Bridge Bulletin

We survived Halloween - and the day after - though just barely. These are probably the two roughest days in education. Kids are amped up talking about all the fun they plan to have - who they are going to be - who their friends are going to be - where they are going to go - what they are going to do - and it is hard to get much learning accomplished though our teachers try while incorporating as much fun as possible. Then, the day after Halloween when kids arrive on little sleep and sugared up, it is once again challenging to get much learning accomplished and keep behaviors in check. If it were the Mrs. Rounds World of Education, we would have no school for two days - Halloween, and the day after. I would insert a smiley face but that would imply I was kidding :)

However, seeing kids in costume, having so much fun, singing loudly and dancing in the lunchroom, you can't help but smile and remember WHY you love this job SO DANG MUCH - the kids and the joy they bring to your heart every single day!

Thanks to Halloween and your generosity, our Costume Fundraiser was a great success! Thank you to everyone who donated! We raised nearly $1,200!!!! This will greatly help with our Field Day! Our Field Day expenses for the magician, "face paint" tattoos, prizes for the games, and bounce houses total just shy of $4,000. This fundraiser, and the $2 Dress Down Days help us cover those costs and keep us from doing any of those other fundraisers schools do such as selling candy, cookie dough, coupon cards, etc. With those types of fundraisers schools only get to keep a portion of the proceeds. With our dress down days all the funds come to the school, there is zero overhead, and nobody has to sell anything - a HUGE win for everyone. While I am the principal at Bridge, this is how all fundraising will be conducted.

On another note - Remember that day last spring when we jumped ahead and "lost" an hour? Well, this weekend we finally get to regain that hour and our kiddos can once again come to school when it is light outside. They call it "Daylight Saving Time". I am sure, historically there was a great reason for messing with the time, but I have yet to meet a person that doesn't say, "just leave the time alone." Both Arizona and Hawaii have refused to play the "change the clock" game and they seem to have gotten along just fine for all these years. But alas, here we are - "falling back" once again and running around the house changing all the clocks and, as the fire department reminds us, checking the batteries in our smoke detectors. Though, I have to admit, a pretend extra hour of sleep on a Monday morning doesn't sound too bad.

Jeez - that was a bunch of Grumpy Gertrude stuff - I think that was the imposter Mrs. Rounds writing as she was seen lurking around our school on Halloween day. In fact, there's a picture of her below greeting students with Mr. Tucker - happy clicker in one hand and a RockStar in the other (though to be honest, I don't actually walk around the school WITH a RockStar, I drink it secretly in my office). But, she nailed the costume and had the entire staff laughing hysterically!

Let's move on to more positive vibes!

This week we highlight Keri Toponce our curriculum specialist and Nichol Lloyd our professional learning specialist. Please read our STAFF HIGHLIGHTS below about these amazing ladies and all the great things they do for teachers here at Bridge.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

NO SCHOOL

• November 20 - 24 (Thanksgiving Break)
• December 18 - Jan. 1 (Christmas Break)

UPCOMING EVENTS

• November 1 and 8 - 3rd & 4th Grade BASE Championship Martial Arts Visit
• November 11 Family Movie Night in the gym 6:00 pm sponsored by CWC (How to Train Your Dragon and FREE popcorn)
• November 13 - 17 Book Fair (3:30 - 5:00 pm M - TH and 1:30 - 2:30 F)
• November 15 and 29 - 5th and 6th Grade BASE Championship Martial Arts Visit
• November 15 - FREE Skate night at Classic Skating for Bridge families (5:30 - 8:00)

Please keep reading for more information about this past week and events for the upcoming weeks.

As always, thank you for CHOOSING Bridge and sharing your kids with us! We know you have lots of options in education and we are honored that you have made the choice to have your students attend our awesome school!

Lani Rounds

Principal

TARDY - When a student arrives at school between 8:30 - 8:40 am, they are given a LATE SLIP and sent to class. The office ladies (who are sitting at the doors) mark the students attendance with a "T" for tardy. If a student comes into school WITHOUT a parent after 8:40 am they take a late slip, go to class and are marked tardy. The state requires us to contact parents when tardies become excessive. We use the "T" to count the number of tardies.

