Bridge Bulletin

Everyone should be rested up with that extra hour of sleep and the fact that it is now pitch black by 7:00 pm and we are snuggled in our beds by 8:00 - or maybe, that's just old people without young kids at home like me :)

Next week, November 13 - 17, is our BOOK FAIR each day after school! It is open until 5:00 Monday thru Thursday and until 2:30 pm on Friday. Each purchase you make earns us points to use to buy additional books for our library and to stock our Hop Shop for Watch Me Learn prizes.

Also, don't miss our FREE skate night on Wednesday at Classic Skate Center! Current Bridge students who wear their Bullfrog shirts will get a 10 token card!

This week we highlight our amazing office staff - Lalani Williams, Lindsay Jones and Jessica Gardner. Anyone who works at a school KNOWS the people who really run the show are the people in the front office. Please read our STAFF HIGHLIGHTS below about these amazing ladies and all the great things they do for kids and staff at Bridge.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

NO SCHOOL

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

UPCOMING EVENTS

• 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 - FREE Skate night at Classic Skating for Bridge families (5:30 - 8:00)
• November 17 $2 Dress Down Day
• November 15 and 29 - 5th and 6th Grade BASE Championship Martial Arts Visit

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

Math Talks are a key component of our math program. Each grade participates in math talks. Some implement these in whole group, other implement math talks in small group. Math talks are a way to have students think about and share their ideas about math.

During math talks students are provided a problem and given time to think about the answer to the problem. The power of math talks is NOT getting the correct answer but being able to share the WAY you got to the solution with others. Sometimes kids work on a problem independently and sometime they work on a problem as a pair or a team.

Bridge was awarded a Personalized Competency Based Learning (PCBL) grant this year. It is a three year grant and year one is the planning year. Although Bridge already does personalized learning and has many things in place, we applied for the grant to help us improve some of our practices. For our planning year the grant allowed us to hire a social worker to tie our visible learning traits (reflection, initiative, flexibility, determination, thoroughness, & enthusiasm) in with social emotional learning (SEL) through the Second Steps program. Now, our Visible Learning traits and SEL align with the PCBL framework and portrait of a graduate which is the key component of Utah's PCBL initiative.

The grant also requires Bridge's PCBL team to visit another personalized learning school to see the great things they are doing. Bridge chose to visit Quest Academy - our neighbors, and also a school where Mrs. Rounds was the principal for many years as well. It was a fantastic visit and our team learned about all the great things they have in place in their elementary and in junior high to support personalized learning.

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 FRESH coconut! It was already peeled out of the hard hairy shell (as described by the kids) and was a favorite snack for sure! Students also got to try mini cucumbers, grape tomatoes and Juici, apples a cross between a Braeburn and Honeycrisp apple.

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.

Hi, I'm Lalani. I've worked for Bridge before we even started building the school. Mrs. Rounds & I had a tiny office in a portable mini for many months and would visit with families and do meetings at the library. Bridge is not only a job for me but a piece of my heart. Thanks to your students for making me smile every day.

I work from home two days a week. I am in charge of registration, the lottery, paying bills, paying employees, doing fun things for staff, and doing whatever Mrs. Rounds asks me to do - well, not really - I am not a good listener (this last part was added by Mrs. Rounds).

Because our name is the same - Lalani and Lani - lots of people get Mrs. Rounds and I confused. Mrs. Rounds and I have worked at several school together from the ground up, including Quest and Ascent Academies, but Bridge is our favorite! When Bridge was being built, Mrs. Rounds sought me out and begged me to come to Bridge. She knew that together we could build something amazing - and she was right!

There is nobody that can run an office as well as Lalani!. If you ask ANY staff member who is the most important person at the school, they will tell you, it's the secretary! (that part was ALSO written by Mrs. Rounds).

Hey Bridge Families! My name is Lindsay Jones and I am one of the secretaries in the front office. This is my fourth year at Bridge. I enjoy taking care of your children and helping everyone in the office. Our students are the absolute best and they always bring a smile to my face. In my spare time you can find me with my husband and two kids- adventuring, hiking, playing pickleball and soccer.

My name is Jessica Gardner, I'm one of the Office Secretaries at bridge. This is my fourth year here and I absolutely love working with all your amazing students. In my free time I love spending time with family, traveling, and being active.

Each week students attend a Visible Learning class where they learn about traits of a good learner. Next week students will be learning about DETERMINATION - "Overcoming obstacles in order to reach my goal."

I will -

• Set the right goals.
• Get moving.
• Face challenges.
• Not be discouraged by failure.
• Keep trying.

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