Why Bridgeway Matters - A Concerned Parent

Why does Bridgeway matter?  Because it makes a difference in the lives of children.  Here is another story from a part of our school family.

Enjoy,

The Bridgeway Team

This is our story.....

When our son first started public school we knew there was an underlying condition. Eventually he was diagnosed with an SLD (Severe Learning Disability) and we were able to identify the areas of opportunity that would be essential to his overall learning ability.

We worked with the public schools and the LINKS program to help our son develop to the best of his ability. He attended the after school programs with LINKS, received resource support on a regular basis, received home help and followed IPP plans.  Even with all this help it was just not enough to bring him up to speed and to reach his maximum potential.  He is a hands-on learner who needs constant supervision, guidance and reminders for his everyday work. Our son also suffered from anxiety issues and showed physical symptoms of stress related problems which ultimately caused him to miss quite a bit of public school. At this point, to say we were desperate and frustrated beyond belief would be an understatement we did not know who to turn to or what to do next. Then we heard about Bridgeway Academy and everything they had to offer; ultimately Bridgeway Academy became our family’s salvation and a pivotal turning point in our lives. 

In September of 2010 our son started at Bridgeway Academy and the changes that we have seen have been simply remarkable. Not only is he actively engaged and participating in his classes, but he is gaining and developing the confidence he needs as well as much needed social and life skills. His anxiety issues are gone now and he is happy to go to school every day.....you cannot imagine what a relief it was for us all to have him happy once again and enjoying getting up and going to school every day.

With the results we have seen to date we are very confident that our son will continue to grow and develop at Bridgeway and they will help him gain the confidence and the strength that he will need to help him through his studies. There is no question that Bridgeway is the best choice for him as they will be able to provide him with the individualized attention that will cater to his needs and future development. It gives us great peace of mind to know that Bridgeway shares our views and concerns and will be our son's best advocate when it comes to helping children with learning disabilities. 

We would like nothing better than to integrate our son back into the public system, and we have asked ourselves this question over and over again and each time the answer is still no..... we will not jeopardize our child's future and everything he has learned at any cost, we simply cannot take that risk.  

The public school system just does not offer the support for our son that he requires, they simply are not equipped to handle children with special needs, we know we have done the research. He will not get the individualized attention that he needs and as a result he will be lost in the system as he once was before. We will not go back to how it was .....the tears, the frustration and lack of motivation we experienced on our son’s behalf as well as our own. At Bridgeway our children learn to deal with their disabilities, adapt and integrate their challenges into their everyday learning’s and the much needed life skills.

It is our hope that the TSP funding continues and does not stop short at the 3+1 year commitment. As for us and many other parents in the same situation, when the support funds run out we will do whatever it takes to keep our son at Bridgeway; unlike the TSP funding, SLD'S do not go away,

I share our story with you today in hopes that we can make a difference in the lives of these children, our story is only one of many and I appeal to you today to learn from our experience and help change the current support program and extend indefinitely to those in need. We desperately need more schools like Bridgeway in Atlantic Canada to give other children a fighting chance at life. Our children are our future and as a parent it is my responsibility to ensure my child, as well as others, get a fighting chance and every equal opportunity in life.  It's just the right thing to do.

Sincerely,  

A concerned and devoted parent. 

Bridgeway success story - Equilibrium Youth

We love it when former students drop in and update us on what they have been up to.  Last week, Peter Vaughn dropped by.  He's currently a student at NSCC, but he's also involved in a wonderful organization he started called Equilibrium Youth.  We asked him to share the story of his organization for our blog, and we're delighted he was able to provide us with it so quickly!

The Bridgeway team

By Peter Vaughn

Equilibrium Youth is a non-profit organization that fights against various sorts of stereotypes against teenagers and young adults. Equilibrium, by definition, is the state of equality of weights or forces. Through interpretation, this is what we plan to bring forth. Our mission is dedicated to raise public awareness on various sorts of stereotypes against teenagers and young adults, to stop youth classification through mutual understanding of each other and to explore the numerous ways of helping youth overcome obstacles. Two concepts that we work with is youth classification and mutual understanding.

