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Bridges Public Charter School has an additional lottery for high-level special education students to gain entry into our high-level special education classrooms.  The high-level classrooms are for students with the following level of special education support outside of the general education setting as defined by the Individual Educational Program (IEP).  Special education support can include but is not limited to: specialized instruction from a special education teacher, therapy/related services (speech, OT, PT, ABA, etc.), counseling, and consultation with classroom teachers.

Level 3 - A student with 16 – 24 hours of support outside of the general education setting.

Level 4 - A student with 24 – 32 hours of support outside of the general education setting.

The additional lottery pools are for the following high-level special education classrooms:

Emotional Disturbance Classrooms:  These classrooms are open to students with a diagnosis of Emotional Disturbance (ED).  These classrooms serve students in grades Kindergarten to 5th grade.

Non-Categorical Special Education Classrooms: These classrooms serve students with a wide variety of special needs. For example, Other Health impairments (OHI), Speech and Language impairment, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Delay or Multiply Disabled.  These classrooms serve students in grades Pre-K 3 to 5th grade.

Bridges Building

    DC residents

    If your student has a current IEP at the time of application that was developed by a DC public school, your student’s IEP will automatically be reviewed to determine if your student will be entered into one of the additional special education lotteries.   Any student with an IEP that was created and finalized by a DC public school, a DC charter school, or Early Stages, that was finalized and documented in the DC special education system (SEDs) will be automatically reviewed as part of the application process. The IEP services meeting the criteria above must be set to begin by August 20th of the school year for which the lottery takes place.

    Out-of-State Residents

    If your student does not have a current IEP that was developed by a DC public school at the time of application, please do the following in order for Bridges PCS to determine if your student would qualify for one of the special education lotteries:

    1. Complete an online application at myschooldc.org to apply for Bridges PCS between December 12th to March 1st.

    2. As soon as you have completed the online application for Bridges PCS, submit an email request to Bridges PCS for your student’s IEP to be reviewed and submit your student’s complete IEP.  A complete IEP document includes all pages of the document, all required signatures of the school team and parent(s), and documentation that the IEP is finalized.  Only a complete copy of a finalized IEP document will be reviewed.  Incomplete IEPs, IEPs that are unsigned by the school team and parent(s), or an IEP that does not have a finalization date on it will not be reviewed.

    Submit the written request for an IEP review and the complete IEP document to the following email address:  spedlottery@bridgespcs.org

    Only students with an IEP that requires special education support services equal to a DC level 3 IEP (16 – 24 hours) or a level 4 IEP (24 – 32 hours) will be eligible for the additional special education lotteries.

    Notice of Nondiscrimination

    Bridges will not use any of the information obtained through the application process to discriminate against or otherwise deny access to students with disabilities.

    If you need assistance understanding this information because you speak another language please contact Bridges Public Charter School at the following number (202) 545-0515.  The information will be translated for you and provided to you free of charge.