Special Sta f f Appreciat ion Issue Volume 89, Issue 1

May, 2011

Special points of interest:

• Spring Fling Info

• Pre-K/K Open House

• School Play Info

• NCLB Family Read Night

• Honor Roll/Perf. Attend.

• Bridge Students

are Winners

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Brake’s Take 2

Calendar 3

Students of the Month 4-5

Honor Roll 9

Perfect Attendance 10-11

News from the Grades 12-27

Last Page 28

B R I D G E B U G L E

“Bruno”

An Illinois Honor Roll of Schools “Academic Improvement Award” & “Spotlight School Award” Winner!

Achievement Award” Winner, an “Autonomous Management Performance School” (AMPS), a SPEAK UP 200! School and

A CPS “Rising Star” school, a “School of Distinction”, a CPS “Exemplary 85

Years

Top Row Pictured L-to-R: Kelly Tarasiewicz, Destiny Morales, Jessica Figueroa, Nicole

Pelaez, Khalia Phoxay, Valentina Mora, Ashley Bock. Bottom Row Pictured L-to-R:

Sasha Aponte, Samantha Carey, Kayla Jurewicz, Shannon McGuire, Neidelyn Reyes.

Not Pictured Teacher/Parent Coaches: Mrs. McGuire and Mrs. Tarasiewicz.

5th/6th Grade Bridge Pom-Pon Team

Win Third Place in City Competition!

Marcelina Puc Megan Szajna

Bridge Students Win Second Place at City Science Fair!

Story on page 18

Story on page 19

Page 2 Volume 89, Issue 1

Do you have any

ideas, suggestions,

or comments on

ways to improve our

school and the ser-

vices that our chil-

dren receive? If so,

please call, write a

letter, or see me to

share your ideas.

Your input is greatly

appreciated.

Thank You!

Dr. Brake

Students/Teachers

Staff/Parents

Would you like to

have a poem, article,

short story, event, or

other item of interest

published in the

Bridge Bugle?

Submit your item to

Dr. Brake

on computer disk

(Microsoft Word format preferred)

no later than the third

week of the month for

publication in the next

month‟s school news-

paper.

BRAKE ’S TAKE

May Non-Attendance Days for Students

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Is Memorial Day Holiday

No School

Remember those who gave their all...

National Teacher

Appreciation Week

May 2nd-6th If you can read this, thank a teacher!

Hate Delays?

Students

Transferring? Parents: If you are transferring your child/children out of Bridge

School at the end of the school year, please notify the Bridge Office

now! We will have your transfer and paperwork ready and you will

avoid delays in processing during a very busy time of the school

year. Thank you.

Where did the school year go? May is our last full month of school for this year, and

what an exciting month! There are a ton of fun things going on at Bridge this month - even more

than a usual Bridge month. I hope to see everyone at one of our upcoming events. There are

plenty of opportunities for parents to volunteer or just stop by with family and enjoy our fun

gatherings. I hope everyone has had a great school year so far.

The week of May 2nd-6th is National Teacher Appreciation Week. I think I may speak

for all of us when I say we are very thankful for the wonderful job our Bridge teachers and staff

members do every day! Our teachers and staff do a tremendous job and we should be sure to

show our appreciation throughout the year. We would also like to thank all of our parents and

family members who volunteer their time and energy to help make our school a great school.

Great people do make great schools! Together we have created one of the best schools in the city

of Chicago. Let‟s keep working together for our children. They are our future.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to make our school even better, we‟d love

to hear them. We can always get better.

Hope to see you soon,

Dr. Christopher Brake

Indicates day of non-attendance for students

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 NCLB Family

Read Night

5-7 pm

6 Junior

Achievement

5th-8th

7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17

“Pochantas”

School Play

18 NCLB PAC/

LSC Meeting

@5:30 PM

@Bridge

Elementary

School

Pre-K./Kdg.