CHECK IN (Excused Tardy) - When a student arrives late to school AND a parent checks them in AT THE FRONT OFFICE, the student takes a late slip, the parents signs the check in sheet, and the student is marked "C" for check in. This is not considered a tardy as the parent has escorted the child and their check in excuses the tardy. Walking the child through the front doors does not excuse the tardy. The only way the tardy is excused is by a parent coming into the school and checking the child in.

NOTE - the state tracks tardies and unexcused absences. Please make sure you excuse your child's absences within 24 hours.

As one of the few charter schools which offer a preference for students from military families, Bridge is the school of choice for a lot of military families. Sadly, the end of the calendar year is the time we lose some families to station changes and the students get the "opportunity" for great adventures - sometimes across the country and sometimes across the world. Because of this movement, in January we will have several spots open in the lottery. Please let your friends and family know the lottery is now open and we will be pulling for these spots in December for students to start after Christmas break. Although the lottery is open to all students, students of military families do get a preference and are pulled first in the lottery.

Although we have had the visitor check in system since the beginning of September, some parents seem to have not received the information. When you visit Bridge to volunteer or have a meeting with your child's teacher, including a PLP meeting or an IEP meeting during school hours, you MUST bring a valid state ID and scan it into our check in system. The system will complete a background check to ensure the individual is allowed to be on the campus of an elementary school. If the the individual does not pass the background check the child's teacher can come to the office for the meeting. This is just one more step in protecting the safety of all our students.

This week's fresh fruit and vegetable program brought our students the best Halloween fruit - scary, hairy Rambutans! These spiky fruits open up to a slimy, eyeball looking fruit. The kids had a great time opening them and sucking out the delicious tasting fruit! Kids also got to try big, juicy blackberries, cosmic crisp apples, and kohlrabi. While the kids LOVED the blackberries and apples, the kohlrabi had about a 50% positivity rating :)

We are super grateful to have this program at Bridge.This program is designed to give kids the opportunity to try fresh fruits and vegetables that they may otherwise not have an opportunity to try.

Hello! My name is Keri Toponce and I am the curriculum specialist at Bridge. I was a classroom teacher for many years and developed a passion for personalizing learning- that is one of the reasons I love our school so much! I absolutely love working with students and teachers to help find the materials and instructional practices that will best help each of our Bullfrogs succeed!

Besides working with kids, I also love going on runs with my husky and spending time with my family. I also like taking initiative to learn new things- last year I learned how to ski!

Hello Bridge Families! I LOVE being part of this amazing school. This is my 10th year of teaching and 4th year here at Bridge. I came to Bridge because I believe in our model of individualized learning. I currently have a few different things that I do at Bridge. I am the professional learning specialist, teach third grade, and am the ELL coordinator. I have a degree in Elementary Education from Weber State University as well as an ESL endorsement and am currently working on my master's degree in curriculum/instruction from WGU.

I live in Hooper with my husband, the cutest Aussiedoodle named Maui, and have 4 sons, 1 daughter, and 1 daughter-in-law. In my free time, you can find me reading, hiking, traveling, playing games, cooking, and spending time with my family. Summertime is my favorite part of the year because I LOVE sunshine and warm weather.

Each week students attend a Visible Learning class where they learn about traits of a good learner. Next week students will be learning about REFLECTION - "Reviewing my learning to see what works and ways I can improve."

I will -

• Look back.
• Listen to feedback.
• Learn about myself.
• Plan my next steps.
• Reflect often.

By using these visible learning traits each day students will become lifelong learners who are set up for success. Please use this same verbiage at home and recognize when your student is using this trait.

The calendar for the school year can be accessed on our website using the link below:

https://www.bridgecharter.org/2023-2024-calendar

We LOVE parent and grand parent volunteers at school! If you would like to volunteer, please check with your child's teachers. If you want to volunteer but aren't excited about coming into the school, we have LOTS of opportunity for outside volunteer work including:

• Cutting Watch Me Learn tickets (stop by the office).
• Pulling weeds in the rock areas and park strips (we have all the area in front of the school and up 4800 S along the school fence).
• Sorting construction paper into like colors (stop by the office).
• Using rakes and shovels to redistribute the gravel from the bottom of the retention area in front of the school to the top area to cover the black landscape screen.
• Parking lot duty before and after school (just check in at the office, put on a yellow vest and talk to Travis in the crosswalk for instructions).

