2019-09-20-BRIDGE-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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o Zeba McGibbon talked about an effort a group of teachers worked on this summer to offer a menu of supplemental academic activities that support the classroom work but are optional. This initiative was rolled this out this year. • Redistricting o At the October 1 School Committee Meeting, a redistricting plan will be presented. [Note: the proposal is available here.] o Meg is planning to send a follow-up message out to the Bridge community afterward. o It is expected that students will be moved from Bridge, since we are overcapacity by 100 students (as is Bowman), and the new Hastings will have room for an additional 200 students. o Perhaps we could invite Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Planning, come to speak to our community about the plan? o Meg explained that the principals have already been talking about how, if numbers go down due to redistricting, some schools may not need as many staff. Principals want to start planning for this as soon as possible. • Strategic Planning o Meg reported that Bridge staff members were in a meeting yesterday about this topic. The superintendent is encouraging all staff to be involved in the process. • Change in School Times and Transportation Consequences o Starting next year,the elementary schools will begin at 9 AM,with the building opening at 8:45 AM, instead of starting 8:45 AM,with the building opening at 8:30. Dismissal time will be 3:30 PM instead of 3:15 PM. o There has been some talk about before care, but no plans are set at this time. o The SBC expressed concern about the impact of these changes on the bus routes and traffic, as this is currently a significant issue. Kristen agreed that traffic and transportation is a challenge, and gave an example of one of the Bridge buses being 25 minutes late for pick up last week due to traffic. More than 300 (out of 520+) students at Bridge take the school bus. • Diversity and Equity o We could invite the new Director of Equity,Johnny Cole,to come to speak to SBC. o We could share updates from Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain book club for teachers o We could share updates from Deirdre Schadler's/the ELL team's ongoing efforts to reach out to cultural groups in town to understand needs/expectations/etc.to better support those kids and family • Parent Night/in-depth talk related to culturally diversity,brain development, or another important topic • Climate Change o What can we do at the elementary school level to address this? Meg reached out to head of K-5 science, and she's provided some ideas. Next month's all school morning meeting,the topic is on responsibility, and representatives from EcoBridge come to speak. Shawn reminded the SBC that, on a 2