Youth classification: This is a term used to describe the manner in which youth are judged; that being any form of categorization based on image, interest, upbringing, peers, age, gender, character, or personality. This usually takes place as negative stereotyping manner; however we are trying to change this way of thinking into positive thinking.

Mutual understanding: This is the ability to relate to others, by knowing who people are and how they got there. To achieve this, one must be willing to meaningfully expose themselves to things that are sometimes painful to see or hear. In doing so, individuals will start to realize who they truly are, understand their full potential and embrace a more humble life. Since many prejudice accusations towards youth are formed due to misunderstanding, making the transition from misunderstanding to exposure becomes of the utter most importance.

The message Equilibrium Youth, injunction with our two concepts is sharing with people is that judging youth needs to stop and to start helping these individuals. We have three messages for the public: The Comfort of Self, The Development of Others and The Balance of Society.

The Comfort of Self: We want youth to feel comfortable with their own personal circumstances that they can’t change. These may include living environments, physical and mental limitations, lack of resources, etc.

The Development of Others: We want youth to learn not to judge others without taking into account how that person came to be the way they are. This could refer to someone’s attitude, performance, decisions, etc.

The Balance of Society: We want youth to realize the importance of everyone around them and how their roles are so valuable to society. This pertains especially to those who have made wrong choices, do not participate in ideal conduct, etc.

Peter Vaughan is a student with a learning difference who attended Bridgeway during his Jr. High years then graduated high school from the Halifax West High School alongside Isaac Adams in June 2010. Isaac Adams is the founder of Equilibrium Youth. Currently, Peter is enrolled at NSCC as an Electronic Engineering Technician and Isaac Adams is majoring in Music at Mount Allison University.

In September 2009, Peter joined Isaac with his campaign for equality among youth. Peter goes behind the scene with his computer-based skills. He designs most of the group’s videos and is currently designing a website for the non-profit organization, which he expects to be up this spring. However Peter is not always behind the scenes, one of his ongoing projects is to teaching youth how to ballroom dance. He believes it helps to create strong communication skills between two people and the whole class and to promote other important socials skills.

Getting involved in your child’s education – Part 4: Making it happen

In the final part of Lisa’s series on getting involved in your child’s education, she offers practical reasons for making communication and engagement a priority, and the positive impact it can have on student success.

By Lisa Saunders

Director of Programs, Bridgeway

The effectiveness of communication between home and school is essential to student success, not just in younger grades, but also in junior high and high schools (Shirvani, 2007).  Anecdotal reports highlight success for younger students in particular and students who are in need of extra support such as students diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Block, 2010).  Children spend approximately 85 % of their waking hours, outside of school, with their parents/guardians (Shirvani, 2007).  So, it would stand to reason that parents can influence a child’s education a great deal through creating a supportive and academically stimulating environment (Block, 2010).  Parents have a great deal of insight into their children, how they learn and what other circumstances may impact their school performance.  Working with their child and their child’s school can directly affect their child’s experiences in the classroom (Block, 2010).

Successful initiatives that actively include parents in the education of their children have been seen in the UK but have been elusive in the North American public education system.  Reaching out to parents in an effort to open the doors and dispel the mystery of our schools has been successful in many independent schools.  Guiding parents on how they can effect change in their child’s education starts with giving information educators work with day to day; career planning, navigating the school system and understanding educational jargon are some common areas parents request more information on (Black, 2010).  A fear of low parent participation and negative responses often prevent school leaders from burdening their staff with the responsibilities that come with an open door policy of parent-school communication.

Properly supported staffs who have the backing of a leader who establishes clear goals for parent-school communication will ultimately meet with increased student success.   Student success defined by increases in test scores, attendance and academic achievement as well as decreases in behavioral issues and referrals to the principal’s office are results of parent’s involvement in their child’s education.  Although the practice of open communication with families has been limited to report card distribution and calls home from the principal’s office, the practice of improved communication combining the efforts of both parents and school members yields positive results for the students.  Support from the educational leader comes in the form of fostering this concept within each school and each family through coaching both the teaching staff and the families in the most effective way to achieve their shared goal; student success.

