Bridges Academy

Bridges is an amazing school for twice-​exceptional (2e) students. Our son started at the end of 7^th grade and is now in 11^th and thriving! We moved here from out of the state specifically to send our son to Bridges. We learned of it from a 2e consultant in Colorado, and when the time was right for us, we brought our son to interview and tour the school.
First impressions were that it’s in a great neighborhood, the Silver Triangle, and there is a gymnasium, grassy fields, and two primary buildings for academics and administration. The campus is a safe and lush environment. We were impressed with every teacher we met on the tour, but the person that really sealed the deal for us was the headmaster, Carl Sabatino. He truly understands these 2e kids and he also gets the parents. He has a great vision for the school and the 2e Center (a resource center for twice exceptionality that is nationally renowned).
Since our son didn’t know anyone outside of Bridges, he thought he wanted to leave the school to expand his social circle. We let him leave for 10^th grade, and while it was a good year in a lot of ways, he decided that he wanted to return to Bridges for better academics. He missed the advanced math classes (esp. Calculus), advanced Physics, advanced Computer Programming, and Music Composition that Bridges offers. He is also working on an independent study this year (the «Badges» program) creating a video game. Writing the game story, coding it, creating graphics and composing music for it. I’m so happy he decided to go back to Bridges!
The last thing I’ll say is that after talking with a few different college placement consultants, I can say with confidence that the college counselor at Bridges, Anna Schaerf, is very knowledgeable. She is organized and has a lot of experience in college placement, and she really gets to know each student very well so her recommendations are spot on.
If you have a super bright child that just doesn’t seem to fit where you are, I highly recommend you check out Bridges Academy… it’s been a life-​changer for us and for many other families we’ve met there.

This school has change our life for the better. We feel so lucky to be party of the Bridges Family. 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. For the first time in 8 years, our son looks forward to going to school.

If you want a nurturing, innovative, supportive school that fuels your child’s imagination and embraces their quirkiness as well as their intelligence, Bridges is the place. Bridges warm environment encourages your child to persevere and create attainable goals as they find their voice, The teachers care, are attentive in every sense. My stepson attended BA at 16 after being in therapy boarding schools for four years. He was over medicated upon arrival and when he graduated Bridges, he was off every med and accepted to every college. Today he is striving, attending University of Denver and studying abroad. Thank you Bridges because of your faith, support and guidance, my stepson sings the world imperfect with confidence, conviction and courage.

I have been to the school. What a great learning environment. Everyone that attends is there to learn. Everyone that works there teaching and safety is there top priority.
They really do care and offer a top education.

I have a highly gifted child with a learning difference that was performing well in elementary school, but when he started middle school, it all changed. He was getting in trouble from teachers for not paying attention, but reading in class instead. He was bored and starting to check out. He went from a’s to f’s. He said it wasn’t the content, but the teaching style he did not agree with. He was sent to the counselor’s office almost daily until finally one day he refused to go back to school. He had had enough. We visited several schools. Nothing seemed quite right… until we stepped foot into bridges. All of a sudden, it all clicked… the size, the teachers, the students… it was the perfect fit. My son has been at bridges for 2 years now and I can’t see him anywhere else. He looks forward to going to school every day. Hallelujah for bridges!

A year ago, if you would have asked my 15-​year-​old son what he wanted to do after he graduated high school, he would have told you he had no idea — and quit bugging him while he was playing Wii.
These days he’ll tell you that he may want to formulate a method to make cancer cells undergo apoptosis without affecting the normal cells around them.
In lay terms, that means he wants to cure cancer. And he has an idea of how he might do it.
My son has always had an interest in science and the natural world. But his current focus on biological research came as a result of his relationship with his brilliant science teacher at Bridges Academy.
As the parent of a twice-​exceptional teenager with ADHD, I know first-​hand about the challenges of trying to understand and nurture a child who at one moment seems wise beyond his years and the next can throw a tantrum suitable to a much younger kid. I know the heartache of speaking with officials at previous schools who acknowledged that my son was brilliant but unmanageable.
I admit my son has been a challenge at times, but why couldn’t everyone see the same kid I saw? Why did they always focus on the problems instead of the gifts? And why couldn’t my son just go with the flow once in a while? Why did he always have to make everything so hard on himself by insisting on doing things his own way?
The simple answer is that that his brain is «wired» differently. Basic executive skills that came so easily to other kids — like turning in homework on time — seemed impossible for him. But studying graduate-​level molecular genetics was a piece of cake.
My son is «twice exceptional, or «2e.» He’s gifted (that’s the first exception), but also has a learning difference, ADHD (and that’s the second exception).
Although the concept of twice-​exceptionality is nearly twenty years old, I hadn’t heard of it until five years ago when our family discovered Bridges Academy. We had no idea that there was a school in Los Angeles where educators were developing cirricula that focused on the strengths of these unique kids while also helping them address their weaknesses, where kids were identified not by their challenges but by their talents and passions.
Five years ago I knew my son was brilliant, but I couldn’t have told you what path he was going to choose after high school, let alone whether he would even go to college. Now it seems clear he’s going to follow his passion, even if that passion may change in the coming years. And I’m grateful to Bridges Academy for the significant role they’ve played in helping him find his way.

My son has attended Bridges for 3 years. He, like most kids there, is highly gifted but has learning differences. This school allows my son to be himself and uses his strengths to learn. For example, instead of writing about some assigned random topic in English, the teachers allow for him to write about the things he is interested in. He often would refuse to write in his prior school, now his writing is incredible. His critical thinking skills have fully developed because this school allows them to develop in the way that my son thinks. This school teaches to the individual student so they learn. It is a wonderful place with caring teachers, and staff.

I am a Bridges parent of a brilliant, ADHD kid. Never has he been better understood, nurtured, or more stimulated. This is a school for gifted, «different drummer» kids, the type of kids that grow up, if properly nourished, to be true movers and shakers as adults. They get that nourishment here.
Incidentally, the work that he’s doing there is actually much more advanced than in his old school, so there is no stinting on academics. They will even individualize a program so that your child can be advanced a grade level in some subject in which he/​she is gifted.
Lastly, this school seems devoid of drugs or peer pressure, the twin horrors of most schools. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Reviewing as a teacher: located on the second floor of OSULA, this low teacher to student ratio school is dedicated to providing the best individualized education to those students with mild learning disabilities. The classrooms have a very relaxed atmosphere where creativity is greatly encouraged.