Bridges Questions

[Anonymous]

Bridges parents and others who know, could you answer a few questions for me, parent of a rising PK3 child:

1) What time is drop off and pick up?
2) Is Bridges is a good fit for a physically disabled child, better than most DCPS and charters (other than CM and ITS)? I'd rather not get into the nature of our child's disability, but it is not autism or an intellectual disability.
3) Will we have a better chance of getting into Bridges this year than next year? (My assumption is yes, since the school is moving this year, but if you think otherwise, I'd like to hear your arguments.)

I did not go to a Bridges open house and am now regretting it. Thanks for any info/experiences you can share.

[Anonymous]

1) School starts at 8:30. Ends at 3:30. You can drop off/pick up within 20 mins at both ends.
2)For physical disabilities, it's okay. I can't compare it to anywhere else, because I have no other experience elsewhere. The other kids are very receptive and supportive of kids with all kinds of disabilities. There isn't anything that jumps out at you to say "Wow, they're really on it" when it comes to that."
3) I'd go with now if possible.

You can call the school and ask to be put in contact with a parent. There's a listserv. They won't put you on it, but an email will go out asking if anyone is willing to talk to you about your concerns. Those parents will be given whatever contact information you choose to provide.

[Anonymous]

Former Bridges parent here: I would absolutely recommend Bridges for a student with physical challenges. You probably cannot find a better environment anywhere designed to provide for a student with or without any kind of special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former Bridges parent here: I would absolutely recommend Bridges for a student with physical challenges. You probably cannot find a better environment anywhere designed to provide for a student with or without any kind of special needs.

I know one special needs family this year that is VERY unhappy. Whether Bridges will be a good fit depends on the kind of special needs the child has.

[Anonymous]

Pick up on Wednesdays is earlier than the rest of days - I'm embarrassed to say I don't know when (12:30? 1?) - we do aftercare. Drop off starts at 8:20, you're late at 8:40.

We definitely have some issues special needs side, though far fewer than we did in DCPS, but I think the new location will be potentially far more accessible than many other schools (this depends on their planning of course - I'm sure someone at the school would be willing to chat with you about the new building, if you have accessibility concerns), and the upside of a charter seems to be that they have the ability to get and use various equipment/modifications/etc without giant bureaucratic hassle. For some kids that means cube chairs instead of sitting on the floor, or various OT and other devices (cushions, weighed whatevers, etc). They have some sensory equipment right now (certainly more than you might find at a number of other schools) - not sure if that will broaden with the new spaces (I'm talking like a swing and trampoline). This all may not apply to your situation but I note because I think it shows they have some access to things and there's no (less?) fuss about getting something needed. Same with aides - easier, though I can't promise easy, we've not dealt with that aspect.

I don't know if I can compare to most charters. I would say yes in terms of better than most DCPS, though I hear there's a good program somewhere (SWS?) for kids with physical challenges. They consistently provide related services, unlike our experience with DCPS (whose PT had some insane number assigned of schools - more than 20 - that just wasn't physically possible and as a result she didn't show for weeks on end and then would do marathon sessions that were useful to no one...). I'd expect many charters to be able to do that piece better than DCPS simply from a staffing/set up stand point (and also expectations/what's acceptable - if you assign that many schools, the provider can't possibly show up consistently and must combine sessions with multiple kids regardless of whether that's appropriate etc, whereas I think a charter is more likely to have a contract provider where the expectation is individual service, whose caseload isn't insane).

I'd assume you're right on ease of getting in this year relative to next, particularly with location change, but maybe they'll lose some people who try it for a year and think this just doesn't work for us commute wise, or they'll become slightly less popular generally because of location, or something. The location doesn't become wildly more convenient to, say, downtown, next year. And I'd assume prek 3 entry is slightly easier than prek 4, as it is in most places.

I'd encourage you to call the school with questions, particularly related to their ability to address particular disabilities, as I'd expect them to be open to answering such questions.

[Anonymous]

Went to the Open House today. New building is fully accessible... someone specifically asked about wheelchairs and gait trainers. There is before care and after care, so you can drop off as early as 7 and pick up as late as 6.

[Anonymous]

Pickup on Wednesday is 1:00. On other days it is 3:30 or up to ten minutes after. No wiggle room before.

I think you'll have a better chance this year than next.

[Anonymous]

So every Weds is a half day? Can you pay for aftercare on Weds only? Seems like this would be difficult for many working parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So every Weds is a half day? Can you pay for aftercare on Weds only? Seems like this would be difficult for many working parents.

Many charters have 1/2 day once a wk. 2R has 1 pm pickup on Wednesdays, Yu Ying has 1 pm pickup on Fridays, etc.

Aftercare runs til 6 as usual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So every Weds is a half day? Can you pay for aftercare on Weds only? Seems like this would be difficult for many working parents.

Yes you can do aftercare on a daily basis, so you can do Wed only. It's a PITA from an aftercare alternative perspective - far easier to get a sitter from 3:30 on than from 1 on - but if you do aftercare it all looks the same to you.