EDUCATION: Bridge Preparatory Charter School Uses Special Techniques For Teaching Reading To Students With Dyslexia

At Bridge Preparatory Charter School, students participate in exercises like breaking down a word and bridging it back together.

It’s an approach aimed at helping struggling readers, and that’s who this elementary school was built for: children with dyslexia and other language-based learning needs.

Not every child there has a reading disorder like dyslexia.

The school is open to all. But its lottery gives preference to children with Individualized Education Plans that note they’re struggling to read.

More than 60% of the school’s students have an IEP.

The school uses the Orton-Gillingham approach to teach reading, which breaks reading and writing into smaller pieces. 

The method encourages children to use their senses, tapping and tracing letters as they go.

And now Mayor Eric Adams has pledged to better support students with reading disorders like dyslexia.

Also Schools Chancellor David Banks has said he aims to open schools specifically for those with dyslexia.