Bridge Boston is a
public charter school designed to serve the most vulnerable children. We believe the most effective way to lift children out of poverty is by equipping them with an excellent education. With a longer day and school year, we are able to provide academic rigor, a commitment to nurturing the whole child, and a breadth of full-service programming to remove obstacles to learning.
Full Service
Bridge Boston sustains academic rigor by increasing learning time and setting high expectations. We have an extended school day from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., with many students arriving as early as 7:15 a.m.; our year runs from August through June. Our students have more than three hours daily of math, reading, and writing. Our teachers meet weekly to discuss curriculum and lesson planning; regular professional development and planning meetings focus on student data and best practices. We also have rich thematic social studies and science curricula that are designed to incorporate hands-on projects and develop student inquiry.
Whole Child
Bridge Boston works to create a nurturing community that honors the whole child. Classrooms are both joyful and demanding. We strive to create a balance between ensuring that students have space and tools to cope with the aftermath of trauma with which so many of them grapple, and continually pushing them to think deeply, read critically, write clearly, and solve problems independently. We want to expand our students’ self-discipline and self-appreciation.
Academic
Finally, Bridge Boston’s model is built around the key design element of implementing full-service programming in order to serve students from the most underserved communities in the city. We deliberately recruit children who could most benefit from our program by conducting outreach in homeless shelters and day care centers, medical clinics, family stabilization teams, the Department of Children and Families, and housing developments.The children at Bridge Boston are provided with numerous services. There are annual vision and hearing screenings, dental clinics on site, and parent workshops on topics ranging from asthma awareness, health and wellness, and parenting.