If you want to continue the conversation with Lisa, or have questions about how you can further support your child’s education, you can reach her at 902-464-0134 or by email at lisa.saunders@bridgeway-academy.com.

Getting involved in your child’s education – Part 3: The role of the educational leader

How do you set the stage for parental engagement in education?  Today, Lisa discusses the need for leadership within the school to create an environment that fosters effective communication with parents.

By Lisa Saunders

Director of Programs, Bridgeway

Traditionally the educational leader’s role is more behind the scenes allowing assistances or vice-principals to run the staff and the staff to run the schools (Goldman, 1998).  It is up to the leadership of the principal or head of school to establish important practices; model what they want the teaching staff to emulate.  Creation of a welcoming environment where parents feel encouraged to come to the school, speak with staff, ask questions and offer feedback would be conducive to opening the door to parent involvement in their child’s education.  Not limited to parent organizations or parent advisory councils…just creation of a welcoming environment where parents feel comfortable asking questions and sharing information.  It is up to the person in charge, the educational leader to initiate this movement one school at a time.  “…the school’s characteristics are a reflection of the educational values of the leader” (Goldman, 1998).

Creation of individualized plans for children in public schools can be used as an example of an intimidating circumstance for typical parents to be involved in.  The individualized planning process includes parents but alienates them based on use of unfamiliar lingo and families having little influence over the process (Geltner & Leibforth, 2008).  Involving parents in their child’s education is not only focused on what parents can bring to the school, but what the school can offer the family. 

Tomorrow, Lisa will wrap up her series on getting parents involved in education with some advice on how schools can make it happen.

Getting involved in your child’s education – Part 2: The UK experience

Yesterday, Lisa Saunders presented the case for getting involved in your child’s education.  Today, a look at the UK and initiatives that encourage active parental participation.

By Lisa Saunders

Director of Programs, Bridgeway

Successful educational models out of the UK that have actively involved parents and focused on communication include Every Child Matters and Children’s Plan for Early YearsPractitioners and Leaders initiatives.   “It provides more support for parents to do the best for their child…shaped around the needs of children and their families…” (Children’s Plan for Early Years Practitioners and Leaders, info sheet).   Every Child Matters initiative recognized that parental involvement had been an aspect lacking in education, stating: “In the past it has been argued that children and families have received poorer services because of the failure of professional to understand each other’s roles or to work together effectively in a multi-disciplinary manner.”

In each of these models the educational leader’s role was to support their staff in bridging the gaps between parents, teachers and other professionals.  These educational models were created because educational leaders recognized that the education system was in need of improvement.  In fact, even on North American soil, the value of parental involvement was recognized and was addressed by the president of the United States (albeit a few years after the UK initiatives), “…parents are an important component of their children’s academic future success.”

In fact, in schools in the UK that had high implementation of the Every Child Matters initiative included forums that allowed parents to express their views and have a say in decision making processes (Harris & Allen, 2009).  Parent-school communication typically takes place one of two ways: written or verbal.  In either case there is opportunity for miscommunication and discrepancy between values and beliefs of the families and schools as well as the individual educators (Bridgemohan, et al., 2005).

In this time of pressure, on both students and educational leaders to perform on assessment scores, wouldn’t educational leaders adopt a practice, to improve performance of their students?   Through both formal and informal parental engagement, there is evidence of a major impact on the performance of students (Harris & Allen, 2009).

You’ll find more information on Every Child Matters on The Guardian website - http://www.guardian.co.uk/everychildmatters.  Tomorrow, Lisa looks at the educational leader’s role in engaging parents.

Getting involved in your child’s education – Part 1: Why it’s important

Bridgeway is blessed to have a wonderfully talented and creative group of staff members.  I’m going to tap into their expertise as often as I can and share their knowledge with you through our blog.  Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some words of wisdom from Lisa Saunders, our Director of Programs.  Lisa has been with Bridgeway for ten years now, and is currently working on her Masters in Education.  Here is part one of a paper she recently wrote on why getting parents involved in their child’s education is so important.

