What would it look like if, instead of asking students to fit the educational system, we built an educational system that better fit its students?
Our Executive Director Beven Byrnes recently explored that question in an interview with Releasing the Phoenix, a holistic LGBTQ+ mental health and wellness organization. In 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve the US Educational System, Beven shares her perspective on neurodivergent education, the power of expectations, the importance of affirming environments, and what needs to change in education.
Reflecting on the experiences that led her to Bridges, Beven shares:
“I kept seeing a heartbreaking pattern: incredibly capable young people being filtered out of opportunity—not because they lacked intelligence, but because they lacked a system that spoke their language.”
That realization helped shape an approach at the heart of our school: stop trying to “fix” the student and start fixing the environment.
High Expectations. High Support.
In the interview, Beven also shares the story of a former Bridges student who later returned to the school as a volunteer intern and eventually joined the staff as a paraeducator.
Reflecting on their experience as a student at Bridges, they told Beven:
“This was the first time someone expected something from me—not just hoped.”
For Beven, those words reinforced an important lesson: high expectations, paired with high support, are the ultimate form of respect.
The full interview dives into five reforms Beven believes could improve the U.S. educational system and offers a glimpse at Moving Minds & Bodies, a new Bridges project exploring how movement, regulation, and learning can work together for neurodivergent middle schoolers.
Read the full interview to learn more about Beven’s perspective on building an educational system where more students have the opportunity to thrive.