No Two Teenagers are Alike

How Nexus Helped a Community Invest in Nontraditional Students

Many teenagers have social anxiety, but for some it’s so severe they’re at risk of failing in a traditional school. 

One student in the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District struggled particularly with self-confidence and communicating.  After a year in the inclusive and collaborative environment at the Bridges Area Learning Center, she completed a project exploring her deep-felt ideas about social justice—and then broadcast it live. 

Another student at Bridges, who’d struggled with heroin addiction and social anxiety, shared how Bridges turned her life around. 

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Before and After: Proof is in the Waiting List  

This Alternative Learning center (ALC) didn’t start with a great facility.  It began in a strip mall far from the other schools. Like any strip mall space, there were few windows, no real outdoor spaces, and no lanes for school buses.  It used cast-off and miss-matched furniture on tired carpeting.  The rigid layout hindered the project-based learning central to flexible Bridges’ curriculum.  It was a space that neither inspired nor empowered students or staff.  The district leaders needed things to change:  every student deserves to feel they’re worth it.  And it simply wasn’t big enough for the 100 students.

A whole new world opened up when the district opened a purpose-built facility for what’s now 125 students.  The heart and core of the 15,000 square foot new building are collaborative spaces.  Exterior and interior windows bring both light and attention everywhere.   And the ALC has the technology to bring out these students’ hidden and often artistic gifts.  There’s an art space with laser-cutters and a pottery kiln.  There’s a biology program that can explore Bridges’ outdoor spaces.  And there’s communication technology—including broadcasting equipment. 

The floor plan shows the flexible classroom spaces that foster collaboration among the students and a teacher’s suite to foster collaboration among the staff.  The open spaces allowed Bridges to continue during Covid; they might have had to close if they’d still been in the strip mall.  Unseen and yet critical are the support spaces for storage and supplies, an often overlooked drag on efficient flow and use. 

Bridges is now near the center of town and close to the traditional high school.  Besides the practical benefits—Bridges students can use the school’s gym—it tells the students and the community that these kids belong.

Bridges’ Administrator, Dave Brown said simply, “It’s been a game-changer.  There’s been a culture shift: we now have only half the behavior issues we used to see.”  When they were in the strip mall, Bridges had a wait list, but they could always work through it.  But with the new building, there’s a persistent wait list of dozens.

As reported by Education of Minnesota, the state has a 6% teachers’ shortage (13,500 of 225,000) affecting 9 out of 10 districts.  The report says “8% of all teaching assignments in Minnesota are filled by teachers who do not hold the appropriate professional license for that assignment. This is a particularly big issue in special education.”  In its 10-year history, Bridges has not had a teacher leave.

Nexus Value Added:

Led community-based planning process that included students, faculty, and community members.

Planned, designed, and implemented a flexible learning environment that supports student and staff collaboration.

Other Improvements:

Natural lighting

Project-based learning spaces

Technology for art program with laser cutters and kiln

Outdoor spaces to support Biology program

An Inspiring Investment

Investing in a beautiful and customized school building helps Bridges’s students learn better because, besides providing the practical spaces and tools, it shows the students that they’re worth investing in.  Parents have reported that their kids are much less reluctant to go to school, which improves their behavior at home. 

That, in turn, encourages the parents to engage even more in their kid’s education.  “When kids feel they matter, it has effects on their learning; they’re certainly less distracted.  And now events are attended by parents better than ever,” says Brown.

A Collaborative Design for an Inclusive Community

The planning for the school, led by Nexus Solutions, included all the stakeholders:  students, faculty, and community members.  Collaboration improves communication:  through the process, the community had a better understanding about what Bridges does.  It softened any community bias against “special needs” students. 

Community support for the ALC was evident:  it was one of the only two parts of the five-part referendum that was approved by voters.  The community showed these students that they belong, and the students feel it—and that makes a big difference in their education and their future. 

“There’s not a lot I’d do differently in the process,” says Brown, “We’re stronger as a district.” 

• Three questions to help you explore this issue in your District:

  1. When you give a tour of your school, what’s your favorite part?

  2. In what spaces do students seem most excited and inspired to learn?

  3. For which students and topics are open plan spaces best?

• Talk to the Nexus Team that worked on this project:

  PHONE: 763.201.8400

  EMAIL: info@NexusSolutions.com