'Sober School' Accredited, to Open in Sept.

The Bridge Way School, a high school exclusively for students recovering from drug or alcohol addiction that will be the first of its kind in the city, has been granted accreditation by the state and will now officially open its doors in Sept. 2011. The accreditation came after three representatives from the Greater Philadelphia Association for Recovery Education (GPARE)--the organization that will run the school-- attended a licensing hearing in Harrisburg on May 13.

“Due to the hard work of many individuals, the Bridge Way School is now licensed to open,” said GPARE executive director Rebecca Bonner in a press release. “I would like especially to thank GPARE’s board for their passionate dedication, and our school staff, who has continued to believe in the dream through what seemed like delays.”

The school will open on Freeland Avenue in a space it will lease from Roxborough’s . The school is not otherwise affiliated with the synagogue. 

The Bridge Way School was originally slated to open in February, but encountered delays when it had to petition to have the lot’s zoning category changed from “assembly” to “education,” get both city and state approval, and garner accreditation from the state Department of Education.

Now that it’s been approved, the school will begin reviewing applications and ultimately accept 10 students who have completed a rehabilitation program to enroll in Sept. The school will have an eventual admittance ceiling of 50 students.

The first of its kind in the Delaware Valley, Bridge Way will be the 30th “sober school” in the nation. As of now, the closest non-boarding recovery school is in Boston.