In the old telephone building on Second Street in Catasauqua, next to the fire station, is the headquarters for Bridgeway Academy. But no school buses pull up to the curb there in the morning.

"We aren't a charter school, we don't get money from the state," said the academy's vice president of operations, Cara Rutledge. "We are a private academy for home-schooled students and their parents."

Parents pay tuition.

"We are a private school, but without the constraints of a classroom," she said.

The school was fully accredited in 2010.

The academy began three decades ago when Dr. Robert Salzman founded a curriculum warehouse to provide educational materials for private and religious-based schools.

"They expanded the concept from a warehouse and that has grown into Bridgeway," said Rutledge.

Interested parents and students contact the school through Bridgeway's website. The parents and their students sit down with an admissions counselor, like Blake Mosser.

"We give the students a series of tests to determine how they best learn, their education strengths and gaps in their education," said Mosser.

Rutledge said Bridgeway resolves skill deficiencies by designing a curriculum that addresses building skills that are below average and pushing students to explore areas where they are strongest.

"We customize the curriculum based on how a student learns," she said. "If they are a repetitive learner, we develop a curriculum with courses that emphasize repetition. Students who learn best with visual media get courses with a lot of visual stimulation."

What is the make-up of the student body?

"People think of home-schooled students as outside the mainstream, but our students can interact with their counterparts around the world with our two-way video hookups," said Rutledge.

Other students may have special requirements.

"Elizabeth Price, Parkette's gymnast who was an alternate to the U.S Olympic gymnastics team, is a student. She must train during the day so her education sessions are built around her training schedule.

Every student and parent team enrolled at Bridgeway has an academic advisor.

"They are available at all hours and mostly work out of their homes," Rutledge saidys. The advisors selected are degreed and certified teachers, home-schoolers, private school teachers; some are a combination of all three.

Lisa Ott is a certified elementary teacher and academic advisor based in Kutztown.

"I have about 100 students that I work with," she said. Ott works with her students and their parents via email and scheduled calls.

"I can handle that many students because the parents are taking care of the discipline and making sure the course work is completed," she said.

Ott prepares quarterly report cards and grades tests.

"We started having all our tests on line so the students can get quicker results," she said. "I make about five to 10 phone calls per day and send out about 50 emails to provide additional information and support."

According to Ott, Learning Labs bring students together from around the world to participate in the discussion topic.

"The Learning Labs are available to anyone, but we do them during the day so students in traditional schools can't always get away for a session," she said.

Ott said academic advisors meet via video and Skype on a regular basis to discuss and resolve problems.

"We have advisors in most countries around the world," she said.

The high school programs add an extra layer of responsibility to the academic advisor.

"We need to make sure that students stay on track to meet all the state requirements to get an accredited degree," said Julie Bartholomeau. "We act as a guidance counselor for the students."

Bartholomeau, who holds a masters degree in school counseling, discusses goals and the next step with her students.

"We determine where they want to go next – Ivy League schools, state schools or enter the workforce," she said. "We want them to be prepared."

Graduation exercises are held locally with students coming in for the ceremony from as far away as California.

"Everyone looks forward to our graduation exercises," said Bartholomeau.

The success of the academy's existing programs has fueled a new program, the Essential Learning Institute (ELI).

"The problem most parents have when dealing with struggling students is they try to solve problems with methods that have already failed or they resort to expensive tutoring programs," wrote Dr. Salzman in his description of ELI.

Salzman claims that his technology can correct most learning disabilities. Salzman's daughters run the schools now; Jessica Parnell heads the academy and Amy Highland runs ELI.