Bridge Bulletin

The countdown begins - there are only 8 more days of school! We only have one more Monday and one more Friday. Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day (no school) and Thursday,, May 30 is the last day of school (and it is short day). Please make sure your K-5 graders are at school next Wednesday for our Level Up activity (read more below). This is a NOT TO BE MISSED activity that lets students go to their new class and learn a little about what to expect for next school year.

Coin Craziness ended today. We will announce the totals and the winners next week. THANK YOU to everyone who helped with this enormous debt! We will take the total and figure how much of percentage this was of our goal. For example, we needed to raise almost $13,000. If we raised $2,000 that is 15% of our goal. Each person in lunch arrears will have their deficit reduced by 15%. There will be SO many families that can breathe a sigh of relief that their lunch deficit has been reduced. So, if a family owes $100 we will be able to apply money to their deficit.

STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK - Next week, May 20-24, is Staff Appreciation week at Bridge! We choose not to have "Teacher Appreciation" week or the other random weeks (custodian, secretary, administrator, etc.) because at Bridge every SINGLE individual is a critical cog of our model. So, instead we have an appreciation week for EVERY staff member. Our theme this year is "It Would be a Circus Without All of You!"

COMMUNITY CONNECTION CORNER - Please read further below for Ms. Chelsea's words of wisdom. This week she is talking about the power of letting our children fail - productive struggle is a trait that all individuals need to learn in order to navigate life successfully.

ICYMI - this is the link to our website for all previous news bulletins:

https://www.bridgecharter.org/bridge-bulletin

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

NO SCHOOL

• Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day)

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Week of May 20 - Staff Appreciation Week
  
• May 22 - Level Up Activity at 2:15 pm
• Thursday - May 30 - Field Day (last day of school and short day)
• Wednesday, June 26 - 5 pm FREE Skating at Neptune Skating in Ogden

Now that it is warm please make sure your kiddos are following the dress code:

• Shorts must be black or tan
• Skirts and shorts must be no shorter than 4" above the knee (they can wear bike shorts under to extend the length)
• Shoes MUST be closed toed - no open toed flip flops or sandals
• Shirts must have wide fabric at the shoulder - no spaghetti strap shirts but wide tank tops are okay

Thursday, May 30, is the last day of school. It is a short day and school is released at 1:30. It is also Field Day! We have lots of FUN activities for kids - bounce houses, face painting, games, a magician, water activity and an end of year movie. Students will be outside for a majority of the day. PLEASE send your child with a water bottle and sunscreen.

BEHAVIOR - Field Day needs to be SAFE and FUN for everyone. For this reason we have a ONE STRIKE policy for inappropriate behavior. If students are deliberately aggressive with others or refuse to follow the rules, they will be escorted to the office, parents called, and sent home for the remainder of the day. If you feel your child would do better with parent supervision, you are welcome to join your child at Field Day to supervise them. If this is what you plan, please inform your child's teacher.

We are hiring for two full-time special education para-educators to provide academic and behavioral support for students. The salary is $17 - $20 hour depending on education and experience.

Interested applicants should send a resume to Lani@BridgeCharter.org and schedule an interview using this link:

INTERVIEWS

Nearly 600 people showed up for our Bullfrog Skate Night! It was an absolute blast!

On Wednesday, May 22 at 2:15 pm, we will have our "Level Up" activity! This is where the kids in K-5 go up to the next grade for an hour to meet the teachers and learn about all of the FUN stuff that happens in that grade! This is one of our favorite activities at the end of the school year.

Mrs. Johnson's 3rd grade social studies class wrote letters to the President. Today they received a letter from President and Mrs. Biden. The kids cheered so loudly and couldn't wait to touch the letter and the picture.

Thank you for taking the time to complete our Spring Family Survey! As always, the number one suggestion for improvement is enlarging the parking lot, adding a crosswalk, and asking parents to be more patient and more observant.

