Bridge Bulletin
May 5, 2023
Principal Chat
Four weeks left of this school year - this can't be right! It feels like we were just getting plans in place to open the doors for 2022-2023 and now we've already met our incoming kindergartners, we are finalizing our Field Day plans and are starting the end of year assessments. It's crazy how a day might feel like it's 50 hours long but then, just like that, an entire school year has vanished.
We have had SO MUCH FUN with your kiddos! Watching them progress - socially, emotionally and academically is a great joy for us! Splitting my time the last month as a 1st grade teacher and a principal has felt like being at Lagoon every single day - exhausting but a whole lotta fun!
Field Day is almost here and donations are STILL needed - especially cans of soda for the famous RING TOSS game (Shasta and off name brands work great!).
STAFF HIGHLIGHTS
This week's staff highlight features our 1st grade para-educators - Krissie Weatherford, Laura Medel, Desirae Gonzalez, and Mikenna Ayers. Please read below about these outstanding educators.
Mark your calendars for the following days of NO SCHOOL
- May 26 (Teacher work day)
- May 29 (Memorial day)
Upcoming Events
- Staff Appreciation Week - May 8
- BOGO Book Fair May 15 - 19
- End of year assessments ONGOING through May 26
- Family End of Year Survey sent May 19
- Class Lists Posted on front windows Saturday, June 3
- Roy Aquatic Center FREE Family Fun Night - July 12, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
- Back to School Open House August 10, 3 - 7 pm
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!
Lani Rounds
Principal
Family Fun at Classic Skating
- Buy prizes for our Watch Me Learn winners
- Pay for our Field Day expenses
- Pay for our Classic Skating (two nights plus token cards)
- Pay for summer swim night at Roy Aquatic Center in July
Imagine Learning Literacy - Bridge Earns 2022 - 2023 SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE AWARD
Imagine Learning Recognizes Top Schools with 2023 Imagine Nation School of Excellence & District of Distinction Awards! "Imagine Learning, the largest provider of digital curriculum solutions in the U.S., serving 15 million students in more than half the school districts nationwide, today announced the winners of the 2022–2023 Imagine Nation Awards, honoring schools and districts across the U.S. for their exceptional use of Imagine Learning solutions."
Of the 1,000s of schools that use Imagine Learning Literacy, Bridge was one of 300 schools that earned this national distinction!
Kids Read Now - FREE Books for ALL K-3 Students!
Get ready for the best summer reading program— Kids Read Now! Designed and proven to maintain reading skills over the summer, Kids Read Now is a non-profit organization focused on best practices for reading engagement and growth. As part of a legislative effort to improve literacy across our state, ALL students in grades K-3 at Bridge Elementary will be able to participate in this AMAZING reading program!
This program will provide your student with FOUR books to be delivered right to your home this summer. Your child's teacher will help choose JUST RIGHT books to ensure your child has the appropriate reading material to help encourage continued reading success over the summer to reduce that summer slide. Look in your child's backpack next week for a letter with more information.
ABC Countdown - Hero Day
Missing Library Books and Unpaid Lunch Balances
- Pay for the library book.
- Replace the book with another book in fairly new condition (can be a different book)
Lunch balances MUST be paid by the end of the school year. Lunch balances in arrears at the end of school will be turned over to a collection agency in June.We currently have OVER $7,000 in lunch accounts that are in the "red". We still feed kids - this is not an option for us. We do not badger kids about unpaid lunch accounts - we believe children should not carry this burden. We send home weekly emails and you can always check their balance in Aspire. If your child's lunch account is in arrears and you prefer not to be sent to collections, you can begin paying down your lunch debt by making payments in the office now.
End of Year Testing
Our progress reports are not typical "report cards". Instead, our progress reports measure student growth. Growth is a more adequate measure of student success as it looks at where a student starts and where they end and the progress they make within the year. This data helps us ensure that each student, struggling students and advanced learners, continue to make growth throughout the year.
