I am a Texas Certified Math (8-12) and Technology Applications (EC-12) Teacher and have been teaching Math in the North Dallas Area since 2001. I have taught in Private Schools to Public Charter Schools. I have taught small classes to up to 30+-40 students. I have taught at 6 different schools and all grade levels from 4th Grade to 12th Grade (Precalculus, Statistics, Math Reasoning, Math Models with Applications). I was also a former Adjunct Part Time College Professor at Collin College teaching a computer class for four years. I started teaching at Bridge Builder Academy (BBA) in Richardson, Texas in January 2022. BBA is uniquely different in that students are taught one on one with their teachers. They get 100% of their teacher's time, and focus during each one-hour lesson. Students are constantly working because there is no time to be distracted by other students, goofing off on their phones, tablets, laptops, etc. They can't just "hide" in a large classroom and get lost in the material, or be afraid to ask for help, etc. Most schools would have forced me to use a set of curricula but each BBA individual's curriculum is designed according to what is best for the student to become successful based on their unique individual learning needs, styles, etc. I was approached by parents of students I taught at BBA's Graduation in May 2022 and they were thanking me for putting in the time to know their students, working with them, and helping them to do better in math. One student hated math, but the parents told me that in my 5 short months that they learned to appreciate it and like it. Another parent thanked me for her getting her son more than well-prepared for the upcoming school year. BBA offers parents and students a chance to have teachers work directly with their students in an individual one on one relationship. I have the freedom to be able to adjust individual learning. Yes, our tuition might be higher than other Private Schools. Make sure when you compare schools you look at how big the classes are. How can your child get the individualized attention and learning in a 45 minute or 1 hour class with 10, 20 or 30 other students? Are your teachers certified by TEA in the State of Texas? Are your teachers certified in Special Education or have worked with Special Education Students in the past? Will your student get one-on-one support? Will the curriculum be developed for your child's unique skills or learning styles to be successful in life? How will it change from the other students in the class? Are your child's Principals (or in the case of Private Schools and Charter Schools or Directors) have recent certification in the classroom as a Teacher and/or Administrator? Are all of the School's Classes taught by a certified teacher or just a long term substitute who may or may not having any teaching credentials? Is your student going to get the attention they need in your school or are they just a number in the classroom? In my 22+ years of teaching at multiple schools, I have had Principals with no certification and no teaching experience. BBA was recently (2023) awarded a 1st Place GOLD MEDAL in the Dallas Morning News' People's Choice Awards for the BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL in the DFW Area! This is the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW (We also won for 2022). Some schools talk about STEM, but have your students ever participated in a NASA Sponsored Contest? During the 2021-2022 school year, students from Bridge Builder Academy participated in the NASA Hunch program. Led by Mr. Michael Hays (BBA Teacher of the Year 21-22) students designed a prototype moon shoe "Lunar Loafers". They presented their original design during an event in November 2021 where NASA scientists evaluated their ideas and presentation. At this event, it was suggested that they pursue a patent for their product. Our students were selected to participate in the "Innovation Day" event in April 2022 at the Johnson Space Center. At this final event for the school year, they were awarded 3rd place in addition to winning a National Award for Design and Prototype. BBA has recently been selected by the National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) to be a 2022-2023 School of Excellence! BBA was the ONLY school in Richardson and Plano, 1 of 4 in the DFW area, 1 of 7 in the State of Texas, and just 1 of 123 in the entire United States! We are honored to receive this recognition! In 2019, Teresa A. Bronsky, Head of the School, was named a Member of the Continuing Advisory Committee for Special Education. With this appointment, she was able to help formulate the direction that Special Education would take in the state of Texas for the foreseeable future. In July, 2023, Two Teachers from BBA were selected and worked on Proclamation 2024 in Austin, TX to review and provide input for proposed new State Approved TEA Curriculum for Schools for Technology Applications and Personal Finance. read more

