Bridge Bulletin

Welcome to 2023! I hope this year brings you lots of joy! Our first week back was so much fun! Kids were excited and believe it or not, staff were super excited as well. We love what we do, and while it's nice to have a break, being with kids, countless smiles and 100s of daily hugs increase the value of the paycheck at least 10 fold!

We are super excited to start the new year at Bridge with our new schedule which allows more consistency in daily specials. Another key feature is the additional writing specials we have added to 1st grade. The data has clearly shown that this is an area in which our 1st grade students needed additional direct instruction. We are super excited to track their growth in writing across the remainder of the year.

We noticed LOTS of kiddos were the lucky recipients of smart watches and phones for Christmas. These are fabulous tools and are helpful for students to stay in contact with parents and friends but sometimes these tools become toys and are a distraction at school. Please let your kids know that watches and phones cannot be used to take pictures, play games, access social media, or to text/call family/friends during school hours unless a teacher has provided explicit permission. Otherwise the "tool" has become a toy and will be confiscated and a parent will need to pick up the device after school. Students are welcome to leave their phone or watch in their locker or with their teacher during the day to keep it safe and to resist the urge to let it distract them.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON (only old people will get that reference) Registration for next school year for CURRENT students is now closed. Countless emails were sent and phone calls were made for you to complete the registration process. If you missed the opportunity to roll your student over for the next school year you better hurry and call the office (801)499-5180. We are currently in the process of opening all remaining spots in the lottery which opens on January 23. If your child's spot is released in the lottery and you decide you would like your child to return to Bridge next school year, you will need to wait for a spot to open up along with the other students in the lottery. We run the first lottery on February 7, 2023. This lottery is for siblings of current Bridge students. After we run the lottery there is no way to guarantee your child will be able to return to Bridge.

STAFF HIGHLIGHTS

This week's staff highlight features the 6th grade teachers. Keep reading below to see more about our fabulous 6th grade teaching team.

Mark you calendars for the following days of NO SCHOOL

• January 16 (Martin Luther holiday)
• February 20 (President's Day)
• March 9 & 10 (Parent Teacher Conferences)
• April 3 - 7 (Spring Break)
• May 26 (Teacher work day)
• May 29 (Memorial day)

Upcoming Events

• FREE Classic Skate Night, Wednesday January 11, 5 - 8 pm
• Lottery opens for siblings and other students - January 23
• Middle of Year Progress Reports - February 3

Please keep reading for more information about this past week and events for the upcoming weeks.

As always, thank you for sharing your kids with us!

Lani Rounds

Principal

We are working on having students express gratitude when others do something for them. For example, when the lunch staff hand them lunch the students should thank them (some kids already do this - thank you parents for engraining this in your kids!) When a staff member gives them something such as a gift or a token the child should show gratitude by saying, "thank you". Additionally, teachers and staff are also going to work hard on modeling gratitude by thanking each other and thanking students as well for showing kindness, for example, "thank you Sally for holding the door open for everyone". Our hope is that by becoming a more grateful community we will become a more kind community. Please help us by reminding your child to express gratitude when others do something for them - for example, when you drop them off at school a simple, "thanks for the ride" is an expression of gratitude. At first this will take some prompting as for most it doesn't come naturally, but hopefully, after time, expressing gratitude will just become part of who we are.

Yes, believe it or not it is already time to plan for the 2023-2024 school year. The first steps include solidifying the school calendar. Because our students come from Brigham to Layton we let our parents provide input when developing our yearly calendar. Please use the link below to complete the survey to let us know your preferences especially regarding school vacations. The information from the survey will be used to present the calendar to the Board for approval. Once the board approves the calendar it will be posted on our website.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BE23-24Calendar

Bridge provides personalized learning for students using computer aided instruction, small group instruction, P90 reading (grades 1- 3) and differentiated stations. In order to provide personalized instruction, teachers need access to lots of resources that allow them the ability to differentiate instruction for students. One way Bridge provides these resources is through access to our curriculum closet. This closet includes tons of games and manipulatives that teachers can check out for hands on learning. It also includes bags filled with lessons and materials aligned with core standards for small group learning. Our teachers and staff LOVE having the curriculum closet available. This is just one of the unique things Bridge offers to meet the needs of students.

Advisory is on Fridays, 8:45 - 10:45, for 1st - 6th grades. During this time students meet with their advisor to review their personalized learning plans, complete station work, and attend additional rotations including STEM or virtual field trips. Our students LOVE virtual field trips. Today kids learned about making balloon animals, snowflakes, Amazon rainforest and built bridges using engineering skills.

Each week students attend a Visible Learning class where they learn about traits of a good learner. Next week's Visible Learning Trait is Reflection. Reflection means "Reviewing my learning to see what works and ways I can improve."

I will:

• Look back
• Listen to feedback
• Learn about myself
• Plan my next steps
• Reflect often

Please review this visible learning trait with your student and praise them at home when they are being reflective. 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:

https://www.bridgecharter.org/character-first

It's that time again - when you are making your New Year's Resolution, please add the following regarding pick up and drop off before and after school.

• BE OBSERVANT
• BE PATIENT
• BE KIND

Recently I met with Police Chief Glynn and the City Manager Matt Andrews to discuss the pros and cons of painting the curb RED across the street along the canal fence. Painting the curb red would mean cars could NEVER park there - not even during after school programs like Math Night or the church carnival. Their experience with other red curbs at schools and parks have shown that parents think if they are "sitting" in the car then they aren't technically "parking" so they ignore the red curb. After a long discussion they felt a red curb would only fix our problem (parents motioning kids across the street) for the parents who actually follow the rules and won't fix it for the parents who don't bother to follow rules. They said, in their experience, red curbs have actually increased the numbers of U turns which in our location could have devastating outcomes.