- KEEP - Kindergarten Literacy and Math (State mandated testing)
- Imagine Literacy (K-6 Bridge progress report data)
- Imagine Math (K-6 Bridge progress report data)
- Writing Checklist (2nd Bridge progress report data)
- Writing Utah Compose (3rd - 6th Bridge progress report data)
- Acadience Reading (K-6 Bridge progress report and K-3 state mandated testing)
- Acadience Math (K-6 Bridge progress report and K-3 state mandated testing)
- RISE Writing (5th State mandated testing)
- RISE ELA (3 - 6 State mandated testing)
- RISE Math (3 - 6 State mandated testing)
- RISE Science (4 - 6 State mandated testing)
We are super excited to see the data and share your student's growth with you! Schoolwide data is shared on our website under Schoolwide Assessment Data:
Open Positions - Next School Year
INTERVIEWING NOW FOR OPEN POSITIONS NEXT YEAR
Interested individuals should email resume to Lani@BridgeCharter.org
Para Educators - 6th Grade
Our para-educators work in the classrooms assisting students with computers, stations, specials, lunch and recess. Para-educators must pass a background check and have a minimum of an associate's degree or pass a para-pro Praxis test which they take through ETS.org
Our para-educators work 29 - 35 hours weekly and receive holiday pay for five holidays. The test must be passed prior to October 1, 2023. Full-time employees (working 30+ hours weekly) are eligible for benefits including access to 401 K and health insurance. Salary is based on education and experience and is $16 - $18 hour.
Special Education Teacher
Must have a professional education license with a special education endorsement. Experience with inclusion, providing a positive system of supports for students with behavioral needs and supervision of para educators is a plus.
Negative Lunch Balances - Free and Reduced Options
Our negative lunch balance is now close to $7,000. This is money the school has to find in its budget to pay at the end of the school year to cover the cost of meals that families did not pay.
PLEASE help us by paying down your negative lunch accounts. You can pay online or in the office. For those interested in donating to help parents with negative lunch balances, we have a Happy Go Lucky account to which you can donate. Ask the office for more information.
2023-2024 Calendar
Weber Human Services - Stabilization and Mobile Response (SMR)
Visible Learning - Thoroughness
- I will plan my work.
- I will pay attention to details.
- I will make a list so I don't forget.
- I will finish what I start.
- I will clean up along the way.
By internalizing visible learning traits students will become lifelong learners who are set up for success. You can find all of our Visible Learning traits on our website at:
Field Day Donations Needed
We are looking for donations for our game booths. Students play games and win prizes. These are not elaborate prizes. We are looking for simple things like you get at Zurchers, pick up in packs at the Dollar Store, or buy from Oriental Trading.
We also need tons and tons and tons of cans of soda for the ring toss. Inexpensive, off-brand soda will do the trick. Please drop your donations off in the office and remember to enter your donations (converted to hours) into our volunteer tracker so your family can be place into our Frog Pond in the front foyer.
1st Grade Para Educators
Desirae Gonzalez
Hello my name is Desirae, I am a 1st grade Para! I've enjoyed working with your kids. It's something I've always wanted to do! When I'm not at work I love hanging out with my husband and three daughters we love going to parks and rodeos and traveling to new places!
Laura Medel
Working at Bridge is so much fun and rewarding! It feels great to know that you might be making a difference in a child's life. I spend most of my time with my own kids. For fun, I enjoy reading, playing the guitar, and traveling.
Mikenna Ayers
Hey my name is Mikenna. I lived in New York for most of my life, I just moved to Utah in August. This is my first year as a para and all I can say is I love it!! When I’m not at work I love spending time with my family and friends. I love the outdoors whether it is hiking, fishing, or camping.
Krissie Weatherford
My name is Krissie and my favorite thing to do in my free time is to read a good book or paint.
Online Lunch Payments
When payments are made online we must complete several steps to get the payments moved to Aspire. We do this every Monday and Wednesday. After we run the online report it takes another day for the money to post to your student's Aspire account. Please allow 3 - 5 days from the day you make the online payment to the day the information posts in Aspire.
The link to make payments online is found on our website by selecting the MEALS icon.
Volunteers
- 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).
- 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)
https://www.bridgecharter.org/volunteer-opportunities
Once your family has logged 30 volunteer hours they will have a frog put into our Volunteer Pond in the 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.
Excuse an Absence
Title I
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:
Who to Contact for What
At-Risk Programs Coordinator - Stacey Archuleta - Stacey@BridgeCharter.org
- Morning Supervision and BASE
- Behavior including Bullying
- 504 Plans
Lead Secretary - Lalani Williams - Lwilliams@BridgeCharter.org
- Aspire
- Lottery
- Registration
School Nurse - Vicki Ross - Vicki@bridgecharter.org
Special Education
Diane Nelson Lead SpED Teacher - Diane@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
About Bridge Elementary Charter
Email: info@bridgecharter.org
Website: bridgecharter.org
Location: 4824 Midland Drive, Roy, UT
Phone: (801)499-5180
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BridgeCharter