What motivated you to look at Bridgedale as an academic alternative for Charlie?

We first learned about Bridgedale when I saw a poster about Bridgedale at an ice rink before one of Charlie’s hockey games. My wife had been looking for a classical education. The idea of combining a classical education model, an all-boy environment and excellent hockey training was very appealing to us and to Charlie.

What factors went into your decision and was there any particular deciding factor?

We had some doubts coming into it. Would a hockey school be able to or interested in the sort of rigorous education we believe is critical for our children? Would the other families put education first and hockey second? Bridgedale dispelled those doubts. We quickly saw that the Bridgedale teachers and athletic instructors cared about educating and growing young men first from the top down.

Hockey is of course an important part of the education, but just like algebra and grammar, hockey is one more tool that develops thoughtful, intelligent young men who are leaders in the classroom, on the ice and in their communities. And in order to accomplish its mission Bridgedale has built an unparalleled team of teachers. To a person, the teachers have strong command of their subject and an excellent ability to handle middle school boys firmly, but with an impressive kindness and generosity. 

Our journey at Bridgedale Academy happened quickly, but the course that lead us there started long before. Aiden has always been a joy: his beautiful smile and kind spirit make him so easy to love. He is helpful and smart; a great addition in any school. He asks for very little and gives 100% in return. 

For years, our parent teacher conferences remained the same, "Your son is smart, sweet and doing his best."

This was wonderful . . . 

Until Aiden hit fourth grade and things changed.

Parent teacher conferences remained the same, but Aiden was unhappy. His lack of interest in school was obvious, he never wanted to do homework, nor did he need too. He was withdrawn and miserable, frustrated with the classroom and the students that refused to follow the rules.

His teacher spent more time attempting to manage the classroom than teaching. State-mandated testing and large classrooms made it difficult to cover curriculum and Aiden was DONE. We struggled as a family, trying everything in our power to manage the stress and disappointment that came with what we knew needed to be done. 

He needed a change. WE needed a change. Little did we know, the greater power would take over. 

I was looking for an alternative to my son Alex's public school. Even though it was rated as a Blue Ribbon school and I loved his teachers, its policies and overall approach to the educational process reminded me too much of the Soviet system I’d grown up in. 

As an immigrant from Eastern Europe, I very highly value achievement and this is something I would like to instill in my son. As a child who tested as gifted at an early age, he was not being challenged enough by his public school. Everything was too easy, and even though he was always a good student, I knew that for maximum growth, he needed to be challenged much more. 

We were looking to combine academics and hockey.

Additionally, he was in love with hockey. It was the first thing he would wake up with and the last thing he talked about when going to bed. He constantly begged me to take him to practices, and I soon realized, I needed to find a hockey school for him. 

Bridgedale Academy perfectly solved both my problems.

When we were first considering Bridgedale for our son Gunnar, we were a bit hesitant. We were excited about the hockey training, and at the time Gunnar played for the Mission. So it made sense to go to Seven Bridges every day for school and have all of his hockey practices in the same building.

But we were concerned about the academics. Gunnar has a late birthday and Bridgedale did not have a 5th grade class at the time. And that meant that Gunnar had to skip 5th and go directly into Bridgedale's 6th grade.

Gunnar excelled academically.

We thought he would be behind or struggle, but with the help of the teachers and staff, including the after-school study hall, Gunnar didn't miss a beat. Mrs. Di Pauli in particular was so wonderful for Gunnar and had such a huge impact on him. And so he ended up doing extremely well in all of his classes. Bridgedale guided him to the level that he needed to be academically.  

Last year, my wife and I realized that the learning environment at our son Finn's school was less than ideal. He was getting by as a 6th grader, but nothing we or the school tried was helping him to excel. 

We prayed 7th grade would be better but once the new school year started, we knew it would be the same as before ... or worse. 

Finn was not thriving and we knew he could do better. 

It was agonizing for us. We knew we had to do something.

We already knew about Bridgedale.

Being a hockey family, we'd heard about Bridgedale Academy and so we arranged for Finn to do a shadow day there. 

It was early 2016 and we weren't happy with our son Anthony's school. Something was missing and, like for a lot of boys, Anthony just wasn't thriving like we knew he could. 

He was really passionate about hockey, and so he was very excited when we told him we were going to Bridgedale Academy's Open House.  

It was all so positive. We were able to talk to a number of Bridgedale student-alumni parents. We were very impressed by what they said about Bridgedale's classical academic curriculum.

And of course we loved that Anthony would be able to improve his hockey skills by being on the ice every day.  

We knew this would be a good investment after he shadowed at Bridgedale and loved it.

He started Bridgedale in the third trimester of fifth grade and by the following fall we saw significant progress in him both wanting to push himself at school and to challenge himself on the ice to become a stronger and more skilled player.