The Bridge Academy is a public charter school in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1997, Connecticut granted 3 teachers from Harding High School permission to form the charter school. Two of those founders, Tim Dutton (Executive Director) and Rachel Allison (Principal) continue to serve as administrators. Felipe Reinoso was the third founder.
Students are enrolled through an open lottery. For the first 9 years of existence, the school served students in grades 9 through 12 only. In 2006, the school expanded to include 7th and 8th grade students. There are 280 students total. The lottery for 7th grade is held in January every year.
The Bridge Academy is successful in keeping students in school and focused on college. The daily attendance rates are over 90% and the percentage of students being accepted to college upon graduation is close to 100% every year. The Bridge Academy is the only Bridgeport public school that enrolls students in 7th grade and serves them until they graduate. Since that time, the school has worked hard to research and experiment to find best practices.