By Lisa Saunders

Director of Programs, Bridgeway

In years past, children who have reached a magic age, usually around five years old, have left their family’s home and have gone off to school.  What a child did between the hours of arrival at school and dismissal was the responsibility of the teachers, not the parents.  Similarly, when a child left school and returned home, what happened there was of little consequence to the child’s school.  There is a shift coming within the traditional roles played by both parents and educators.  Parents and teachers both are beginning to agree that education of children should be achieved by a marriage of two communities; home and school.  Improvement of the practice of parental involvement in education through home-school communication will ultimately achieve the common goal that binds parents and educators together: student success.

Home-school communication is one of the most important practices in ensuring student success and forging successful home-school relationships.  However important the practice of “keeping in touch”, its effectiveness is difficult to measure (Bridgemohan, et al., 2005).  The measureable benefits of a close-knit relationship between home and school include increased assessment scores, decreased drop-out rate, a decline in behavior issues and higher learner achievement (Shirvani, 2007).  Bridgemohan, et al., 2005, also suggests that parental involvement in a child’s school has the ability to decrease the gap between achievement of high-income and low-income families.

Tomorrow, Lisa will share the experiences of educators and parents in the UK, where getting parents actively involved in the school system has been a priority since 2003.

Changing lives

My favourite part of working at Bridgeway is hearing the stories that our students and families share.  It is always so moving to hear the ways that Bridgeway has made a difference in their lives.  The accomplishments our students are most proud of are often the ones that many of us take for granted. 

Christian was our Class of 2011 valedictorian this year.  He has kindly given me permission to share the following exerpts from his speech.  Read and be moved... 

Rhonda

First I would like to welcome you all to Bridgeway Academy’s graduation ceremony for the class of 2011.  It means a lot to me and the other members of the graduating class to have this opportunity to celebrate something that not too long ago many would have doubted would ever come to pass.

When I first came to Bridgeway, I was an obese, depressed and nervous wreck of a person, who had zero confidence that I would ever achieve or amount to anything.  For all intents and purposes, I had given up on life.  As overly dramatic as it may sound, Bridgeway Academy was my last chance of having a life.  That was three years ago.  Now I stand before you a different...no, better individual than I was before, and it was only made possible by this school.

                I want to thank the school staff and administration for running and maintaining this place to the best of their abilities.  You do not get enough credit for the difficult job that you have.

                I thank all of the wonderful teachers we have here at Bridgeway Academy for their hard work and patience with all the students who attend this school.  It is without a doubt in my mind that you are the reason for this school’s success, not name, dating and colour coding.

                I want to thank my parents Ken and Cindy, for not only their love but for their persistence that I pursue my education.  Without it, I would have likely given up long ago.

                To my grandparents, Hank and Thelma, your love and patience make you the best neighbours anyone could ever ask for, and I am lucky to have you both.

                Finally, I would like to thank my friends who supported me.  Whose companionship helped me through the rough patches; you may never understand how grateful I am for your support.

We the Class of 2011 have finished high school and now look forward to what comes next.  We have prepared as best we can and have learned the necessary skills and tools needed for us to move into post-secondary education.  I am proud to say that each of us has been accepted into the university or college of our choosing and are all excited to start this coming September.  Although I can in no way guarantee that each of us will experience immediate success at these institutions, I am confident that this graduating class is as prepared as it will ever be for the challenges that may lie ahead.  Remember that you have faced adversity before and that you have found a way to overcome it.  Do not be afraid to make mistakes – it’s bound to happen – but I would advise you should avoid making them as much as possible, and that the ones you do make should serve to teach you something new.

I was 335 pounds and was regularly attending the IWK mental health program just three years ago, and there’s no reason why it could not have gotten worse.  But it didn’t.  I learned anyone can make changes in their life for the better; the only time you can’t is when you stop trying to do so.  So go forth onto those next few steps on the stairs we call life, and do so with the confidence that the only person that can hold you back is yourself.