The philosophies of the Brideun Learning Communities have a long history. Brideun originated in 1996 when The Center for Education Enrichment first opened its doors. At that time we envisioned a "full service" educational consulting company that included a private school. That dream became a reality with the Brideun School for Exceptional Children, established in 2001.

Prior to establishment of the school, we acquired the tools and knowledge about the Brideun way of learning by providing assessment, advocacy, social skills training, and mentoring.

In 1997, we ran summer programs, a small preschool and added a home-school umbrella program. The years 1998 and 1999 brought the Enrichment Tutoring Center, highly qualified specialist teachers, the Study Skills Learning Labs, additional testing and counseling associates and the knowledge and expertise of an occupational therapist. In late 1999 we added a speech and language pathologist, an organizational skill coach, and a vision therapist.

Our part-time consulting business gathered momentum and in the fall of 2000, we opened the first Brideun school. That first year was remarkable for three moves, and yet 29 of our original 31 students returned the next year. 

2002-2003 became our year of growth and by mid-year, we had 57 students enrolled.  We had also expanded our original teaching staff to include several new specialist teachers and had made international headlines in the New York Times, People Magazine,  London's Daily Telegraph, France's T.V. Guide, Additude Magazine, The National Special Educator, and National Public Radio.The following year was one of settling in and establishing our system.  Our fourth year was marked by numerous families moving to Colorado to enroll in our school, as well as the appointment of our Director, Marlo Rice, to the National 2E Board of Directors. 

In our fifth year, we found ourselves re-examining and fine tuning our methods. We developed a business plan for putting our teaching methods into software, explored expansion and replication of our learning community model and laid the groundwork towards a supporting foundation for divergent individuals. We also began the documentation process that would move our curriculum and our learning concepts forward

We are now pleased to have established the Brideun Learning Communities enterprise and we are actively pursuing a multi-disciplinary therapy model that will allow us to open regional assessment and training centers for our learning communities. We have also opened Eureka, the first of many Brideun Learning Communities.

Although no longer directing the programs, our founder, Marlo Payne, continues to collaborate and teach in our programs, as well as advocate for students and train educators and professionals in the Brideun Learning Model. Through the years, our reputation as a visionary alternative to traditional learning has expanded and flourished for bright, asynchronours, divergent, gifted, and twice-exceptional students.

It is with this long history that The Center for Education Enrichment and the  Brideun Learning Communities confidently march forward to lead in educational reform for exceptional children.

The Origin of the Brideun Name