Brooks Crossing Elementary School buzz
By Jodi Mahoney, Brooks Crossing Principal
Superintendent Jerry Jellig’s district theme this year is "Building Bridges."
As the superintendent sets the theme, each school uses that theme to plan for the upcoming year.
As we transition from summer to school, we look to incorporate many ways to "build bridges" with our students and their families.
At Brooks Crossing and Deans, one "bridge building" opportunity comes on Sept. 2 when we offer a New Student Orientation and host an open house for existing students.
The New Student Orientation gives those students and families that are new to our community a chance to tour the building, ask burning questions and get familiar with some staff they will see on the first day of school.
The Open House, for existing families, gives students an opportunity to find their new classroom, take a peek at the bulletin boards and get acquainted with the layout of the building as it pertains to them for the upcoming school year.
This helps to ease any first day jitters.
Another way that we "build bridges" early in the year is by hosting Lunch Expectations assemblies or presentations for all of the students.
Prior to the first lunch period, all students review appropriate behavior, lunch/recess routines and non-verbal signals that they can use in the cafeteria.
This type of proactive assembly allows students to know the expectations early in the year. For the younger students, this is done in person.
For the older students, the teachers are given a short presentation to watch that reviews agreements that they should know from previous years in the building.
Our "bridge building" continues during the first full week of school as we meet with every classroom community to go over "School Expectations."
During these assemblies we introduce and/or review our commitment to our character education program. Students are very familiar with CARES (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-Control) but the beginning of the year is a wonderful time to rekindle and remind students about these important character traits.
Additionally, we review rules and regulations related to the Anti-Bullying Law and HIB as it pertains to the elementary school.
Throughout the month of September, and even prior to school starting, teachers also "build bridges" with their incoming class and their families.
For the Kindergarten students, this is done in person through the Wishes and Dreams meetings.
At these meetings, the students get a chance to come to meet their Kindergarten teacher before the 1st day of school, talk about what they like to do and both get to know each other a little bit better.
For grades 1-5, teachers often send out surveys with their "welcome" letters.
These surveys ask about students’ "hopes and dreams" for the upcoming year.
This information helps the classroom teacher plan for opening days and get to know the class community in more depth.
Once the students arrive, teachers continue to build community through "Morning Meeting."
This is one facet of the district’s Responsive Classroom approach, which fosters community building, respect and positive language.
During "Morning Meeting," students have an opportunity to greet each other, share some news, do an activity and read a message related to the academic work of the day.
The Morning Meeting is a fundamental part of every school day and ensures that every student feels welcomed and valued.
Another fundamental part of "building bridges" between our school and our homes are the different ways that teachers communicate with students and their families.
Whether it be a daily e-mail, a weekly update or a monthly newsletter many teachers are also going "techy" with parent-teacher communications.
Many teachers have created "weeblys" which are linked to the school home page.
These are interactive websites that can be easily updated.
Parents and students can access them via the Internet and allow teachers to post wonderful resources, reminders and homework information.
Mid-September we continue to "building bridges" to the home with Back To School Night. At Back to School Night parents have a chance to meet specialists, meet the teacher, see the classroom and meet the administrative staff.
It’s also a time to introduce the PTO and the wonderful ways that the PTO supports the climate of the school community.
This year, Back to School Night at Brooks Crossing and Deans is on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Finally, throughout the year we "build bridges" between our younger students and older students with our Buddy Classes.
Each class is given a class of older/younger students to buddy with for the year.
During the Week of Respect, Red Ribbon Day, Field Day and other special days during the year, we get together to learn from one another and form bonds between the students.
Even with two campuses, we bus the students back and forth to each building to allow for these activities to occur as often as possible.
The opening of school is always a time of wonder, excitement and renewal. It is our pleasure to "build bridges" with the students and families in our community.
We are looking forward to a fabulous year.

