The Bridge Program

Curriculum

At The Learning Center, every student has an Individualized Education Plan that is supported by the varied expertise of our staff and focuses on helping each student become as successful and independent as possible. This collaborative, multidisciplinary approach assures that students receive the best possible curriculum to meet their particular needs. Each student’s program is evaluated regularly by the team to assess whether it’s meeting the individual’s needs and goals.

Some of our students learn in self-contained classrooms, while others follow the “block schedule,” which more closely resembles a public school model in which students visit different classrooms for various subjects. While the average teacher-student ratio is 1:3, our students have teams of specialists and clinicians from a variety of services areas including Speech Language Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Employment Services, and Mental Health Counselors working with them in the classrooms. These teams are totally focused on meeting each student’s and family’s needs. Subject areas span traditional academic disciplines, such as social studies and science, as well as community safety, social skills, therapeutic interventions, functional academics, personal growth and development, employment skills and a number of other areas.

Technology plays an important role in our educational programs and is one more tool we use to help students who are challenged by intellectual disabilities, trauma or mental health issues. In the classrooms, all students have access to computers and any assistive communication devices they might need. SMART Board interactive white boards allow educators use creative and innovative techniques to help students access learning and personal growth. These technologies assist learning and enable students to meet their goals.

As a community-based educational school, we work closely with neighboring groups and businesses such as video and grocery stores, museums, churches and libraries to enable students to interact within the community and participate in leisure and recreational group activities in the local area. Over the years, The Learning Center has successfully partnered with a number of local businesses and groups through our employment services program. This program prepares our students for community employment through group and individual training to help them become integrated members of the community work force.