The Bridge School

Neil and Pegi Young founded The Bridge School in 1986 with a group of educators and parents, inspired by their son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy. Decades of Bridge School Benefit Concerts at Shoreline Amphitheatre helped build what is now an internationally recognized model for educating children with extensive speech and physical disabilities.

We serve students ages 3 to 13 in a full-day program in Hillsborough, including our preschool program. Our campus is shared with North Elementary School, and our students join North students for classes and events, with some even serving on the North School Student Council.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology are at the center of instruction, using each child's speech, vocalizations, gestures, communication boards and voice output devices. Teachers and speech-language pathologists build cortical visual impairment (CVI) strategies into daily lessons, and our Self-Determination Program teaches students to plan and act on their own goals. We work closely with each home district, and many students return to district settings.