Obviously we can't enlarge the parking lot and using the gate along 3500 W is not an option until UDOT completes expansion of 3500 W (approximately 2028). Then, we can approach them again about using that as an exit. We also can't add a crosswalk. The city determined we are too close to the corner and stopping traffic is not an option. If people want to cross Midland Drive they should go to the corner at 4800 S to cross although we HIGHLY discourage people from parking across the street! We have signs encouraging people to be patient and observant - those who are patient and observant do not need a reminder. Those who are always in a hurry and angry about the parking lot probably aren't reading the signs. THANK YOU to all who are patient and understand that pick up at ANY school is busy and complicated and student, staff and family safety is much more important than hurrying up your exit. If you hate the 3:30 pick up, as an alternative, you can sign your child up for BASE and then come check them out at 4:00. Doing this you avoid the traffic. On Friday, since there is no BASE, it is even more challenging. Perhaps you can wait until 1:45 to arrive at the school - then the parking lot is not as busy.

The second suggestion is for Bridge to either get rid of the students with behavior issues or move them out of the regular classrooms. As a public school we are required, by law, to educate every child at Bridge and we are not allowed to hand pick the students that attend. We have a lottery, but that is because there are more students who want to come to Bridge than we have seats. We do our best, based on the law, to see that each child receives a free and appropriate public education and put lots of measures in place to ensure the learning environment is supportive of ALL students.

SURVEY DATA

Overall we are very pleased with the data! We do have some areas in which to grow and we will analyze all of the scores from each grade as well as the feedback received and make changes are needed to improve our school. Below is a pic of the overall data for our school. You can also find the data on our Curriculum and Assessments page under Schoolwide Assessments at : https://www.bridgecharter.org/curriculum-assessment

Imagine Learning, the largest provider of digital curriculum solutions in the U.S., serving over 15 million students in more than half the school districts nationwide, today announced the winners of the 2023–2024 Imagine Nation Awards, honoring schools and districts across America for their exemplary implementation of Imagine Learning solutions and commitment to student learning.

Bridge Elementary is one of only 20 schools, across the nation, that received the School of Excellence Award for our student's usage and progress in the Imagine Math® PreK-2 program. We have received a large banner which we will hang in the front foyer.

You can find the list of winning schools and more information about the award using this LINK

Bridge is a member of Utah's Safe UT. SafeUT is a crisis chat and tip line that provides real-time crisis intervention for students, parents/guardians, and educators through live chat and a confidential tip line—right from your smartphone. This also allows students or parents to report potentially violent or concerning issues they see or hear about that may impact the staff or students at Bridge.

You can access the information from our website at:

https://www.bridgecharter.org/safeut-see-something-say-something

or directly at https://safeut.org/students

Our past due lunch accounts total nearly $13,000!!! It breaks my heart that we cannot offer free lunch for everyone, but that is a decision that our legislators need to make. Sadly, at the end of the year overdue balances are absorbed by the school's budget meaning less money available for curriculum, instruction and salaries.

If you are looking for a place to donate, PLEASE consider donating to our Happy Go Lucky account to help with overdue balances. You can donate at the office with a check or cash or online using our DONATE icon. We are a 501(3)(c) organization and your donations are tax deductible!!

To help reduce this deficit we are going to have a Staff vs Student fundraiser (we have 100 staff and 550 students). Staff and students are encouraged to bring their loose change, or even loose dollar bills 😀 to drop in the blue 5 gallon bottles labeled STAFF or STUDENTS, in the front foyer. This will begin on Monday, April 29 and end on Friday, May 17. We will count the money the week of May 20. The group with the most funds collected (STAFF or STUDENTS) will earn a FREE dress down day the ENTIRE last week of school and a Fat Boy ice cream sandwich on Wednesday, May 29.

If your child's balance is overdue, please start paying as much as you can to pay this balance down. Unfortunately, at the end of the year, folks with overdue balances will be sent to collections.

You can STILL apply for free and reduced lunch using your ASPIRE account.