My oldest son has been going to Bridge builder academy for almost 3 years now, and it has been absolutely amazing! The amount of growth in his mentality, confidence and especially his education has been phenomenal! Im truly beyond grateful for finding this school! All the staff have been incredible and we definitely consider them family! I highly recommend this school! You will not be disappointed thats for sure read more

My child attended BBA and we had a most positive experience! They truly meet children where they are and get them where they need to be. The director, Mike, and his wife, Teresa, were excellent to work with and easy to connect with when needed. The teachers exceeded our expectations and the one time we didn't have a great connection with an instructor, a change was easily made! read more

This school is absolutely wonderful! My grandson can't wait to go to school at BBA each day. The teachers are wonderful - they find a method to teach each child according to his learning needs. I would highly recommend this school! read more

This unique school provides specialized education for students who need it all or just some extra help. VERY low student to teacher ratio, and the teachers are awesome! They're also very supportive of the arts and other nonprofits in the area, making for some amazing partnerships. read more

I started searching for alternative schools for our son in Oct, 2015, because the public school setting just wasn't working for him. He struggles with speech problems, reading delays, and is socially behind his peers. We found Bridge Builder Academy and started the process to get him enrolled. He started in January, 2016 and within 6 weeks we noticed that his speech was improving, despite the fact that he was no longer in speech therapy twice a week. We attribute this to his increased confidence and not struggling to be heard among 25 students. His confidence began to rise as he realized that he could learn if given an opportunity to learn in his own unique way. The teachers adapt and adjust their lessons as needed to make sure that he is understanding the concept, without compromising on the overall content of what he is supposed to be learning. Behaviors at home improved. His general overall mood improved. But most importantly, he started to enjoy school again. It was no longer a fight to get him up and ready for school every morning. He no longer came home upset and angry. We decided to continue the investment in his early elementary years in hopes that he will be able to reach his full potential of going on to college. There is no use saving for college if he can't achieve that because he can't get through elementary school with the basics to build upon. This was the right choice for our son and we continue to be amazed by how Bridge Builder Academy is able to customize curriculum, schedule, and teacher selection for each student. Thank you Bridge Builder for helping us find the right fit for our son. read more

My son is currently enrolled here. They have a fantastic school that attends to his style of learning. One on One education geared towards his interests and hobbies keeps him engaged and learning. Our local public school failed him miserably and my only regret is that I didn't enroll him here earlier. read more

We are so happy that we found this school! Our son has struggle with academics, and it has truly been an amazing experience thus far. They has such a great approach to teaching to his learning style. The one on one approach has been so beneficial for him. I would highly recommend this school to anyone. read more

We contacted Bridge Builder for in-home schooling for my son who has several learning differences. He attends a different school FT; Bridge Builder was meant to supplement and assist him in getting through his regularly assigned lessons, provided by his regular school. After meeting with the director, we had high hopes for the tutor/teacher who was assigned to us. Things started off well; she really knew how to demand my son's attention and effort and he respected her for that. She did well at keeping him on task. However, as time went on several issues came up that caused us to decide not to renew our contract. The tutor started complaining about my son's assignments and teachers, saying they were not teaching him appropriately or making assignments that would really help him. She complained that the assignments were "too much" or "inappropriate" for his level. This was not helpful and I disagreed with her. I just wanted her to help him through it, not try to "reinvent the wheel" so to speak. Then I started noticing that my son was missing parts of his assignments and getting several math problems wrong. These were things SHE was supposed to be checking and staying on top of. When I would ask her about it she was very apologetic, but it kept happening. My final overall complaint about this tutor is that she really didn't give my son or I any pearls of wisdom or extra help as far as his learning differences go. The few suggestions she made were things I had already tried implementing after reading things online. I really expected this school to make a difference with his learning issues, considering they advertise themselves as a school for those with learning differences. For the price we paid (A LOT) Bridge Builder was definitely not worth it. read more