Bridges Community School

This week we had the opportunity to demonstrate what to do in severe weather (tornado drill) and a lock down drill. We know that practicing is very important and our staff and students took both drills with confidence and safety! Thank you!

Next week begins our reading MCA for grades 3-5! We know that the teachers and students hard work will pay off. They are prepared to work problems diligently and will SHINE! Please help your student/s by ensuring a good nights sleep and motivation to problem solve and use the strategies each student knows! We know our students have the knowledge so believing in themselves is key!

Just a reminder there is NO SCHOOL on Friday, April 18.

We are thankful for this compassionate group of educators! Thanks for all of your time and talent! Your support for each other and our students is amazing!

She is the most excited to continue connecting with students and staff and Bridges! It has been a joy to be part of the Bridges community this year! The people are so thoughtful, kind, and welcoming. She looks forward to watching students continue to grow!

Outside of school, she loves to spend time reading, especially fantasy and romance! When it's nice out, she enjoy taking walks or just spending time outside. When her grad school schedule allows, she spends time with my friends and family.

Thank you for your amazing speech at our All School Meeting! Your connections to our students and staff allowed for empathy and amazing learning about your success! A huge shout out to Mrs. Reichel and the PBIS team for all of the amazing fun this week!

We welcomed 40 new Bridges Kindergarten Students to Bridges on Thursday, April 10th! We are excited to meet the families and students! What a great way to bring them all in!

It was wonderful to see all of our new students and families last evening! This is a exciting time of the year as we welcome our families. If you weren't able to attend, here are the slides we discussed: click here!

The School Board finalized the 2025-2026 school year calendar at its meeting this week. The adjusted calendar is available on the school district website.

Dear Families,

We want to remind you that our ACES School Age Child Care Program uses the school playground as part of its daily programming. To ensure a safe and structured environment for ACES students, the playground is reserved for their use until the program ends at 6:00 p.m.

After 6:00 p.m., the playground is open to the public. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain a safe and supportive space for all students.

If you’re looking for alternative play spaces before 6:00 p.m., the City of Mankato provides a list of parks here, and a map of North Mankato parks can be found here.

Thank you for your understanding and support!

Update on Global Studies and Our Dream Team:

• We identified the 14 home languages and the order to introduce them during community groups for the 2025-26 school year. We will be reaching out to families to help us with a little video so we learn how to correctly pronounce and greet each other with welcome and hello in different languages!

• We continue to plan for our "being here and there" experiences inside and outside the classroom to enhance our learning around our CORE topics.

• Friday, March 14 our staff had inquiry based learning training at Minnesota State University, Mankato. We will continue our learning in June. We are excited about the hands on learning, engagement and cross-curricular content where students help to guide their learning! Curiosity is KEY!

• Our kindergarten and 2nd grade teams met this past week to create the IBL unit of student to incorporate ELA and social studies standards into a key topic!

• Our dream team met this week to discuss branding of our Global focus and how we want this to look throughout our school.

When: Thursday, April 17, 5 - 7:30,

Where: Kato Ballroom.

**More information coming out soon.

**BAC is looking for all hands on deck!

The Greater Mankato Mental Health Hub has launched! This hub was developed by Greater Mankato Area United Way's Youth Mental Health/Suicide Prevention Committee and is hosted by the Center for Rural Behavioral Health at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The hub is meant to be a tool for parents and caregivers to easily find information on crisis support, local mental health services, parent education, and more.

Find more information HERE.

April:

Apr. 16 - The Works Museum (2nd Gr)

Apr. 17 - Spaghetti Dinner (5:00-7:30) @ Kato Ballroom

Apr. 18 - No School/Good Friday

Apr. 21 - Site Council Meeting (3:00)

Apr. 23 - Adminstrative Assistant's Day

Apr. 24 - Spring Bus Evacs (K-3)

Apr. 25 - 5th Grade Math Masters (8:30-12:30)

Apr. 26 - Regional Science Fair (MSU)

Apr. 28 - BAC Meeting (6:30)

Apr. 29 - 5th Gr. Trip Fundraiser at Ummies (4:00-8:00)

Apr. 29 - 5th Gr. Field Trip Parent/Student Meeting (6:00 pm) Bridges Auditorium

Apr. 30 - Children’s Theatre/Frozen (4th/5th Gr)

Apr. 30 - Taylor Library (3rd Grade)

May:

May 1 - Principals Day

May 1 - Children’s Museum/2nd Gr (12:30-2:00)

May 2 - School Lunch Hero Day

May 2 - MLC Theatre/K-1 (8:20-11:30)

Looking for a way to connect to MAPS? We strive to connect our community to our district and schools. Subscribe to this newsletter to get the current information and links to events.

Follow MAPS Facebook and Instagram for student celebrations:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ISD77MAPS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isd77maps/

MAPS Website: https://www.isd77.org/

Bridges BAC Website: BAC website link: : https://bridgesbears.weebly.com/faq.html