AFTER SCHOOL PICK UP - We have noticed a HUGE increase in the numbers of parents parking across the street from the school (along the canal fence) to pick up students. This is EXTREMELY dangerous especially for those students whose parents do not get out of the car and simply motion their children across the street. PLEASE CEASE and DESIST NOW! It is SO dangerous - people drive fast - people aren't observant - people are distracted on their phones. If you are in a hurry to get your kids and think parking across the street hurries up the process, park your car, come into the school and check your students out a few minutes early. Yes, they will miss some important stuff BUT they will be safe! Additionally, parents who park on 4800 S near the intersection at Midland Drive are blocking traffic turning from Midland onto 4800 S. This creates a HUGE backlog in the parking lot as people are unable to pull out onto 4800 S safely.

We have met with the city manager and police and we do not qualify for a crosswalk (too close to the corner) and do not have enough walkers to qualify for a crossing guard. It isn't that we don't WANT to walk people across the street, we are not allowed to. Since it is a public street we are NOT allowed to go out there and stop traffic ourselves. You MUST have permission from the city (for city roads) and the state (for state roads) to stop traffic.

We REQUIRE every single person to take the safety off our kiddos seriously and refrain from parking along the canal fence and attempting to cross Midland Drive.

"Before the United States had a Constitution, elected officials at the time advocated for a national public education system on “equal footing for all”. The Land Ordinance of 1785, established a way to help fund public education by giving states sections of land for this purpose as they entered the union. Today there are 21 states in the U.S. that have these special trust lands.

Of the 7 million acres granted at statehood, Trust Lands manages 3.3 million surface acres and 4.5 million mineral acres today. Most of these lands were sold during the first 35 years of statehood, which was an effective way of getting land into private ownership.

Trust Lands generates revenue for its beneficiaries through energy & mineral leases, real estate planning, and surface resource use on trust lands. In most years, energy & minerals generates the largest portion of revenue and we are always seeking additional opportunities to expand our energy & minerals portfolio. However, last year most of the revenue was generated by real estate. Trust Lands has large landholdings in rapidly developing areas and we work to identify the right partners to bring these properties through the development process and onto the market."

As a public school, Bridge Elementary benefits significantly by Utah's Trustlands. The school, along with parents on the Trustlands committee, set goals and create an action plan to use the Trustlands funding received by Bridge. You can find our approved Trustlands plan on our website at:

https://www.bridgecharter.org/school-plans-goals

You can find out more information regarding Trustlands at:

https://trustlands.utah.gov

This week our FFVP program brought the kids White Flesh Peaches and Cosmic Apples! We are super lucky ot have the grant that allows us to provide students with access to fruit and vegetables they may not otherwise have access to.

Waterford Upstart is an award winning program that helps prepare children for kindergarten. You can register your pre kindergarten student today! https://www.waterford.org/upstart/

Social Emotional Learning resources for families and students to promote a stronger sense of self identity, mental health, and create a safer school environment. Our Visible Learning Traits (flexibility, determination, reflection, taking initiative, thoroughness, and enthusiasm) tie into Social Emotional Learning at Bridge!

LINK TO VIDEOS

At Bridge, instead of having a "maturation night" for 5th grade students which other schools typically do, we opt to provide parents the information so they can determine how much they want to share with their child and at which age they want to share it. For many girls, by the time they are in 5th grade they have already started menstruation and it is a little too late for a lesson on maturation. We believe parents can best determine what students should know about maturation and puberty, and when a child should know it.

Our maturation committee met and reviewed information from different sources. They determined, and our Board approved, to use the maturation information provided by Provo School District. The maturation information includes videos and packets for girls and boys that you can download and share with your child.

This is the link to the MATURATION information.

Each week students attend a Visible Learning class where they learn about traits of a good learner. Next week students will learn about Thoroughness -"Taking care of details and doing my best".

• Plan my work.
• Pay attention to details.
• Make a list so I don't forget.
• Finish what I start.
• Clean up along the way.

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.

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.

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

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

Principal - Lani Rounds - Lani@BridgeCharter.org

Assistant Principal - Sara Tucker - Sara@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 SpED Teacher - Dianne.Kelsey@BridgeCharter.org

Chad McBride SpED Teacher - Chad@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 or issues in the classroom