Bilingual Bridges Story: Leading Bilingual Education
We empower multilingual learners through our commitment to high-quality bilingual education. Our personalized online tutoring bridges language gaps and fosters academic success. At Bilingual Bridges, we connect students with certified bilingual educators who bring expertise in bilingual education. They are dedicated to nurturing confidence and communication skills across diverse communities.
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At Bilingual Bridges, we provide online tutoring for multilingual learners through our bilingual education program. Our certified tutors use a bilingual tutoring approach to boost academic success and language development. We help students communicate confidently in both English and their native languages. Our story reflects a deep commitment to inclusive, high-impact education. Strong community partnerships power our success and extend our reach. Explore how Bilingual Bridges’ programs support diverse learners through personalized, effective instruction.
We proudly collaborate with K-12 schools, districts, families, statewide tutoring programs, and organizations like Outschool. Through these partnerships, we offer high-impact reading, math, and world language tutoring online in 15 languages. Our tutoring is delivered live in one-on-one and small group sessions via our Lessonspace Classroom. Working with our Curriculum and Instruction Team, our high impact tutors customize their instruction to meet each student’s academic needs and language skills.
Through our high-impact tutoring model, students have shown to grow 3 times faster than their non-Bilingual Bridges peers. Keep reading to learn more about the Bilingual Bridges story and the educators behind it.
Bilingual Education: learn about us bilingual bridges
In 2017, Alaskan bilingual teacher, Kelly Minks, started Bilingual Bridges with a clear mission: to make bilingual education accessible to multilingual learners everywhere. Facing a shortage of quality resources, bilingual materials, and effective teacher training in her district, Kelly decided to take action. She began to ask her colleagues and school administrators a few important questions:
- With limited access to bilingual education programs, how can the increasing number of multilingual learners get bilingual academic support? Even ESL services are so limited in our district – why aren’t we thinking outside the box?
- If there are no bilingual tutors, family members, or friends available, who will help our newcomers with homework? How will their families connect with our school community?
- I tutor multilingual learners through Skype and my students do really well. Could we pilot a bilingual academic tutoring program at our school?
Sadly, people often reacted to Kelly’s questions with indifference or frustration. Despite this, Kelly stayed committed to finding a solution, even if it meant learning to innovate. In 2017, she launched Bilingual Bridges, an online tutoring platform that matched multilingual learners with certified bilingual teachers through live Zoom lessons—long before Zoom was a household name! (We’ve since upgraded to Lessonspace!)
To achieve this, Kelly gathered a dedicated team of educators and professionals who shared her vision for Bilingual Bridges. Together, they used their combined skills to grow Bilingual Bridges, offering students worldwide the help they need to succeed in a diverse, multilingual society. Today, Kelly is breaking down barriers by building community partnerships, using effective teaching methods, and providing impactful tutoring to ensure all learners access quality bilingual education.
Meet Bilingual Bridges' Founder
Kelly Minks has 15 years of experience in education, teaching both in-person and online, mainly focusing on areas like: English as a Second Language (ESL), Spanish as a Second Language, bilingual education, English language arts, and elementary education. In addition to teaching in public and private schools internationally, Kelly led the development of ESL and bilingual education programs in Title 1 schools in Chicago and Indianapolis.
Kelly has an M.Ed. in Bilingual Bicultural Education from DePaul University, along with a B.S. in Human Development & Family Sciences and a B.A. in International Studies from Oregon State University. She also holds teaching licenses from Illinois and Indiana, and a CELTA teaching certificate from the University of Cambridge. Her passion for learning has led her to volunteer and teach in countries like Argentina, South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, and India.
Kelly is so proud of the Bilingual Bridges story! In her free time, she loves to travel the world, cheer on the Portland Timbers, stay active, read, and volunteer in her community.
Our Misssion At Bilingual Bridges
Bilingual Bridges connects students of all ages and language backgrounds with certified bilingual educators who reflect their students’ cultures, accelerate learning, and build academic and linguistic proficiency in two languages – empowering every student to succeed in school, work, and life.
Ingelyn Rose
Customer Success Operations Manager
Osman Lopez
Curriculum & Instruction Solutions manager
Kelly Minks
chief executive officer & founder
Ibeth Muñoz
Curriculum & Instruction Specialist
Delfina Braconi
Bilingual Program specialist
Maria Sara Arias
Curriculum & Instruction Specialist
Meet our Bilingual High Impact Tutors
We are a team of certified bilingual educators offering online tutoring in over 15 languages. Our goal is to help multilingual learners of all ages succeed in mathematics, reading, and world languages. Our certified tutors have been thoroughly vetted, ensuring you receive the best educational support.