Once your family has volunteered 30 hours they can stop by the front office and ask for a VOLUNTEER FROG. There is no formal tracking program - just track the hours yourself. Then, write your family's name on the frog and tape the frog on our volunteer pond in the front foyer.

If you want to volunteer but do not have the time, you can donate $90 to cover the 30 hours. If you choose to donate, complete the volunteer form. You can donate in the office or by using our DONATE icon on the home page of our website.

Volunteering or donating is OPTIONAL and is not required to be a student or a parent of a student at Bridge Elementary.

Absences MUST be excused within 24 hours of the absence. You can do this by leaving a message on the Attendance line at school (801)499-5180 or by using the Excuse Absence online form. You can find this on our website by clicking on the Excuse Absence icon or using the link below:

EXCUSE ABSENCE

Weber Human Services SMR is available for 24/7 crisis support and short-term stabilization. To request help or make a referral, dial 988. Weber Human Service's works with families to improve functioning, develop and maintain healthy communication, and enhance ability to cope with future crisis.

Bridge Elementary is committed to maintaining a school climate that is safe, welcoming, and free of harassment and discrimination. The School prohibits all forms of harassment, and it does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, creed, religion, age, marital status, or disability.

We encourage anyone who believes they (or someone else) have been subjected to harassment or discrimination at the School to file a complaint with the School’s Principal, Lani Rounds. The School will promptly investigate and resolve all such complaints in accordance with School policy.

If you would like to learn more about how the School handles complaints of harassment or discrimination, please review the School’s Notice of Nondiscrimination, Civil Rights Policy, and Bullying and Hazing Policy on the School’s website at https://www.bridgecharter.org/policies-procedures

Title I was initially passed in 1965 under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It is the largest federal assistance program for public schools. These supplemental funds provide students the opportunity to receive a fair, equitable and high-quality education to help close achievement gaps.

Bridge Elementary receives our Title I funding based on the percentage of students that qualify for free or reduced lunch. For this reason we encourage ALL families to apply for Free/Reduced lunch through Aspire to ensure every single student receives the services needed, including access to free or reduced meals if appropriate.

Title I provides avenues for parent input and participation. We do this through our surveys and the link to the form on our website which allows parents to submit questions and suggestions.

You can find more information about Title I as well as a form to ask questions or provide suggestions regarding Title I, on our website at:

https://www.bridgecharter.org/school-events

Principal - Lani Rounds - Lani@BridgeCharter.org

Student Support - Stacey Archuleta - Stacey@BridgeCharter.org

• Morning Supervision and BASE
• Behavior Support and Bullying
• 504 Plans

Lead Secretary - Lalani Williams - Lwilliams@BridgeCharter.org

• Aspire
• Lottery
• Registration

Social Worker - Chelsea Silverwood - Chelsea@BridgeCharter.org

School Nurse - Vicki Ross - Vicki@bridgecharter.org

Special Education

Dianne Kelsey Lead SpED Teacher - Dianne.Kelsey@BridgeCharter.org

Nancy Fulmer - Part Time SpED Teacher - Nancy@BridgeCharter.org

Julie Christensen SpED Director - Julie@BridgeCharter.org

ELL Coordinator - Nichol Lloyd - Nichol@BridgeCharter.org

Meal Issues - Jodi Jensen - Jodi@BridgeCharter.org

Classroom Teachers - see website - https://www.bridgecharter.org/teachers

• Daily activities for your child
• Student progress
• Questions about student schedule

The mission of Bridge Elementary is to provide students with a personalized learning experience and empower them to take personal ownership and accountability for their own academic performance.

Email: info@bridgecharter.org
Website: bridgecharter.org
Location: 4824 Midland Drive, Roy, UT
Phone: (801)499-5180
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BridgeCharter