUM practice "inclusion" where kids with SNs are mainstreamed into regular classrooms. Not sure why Bridges always gets the nod on this. Bridges is ok and not all that better than some of the others. Bridges does have SLPs and OT on staff whereas most of the others use subcontractors for these services. And that's about the main difference.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. That's probably why I was confused; I've heard similar things from other schools and couldn't tell what was supposed to be different here.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know which building hosts the open houses?

[Anonymous]

Wpost article today on the buildings may be of interest to some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know which building hosts the open houses?

They send you to the building that would make most sense. Woman told me where to go on the phone after she asked me what grades I want. I went to Sharpe because I am interested in first grade. Sharpe has first grade and PK3/PK4 class combo.

[Anonymous]

We did the open house today for pk, but only got to your that one building. Can any parents weigh in on if the classrooms and scene in the other building are pretty similar? Or how are they different?

[Anonymous]

Sorry your=tour.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know whether Bridges offers child are on professional development days? Also, I know it's $20 drop-in, but what is the cost for a full month? $400 would be very expensive relative to other similar after-care programs (no bells & whistles).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know whether Bridges offers child are on professional development days? Also, I know it's $20 drop-in, but what is the cost for a full month? $400 would be very expensive relative to other similar after-care programs (no bells & whistles).

The $20/day rate is not drop-in--it's the regular rate, with $22/day for drop-ins. That means that it's around $400 a month, or on par with what YY and MV charge, only without the "bells and whistles" that MV and YY have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the open house today for pk, but only got to tour that one building. Can any parents weigh in on if the classrooms and scene in the other building are pretty similar? Or how are they different?

Anyone know?