BridgePrep Academy’s curriculum is rigorous, challenging and focuses on creating global leaders who have an enthusiasm and passion for learning. To accomplish this, our faculty engages in practices and technologies that promote and encourage exploration, inquiry and discovery. Students are active learners and teachers guide their learning. Together with the student, the teacher sets learning goals based on data, classroom and teacher observations. Parents receive information in the form of emails, newsletters, teacher website and our online grading system.
Language Arts
BridgePrep Academy develops an environment in which students become lifelong readers. Our reading series is called Wonders from McGraw Hill. Wonders is a comprehensive language arts program that introduces, reinforces and enriches reading comprehension skills and strategies. Teachers use a wide variety of assessments to enhance the student’s ability to learn. Within this curriculum, students gain valuable knowledge about spelling, grammar, vocabulary and handwriting skills. The writing process is highlighted, and students are encouraged to write creatively by expanding their ideas with supporting details.
Mathematics
Go Math creates a spiraling curriculum that builds on the concrete and moves to the more abstract. BridgePrep believes that children understand mathematics best when it is related to real world experiences. Go Math also has an online component called Gizmos, which engages students to practice and reinforce math skills. Our faculty places an emphasis on basic fact mastery and knowledge of number sense. Students experience fun methods of learning whole numbers and place value, decimals and fractions, measurement, geometry, data analysis and quantitative reasoning.
Science
Florida Science is a state-of-the-art curriculum designed for building inquiry and optimized learning. The curriculum is designed to incorporate technology, hands-on labs and activities and virtual labs for all lessons. An additional component is the leveled readers and video-based projects that reinforce and enrich important concepts. Students have an opportunity to work in small groups to test their hypothesis and to support their conclusions through collaborative learning in the science lab. BridgePrep’s science lab has an abundance of supplies and equipment for students to conduct experiments, making science come alive.
Social Studies
Our social studies curriculum is designed to connect students to community, state, nation and world. Teachers discuss current events, such as economy, environment and government and students develop a global perspective through an open forum. By immersing students in real world events, students discover links to the past, have a better understanding of the present and develop skills to be worldwide citizens of the future. BridgePrep utilizes Time for Kids, videos, websites and blogs as opportunities to connect with other classes around the world and to enrich the learning experience.
Technology
Every student has the opportunity to use technology in a safe and proficient manner. Teachers have access to classroom desktop computers and school laptop carts, where students can research and work on specific programs to strengthen their skills such as Mathletics, Achieve 3000, Gizmos and I-Station. It is BridgePrep’s philosophy that technology is an important tool that students need to become successful in the working world.
Foreign Language
In the lower grades, the language comes alive through music, puppets, big books, posters, picture cards, theater, felt board, a trivia game, a bingo game, and interactive CD Rom. In the higher elementary and secondary grades, Spanish vocabulary and grammatical concepts continue to be developed to achieve a higher level of conversation, reading, and writing skills. All students receive daily Spanish. It is BridgePrep’s philosophy that students who practice speaking, reading and writing Spanish will become more fluent as they progress through the program. Our proficiency-based Spanish program enables students to master all aspects of foreign language, from listening and speaking to reading and writing. By providing more than just exposure to a second language, the Spanish faculty inspires students to engage and understand the cultures and traditions of the Spanish-speaking world. Through this exploration of language, students are able to communicate meaningfully and effectively in a globalized world.
Physical Education
The physical education program builds and develops cardiovascular strength, muscle, agility and athletic fundamentals through several activities and sports. BridgePrep’s physical education program continuously builds on a foundation for lifelong health and wellness. Good sportsmanship is expected and emphasized.
Art
Students experience art through a variety of hands-on projects that encourages creativity. In addition to acquiring skills and concepts, students learn to explore and experiment with a range of materials. Students are encouraged to incorporate self-expressions in their projects. During events such as Hispanic and Black History week, art is infused into the curriculum and displayed.
Music
The music curriculum is offered to every student from grades 2-5 and it is aligned to the components required with the Miami-Dade school district. It is BridgePrep’s goal to promote life-long enjoyment and appreciation of music. Students are not just taught music theory and history but are also exposed to different musical instruments.
Intervention
Academic support intervention is intended as a resource for educators to assist in integrating academic and behavior supports and services for all students. The MTSS model for instruction and intervention is based on the principle that academic and behavioral supports are first provided at a core or universal level to effectively address the needs of all students in a school (referred to as Tier I). However, not all students respond to the same curricula and teaching strategies. As a result, some students with identified needs will receive supplemental or targeted instruction and intervention at Tier II. Finally, at Tier III, a few students with the most severe needs will receive the most intensive and individualized behavioral and/or academic support.
Gifted Program
Our Gifted program offers acceleration and enrichment for our gifted students. Project based learning is encouraged to build organization skills and to stimulate the students’ minds. The aim of the Gifted program is to teach the standards with in-depth knowledge of the topic while challenging the students in the process. We envision that this program will assist our students in fostering a love for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
STEAM
At BridgePrep Academy the STEAM curriculum is infused throughout the day. Students will be exposed to an interdisciplinary curriculum that includes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). The curriculum will address multiple intelligences and individual learning styles to meet the diverse needs in the 21st century. Students will be challenged with project-based activities and real world connections throughout the academic school year.
STEAM is proving successful in schools all around the world to better teach academic and life skills in a standards-based, reality-based, personally relevant exploratory learning environment. It is backed with the major educational philosophies, classroom management and assessment strategies. It promotes deeper understanding and transference of knowledge across the subjects. It is used for developing model educational programs to create functionally literate people by increasing the depth and breadth of proficiency in all students and educators and the communities they influence. It works by expanding a program’s current lesson plans into STEAM plans for more realistic discovery and innovation for all types of learners.