Bridges Community School

Wow! What amazing things from our Bridges Bears!

Have a wonderful spring break! We know that the big lift at the end of the year will be here when we come back on April 1! This is always a great time to culminate learning, showcase what our students know and can do and to celebrate as a building!

Please remember that we do not have school Mar. 26-31 as this is our Spring Break and Eid. We will resume school on Tuesday, April 1.

It was great to connect with you during conferences!

Thank you for continuing to partner with us at Bridges! Together we matter!

Mrs. Rittmiller

Please complete this form to let us know what your plans are for early release. School will dismiss at 12:50. This form needs to be completed every month for staffing purposes.

https://forms.gle/jdE6X2LQc2mUeYfn6

Douglas Wood has been called “Minnesota’s renaissance man”. Author, artist, musician, naturalist, wilderness guide, he is the creator of forty books for adults and children, with over two and a half million copies in print. His first book, Old Turtle, was hailed as a “profound work” and an “instant

classic”. He has many honors and awards from his books. He plans to share a link to order books he has written sometime in April.

A huge thank you to BAC and Barb Lake for sponsoring his visit!

Mr. Burger loves teaching physical education! He looks forward to his special specials class! Outside of work he enjoys time with this family outdoors fishing and hiking!

Ms. Denise loves serving meals to all of our Bridges Bears! It is a passion for her to make meals that our students enjoy. Outside of work, Denise enjoys reading and floating.

Mrs. Christ feels most excited about the collaboration and teamwork occurring at Bridges. She has met some of the most dedicated, hardworking, and caring staff at Bridges, and she thinks this is reflected in the student population. It makes her job more enjoyable when she knows our team is working hard to make sure the students have all the tools they need to succeed. Her favorite thing to do outside of work is to spend time with her family! She has three kiddos, and they love exploring all the parks in Mankato! They moved here from Iowa, and this will be their third summer in Minnesota, so there's still lots of exploring for them to do!

Mrs. Mariner is excited to be a part of the Bridges Community and to work with staff who are so caring and committed to helping ALL students learn and grow. Outside of school she enjoys spending time with family, movie nights are her favorite. She also enjoys taking her dog for long walks when the weather is nice.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at conferences! Your partnership is amazing!

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.

• Discussions around partnerships with local Universities and the potential learning virtually with VR headsets.

• 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!

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

Where: Kato Ballroom.

**More information coming out soon.

**BAC is looking for all hands on deck!

Find more information HERE.

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

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