Thank You, Carl

Thank you, Carl.

Although Carl Sabatino has left the building, hopefully enjoying life in his home in Hawaii, what he has built in Los Angeles, Seattle, and in the world, remains stronger than ever thanks to his vision, energy, and often sheer willpower. He rebranded Bridges Academy from a niche school in a dentist’s office to an international flagship for innovative education.

Under Carl’s 18-year guidance, Bridges Academy became a 4th through 12th grade comprehensive, accredited, and remarkable school. He helped, along with Susan Baum and others, to spin the ideas germinated in 2e classrooms into the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity, which has awarded doctorates to adult students and professional educators from all over the world. Through Carl’s impetus to connect with as many people as possible about neurodiversity, Bridges revived 2e News, the vibrant and unique website you’re reading right now, and he created Variations2e, a slick, hard copy magazine dedicated to all things 2e. All of these entities, and more, including a webcast and an online school, are now under the umbrella of the Bridges Education Group.

More directly, more to the point, Carl has not only broadened the awareness of 2e into the world, but he’s also made those of us in the trenches, those who teach, coach, encounter, console, advise, and sometimes simply sit with the students so much better at it. His compassion, his imagination, his inspirations, his enthusiasm, his work ethic, his dedication, his openness—no, his hunger—for bold, new ideas, his patience, in short, his leadership has given everyone he works with a sense that we’re on a mission, and that what we do, in ways big and small, have a positive impact on our stude...