School Partnerships

International Community High School, Bronx, NY

International Community High School (ICHS), in the Bronx, began implementation of the full Bridges Program in 2011 and graduated its first Bridges student in 2015 followed by an additional group in 2016. We are extremely grateful for ICHS’s consistent partnership and their willingness to grow Bridges with us over the years. The school, teachers and administrators have both opened their ELA Classroom as a lab-site for ELA Part 1 and provided feedback on the curriculum that contributed to important revisions. ICHS’s 2016 Bridges class did a phenomenal job helping us film our Professional Development video on the Language Experience Approach power method.

ICHS Website

Bronx International High School (BIHS), Bronx NY

Bronx International High School (BIHS), in the Bronx,  incubated the design for the original Bridges program  in 2010. Having implemented Bridges since then, BIHS is now seeing their first Bridges graduates. In 2016, BIHS offered its ELA classroom as a  lab-site for further development of the ELA Part 1 curriculum and supported us to pilot ELA Part 2. In addition, we are thankful and impressed with BIHS’ 2016 Bridges class, who helped us film our Professional Development video on the Read-Retell-Respond power method.

BIHS Website

East High School, Rochester NY

East High School, Rochester, launched a full Bridges program in Fall 2016. Thanks to the SIFE-friendly school administration, a Bridges-trained ELA teacher, and the support of regional RBERN staff, East High School has spent a year in the planning phase and looks forward to launching its Bridges pilot year.

East High School Website

Proctor High School, Utica NY

Proctor High School, Utica, implemented Bridges in 2013 and has successfully served its growing SIFE population in the past three years. Located in one of New York State’s major refugee resettlement areas, Proctor High School enrols a high number of refugees. Bridges has helped to make sure that LL SIFE, in particular, get the services they need in a school with a student population over 2000. The Bridges Math teacher at Proctor has been extremely valuable in the review and development of the Bridges Math curriculum. We are also grateful to the other members of the Proctor Bridges team for their extraordinary effort in implementing Bridges in spite of our long-distance partnership, which did not allow for much on-site planning and coaching.

Proctor High School Website

Newcomer Academy at Lafayette High School, Buffalo NY

Newcomer Academy at Lafayette High School, Buffalo, opened its doors in 2015 and implemented the Bridges ELA curriculum only. Most of the ELA teachers have attended Bridges Professional Development sessions since 2013 when we began our partnership with Lafayette High School. The current Newcomer Bridges team includes two certified Bridges Trainers, who will ensure that more teachers will receive Bridges coaching. In 2016, Newcomer Academy will also implement Bridges Social Studies, and the plan is to grow towards a full Bridges program in the coming years.

Lafayette High School Website