by Mike McPartlin, Headmaster, Bridgedale Academy
Bridgedale Academy Opens Doors
Every school day, Bridgedale staff members welcome our student-athletes as they arrive bright and early.
This daily “ritual” serves a number of purposes:
- To greet our students with a positive energy as they begin their school day
- To reinforce to them that every day is another opportunity to excel
- To show by our presence that we care and have high expectations for them
- To be available to answer any questions and concerns from parents
- To hold open the doors as students arrive loaded up with their backpacks, book bags, school uniforms, lunch boxes and hockey equipment
This last bullet point has both a literal and a symbolic meaning.
We’ll open the door, but we won’t carry your bags
Our literal meaning is obvious:
We literally hold the doors open for our student-athletes as they arrive at school each day.
And we of course expect them to carry their own, backpacks, lunch boxes, book bags, school supplies and hockey equipment.
But there is also a symbolic meaning to this morning ritual:
We’ll open the door
Every school day the door is opened to a disciplined, regimented life style that prepares our student-athletes to succeed later in their lives.
- A school day that begins earlier than most other schools
- A more demanding academic curriculum than most other schools
- A far more demanding athletic curriculum than most other schools
[This last point is almost an unfair comparison, since most other schools today have no athletic curriculum to speak of.]
But you must do the heavy lifting
We also take pains each and every day to make it very, very clear to our student-athletes that, if they want to succeed, they must do the “heavy lifting” themselves.
Because at Bridgedale our student-athletes have no choice but:
- To Engage Academically
- To Develop Time Management Skills
- To Learn Self-Discipline
- To Learn that Respect must be Earned
Conclusion
Among the many valuable things that all Bridgedale Academy student-athletes learn every day is this:
While others can and will open doors for you, it is you alone who must be willing to do the heavy lifting if you expect to succeed in your life.
If this topic interests you and you would like to discuss it further, please click the button below so we can schedule a time to chat.
Bridgedale is Accepting Transfer Students for the 2023-24 school year.
Bridgedale Academy is an all-boys school for athletes, a prep school for serious youth hockey players offering the 4th through 8th grades each school year. Our winning combination of academics and athletic development is unmatched. We use a classical academic curriculum and our graduates go on to attend some of the most prestigious high schools in the country, including Lake Forest Academy, Culver Military Academy, Shattuck St. Mary’s, Northwood School, Benet Academy, Fenwick Prep, St. Ignatius Prep, Marmion Academy, St. Francis, Latin School and Providence Catholic. We pride ourselves on being the top youth hockey prep school in the nation. More than thirty-three (33) of our former or current students have already received their NCAA Division 1 college hockey commitments. Seven (7) of our graduates competed for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Nine have been NHL-drafted and a number have already signed their entry-level contract with the NHL. Numerous Bridgedale grads are now playing NCAA D1 and D3 hockey as well as junior hockey, including in the USHL, the OHL and the NAHL.