So, the quandary - HOW do we keep our kids safe when some parents, such as those motioning their children to run across the street, appear to want convenience over safety? The city has visited every option. Because of the distance to the corner at 4800 S and Midland (to the north) and the slight jog in the road, we can't have a crosswalk across from the school. They can paint lines at that stop sign though they guarantee, again, based on their experience, parents and kids will not walk the few extra steps to the stop sign to cross the street. So again, the plea from me - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT park along the canal fence and motion your kids to the car. While you think they are old enough and responsible enough to cross a street, when they are crossing they are focused on you - not on the traffic. Additionally, people turn off 4800 S onto Midland Dr. going too fast trying to beat the traffic heading east and kids don't see them. If you insist on parking there then PLEASE get out of your car, walk to the school, and escort your child to your car. We LOVE our kids and our families and want to avoid a tragedy.

NEXT STEPS

Chief Glynn is going to pull out all the stops and beg UDOT to let us use the back gate on 3500 W to exit, at least on Fridays, with a right turn on 3500 S only. We have been turned down at every request. Hopefully he has more pull than everyone else who have reached out.

Matt Andrews will start working on caution signs for in front of the school. They won't be blinking lights or even 20 mph signs ,but maybe those approaching north and south will see them and slow down just a bit.

Again, BE PATIENT - BE OBSERVANT - BE KIND and we can increase the safety of our kids.

Bridge has teamed up with Utah Foster Care to host a FREE community give away. We hosted one in the spring and it was a HUGE success. Bridge is NOT accepting donations for this event. Utah Foster care and their community of volunteers will bring truckloads of donated items for this give away.

The event will be held in the Bridge gym. The gym doors will open at 10 am. You do NOT need to be a Bridge family member to come to the event - bring your friends, neighbors and family. You will enter the gym on the south side of the school. The gym will be the only part of the school accessible to the public. The restrooms will NOT be available. Bring lots of bags to carry home your goodies!

Amazon makes it SUPER easy to donate to Bridge through their Amazon Smile program. When you purchase from Amazon using the Amazon Smile link and select Bridge Elementary as your designated school, Amazon sends us a check every quarter. So far, Amazon has sent us $800 since the school opened its doors. The link is on our website for Amazon Smile. Bridge Elementary may show with a Kaysville address as that is our accounting address. Start shopping today.

School Website: https://www.bridgecharter.org/donate

Amazon Smile

Snow days and late starts are NOT a practice we will implement very often at Bridge. We try very hard to keep doors open so our kids can come to school and our working parents can go to work. We are not part of a district so if the news reports that a neighboring school or district has a late start or a snow day that does NOT mean that Bridge does as well. A district's decision to start late is usually because of the numbers of bussing students a district has and the safety of those students. At a charter school, parents are required to transport their own students so you get to determine what is safe for YOUR family.

If we are opening our doors late, closing our doors early, or not opening at all we will notify you via social media, email and One Call. If you do not hear from us then we are open for business.

Our students travel from Brigham to Layton and points in between. If it is bad weather at your house and you do not feel it is safe to drive then please keep your students at home and have them login and do Imagine Learning if you are able. Call the school and excuse their absence.

Charie Murray

My name is Charie Murray and I am one of the sixth grade teachers. I LOVE teaching! It has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. When I'm not doing school things, I love traveling in my RV. I also enjoy playing board games with my family, sewing, and doing genealogy.

Naomi Gonzalez

I'm Naomi Gonzalez and I teach 6th grade Reading. I love a little bit of everything. I love video games, hiking, reading, and being outdoors in general. I have just started learning how to ice skate, which has been something I've wanted to do since I was 7 years old. I am always willing to try new things and want to start gaining new skills this year.

What Is Bullying?

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious lasting problems.

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

• An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
• Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

Bullying has several prongs - the bully, the victim, the bystander and the upstander. Each individual plays a specific role.

Bully - a person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate a person they perceive as vulnerable

Victim - the individual the bully harms

Bystander - someone who witnesses bullying, doesn't participate and doesn't attempt to stop it or tell anyone about it

Upstander - someone who witnesses bullying and either steps in and tells the bully to stop or tells an adult what they witnessed happening

After we return from Christmas break, Bridge will work with Stacey Archuleta, our At-Risk Programs Coordinator, and a social worker to help put together an UPSTANDER program using a FROG Squad comprised of Bridge 4th - 6th grade students. The Frog Squad will help teach kids about the importance of "See Something Say Something". This is in the early planning stages and we are super excited to get this rolling as, according to StopBulllying.gov, Upstander programs have had great success in schools across the nation.

The yearbook can now be ordered, online. Orders are not taken at the school. Yearbooks will not be available at the school for sale. The cost is $15. You can also find the order information on our website at: https://www.bridgecharter.org/school-events

Code = BridgeES

Pre Pay code = BridgeYB23

Link to Order: YEARBOOK ORDER

Power Chess will once again rent space from Bridge for Spring 2023 for the Friday, 1:30 - 2:30 program. Registration is now open.

Power Chess Registration

Mad Science will once again rent space from Bridge for six weeks starting January 20 for the Friday after school program. Registration is now open.

Mad Science Registration

Lunch payments can be made online or in the front office using cash or check. Payments made in the front office are posted immediately in Aspire. Online payments are not immediately updated in Aspire.

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.

https://www.bridgecharter.org/lunch

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).
• 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)

After you have volunteered please enter your hours in our volunteer form on our website:

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.

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

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

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

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