It was hard to type "October" - how can time be going SO quickly? We have only one more week of school until Fall break - seven weeks until Thanksgiving Break, 11weeks until Winter Break and then, HELLO 2022!

October 1 marks an important day in public schools. On this day auditors visit schools, review attendance, check the number of kids who are enrolled compared to the number who come to school, and determine the school's funding based on this information. Your students may tell you that the principal came into the class with a "strange man in a suit" (it's always a man in a suit) and the man called their name and checked them off a list. This is how it works, though the auditors do not visit every single classroom. Instead, they take a snapshot of the school by visiting a few classes and compare this information to attendance records.

As a charter school, we are a school of CHOICE. Parents have to CHOOSE to bring their kids here and then CHOOSE to keep them here. Bridge may not be the right choice for every student or every family. Our model is unique - that is the beauty of a charter school - we are able to do things that are not mainstream, for example, learning pods, personalized learning plans (PLPs), rotations, non-traditional seating, outdoor dining, full day kindergarten, morning supervision and after school BASE.

We KNOW you have lots of schools from which to choose, including your neighborhood schools and many charter schools in other cities. If your kids are here at Bridge we must be doing something right for your family otherwise you would pull your students take them somewhere else that better fits their needs. So, THANK YOU for having your kids at Bridge and entrusting us with their education.

Please keep reading for important updates and information.

See you Monday!

Lani Rounds

Principal

Having your pre-kinder student participate in a preschool program is ESSENTIAL to kindergarten success. Sadly, only 36% of this year's kindergarten students started school at the required benchmark level according to the state's Acadience (DIBELS) reading assessment. Waterford Upstart will give your kiddos the boost they need to be ready for kindergarten.

Registration for kindergarten will begin in January through out lottery program. Siblings of enrolled students have first priority followed by those students with a military preference. We will run the lottery for siblings first and fill as many kindergarten spots as possible. This school year about 80% of kindergarten spots went to siblings of Bridge students.

Kindergarten Round-Up for next year's kindergarten students will occur in May. During Kindergarten Round-Up students are tested on basic pre-K skills to ensure parents know what students need to work on over the summer to be prepared for kindergarten. These are the skills in which your student is assessed - now is a good time to begin working on these areas:

• Writing their first name
• Recognizing and naming all upper and lower case letters.
• Knowing the sounds of each letter.
• Identifying the first SOUND in a word - for example the first sound in mop is /m/
• Recognizing numbers 1 - 10
• Counting 10 objects by touching each object (one to one correspondence)
• Colors - blue, black, brown, green, yellow, red, orange, purple, white, pink
• Shapes - circle, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, octagon, oval

Parents can donate to this program by paying with a check or cash in the office, or through our DONATE icon on the website. The cost for an adult meal is $3.50.

The Lost & Found sits under the front portico. Students and/or parents can access this before or after school or even on the weekends. When students come to the office to look for something they have lost, we escort them to the mountainous pile outside and they look for their lost items.

When we return from Fall Break, the remaining items will be bagged and donated to a local shelter. Last year we donated at least 10 large bags of lost and found items.

REFLECTION teaches students to review their learning to determine what works and ways in which they can improve.

Practice these "I WILL" statements with your student:

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

Our mission is to empower students to take ownership of their own learning. By learning, practicing and embracing these visible learning traits, students will have the skills needed to become accountable for their own lifelong learning. You can find the six Visible Learning traits on our website at Visible Learning