Open House

19 20 Junior

Achievement

K-4th

21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1

Primary

Picnic

2 School

Ends

June

17th

May 2011 Staff Appreciation Month

Spring Fling Carnival (see page 6 for details)

Spring

Fling

Spirit Week (see page 6 for details)

Sports

Day Memorial

Day

Holiday

No School

Spring Book Fair - Spring Book Fair - Spring Book Fair

Anthony Bialczak

Daniel Villanueva

Nicole Czternastek

Victoria Olejarz

Wiktoria Kozuch

Joceline Peralta Kevin Thomas

Alexandra Garcia Wiktoria Wasik

Jeremiah Cruz Alex Hernandez

Patrycja Bucko

May - Students of the Month

Allysa Cayas Elizabeth Szwajnos Alex Kwiatkowski

Katherine Misterka

Sasha Aponte

Luis Olalla

Patric Hruswicki

Janell Nolivos Catera Shanks

Alex Hernandez Katarzyna Pukala

Aman Haidari Tomasz Tutka

Christian DeJesus

Olivia Harcarik Sabrina Villegas Joshua Hampton

Bridge Elementary School Students of the Month are selected for their outstanding attendance, academic performance, and conduct.

May - Students of the Month

Page 6 Volume 89, Issue 1 Please

Support

The

9TH ANNUAL BRIDGE SPRING FLING CARNIVAL

May 19th-22nd Thur. & Fri. 5:00—10:00 PM

Sat. & Sun. Noon-10:00 PM

Ride Wristband Specials-Unlimited Rides on:

Thur., 5/19 from 5:00 PM until closing &

Sat. & Sun., 5/21&22 from Noon until 5:00 PM

$16.00 per wristband for unlimited rides

On these days and times!

Carnival Rides — Games — Food

Family Fun For Our Community !

@Bridge Elementary School

3800 N. New England Avenue

School Spirit Week May 31st - June 3rd

Tuesday: Jersey/Sports Wear Day

Wednesday: Rainbow/Colorful Day

Thursday: Pajama Day

Friday: Crazy Hair & Hat Day

Please Note: Students who dress up and participate in

Spirit Week do not have to wear uniforms during Spirit Week!

Students who do not participate must wear school uniform.

Bridge Elementary School PTA

Bridge Elementary School – Bridge Jr. High School Branch 3800 North New England 7001 W. Addison

Chicago, Illinois 60634

Buy One – Get One Free!

Spring Book Fair

May 2nd-6th

NCLB Family Read Night Thursday, May 5

th

from 5:00-7:00 PM

Puppet

Theater

Story Tellers

Free Book

Raffle

Book Fair OPEN

5-7 PM on 5/5/11

Volunteers Needed!

There will be an Open House for parents and families of children start-

ing Pre-School/Kindergarten in September, 2011. Children must be five

years old by September 1st to attend Kindergarten, 3– or 4-years old to

attend Pre-School. The Open House will be held on Wednesday, May

18th from 5:00 - 6:00 PM. A meeting will be held in Room 107 fol-

lowed by a tour of the elementary school building.

PRE-SCHOOL/K INDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE

Hate Delays?

Students Transferring? Parents: If you are transferring your child/children out

of Bridge School at the end of the school year, please notify the

Bridge Office now! We will have your transfer and paperwork

ready and you will avoid delays in processing during a very busy

time of the school year. Thank you.

Room 201

Owais Abuhashish

Tomasz Kuczewski

Eric Platt

Anna Kulach

Nicole Lesniak

Magdalena Naruszewicz

Nicole Soltyszewski

Room 202

Kamil Piotrowski

Neidelyn Reyes

Room 203

Patrick Bogusz

Fotini Kaim

Natalia Hernandez

Kacper Rebeszko

Room 204

Jakub Bigos

Ashley Bock

Shannon McGuire

Kamil Obrochta

Maksym Ilkiv

Room 205

Aseel Abuawad

Zuzanna Pasierbek

Room 206

Christopher Molina

Brooke Silvestri

Kevin Mienta

Room 301

Marcelina Puc

Room 302

Nicholas Guy

Room 303

Brian Kuczynski

Jessica Tredota

Julia Troszczynska

Room 304

Megan Szajna

Patricia Kania

Corbin Bowen

Room 306

Natalia Gorlicka

Safaa Suleiman

Damian Pikul

Aman Haidari

Nicolas Pesole

Room 205

Kinga Butryn

Jennifer Castaneda

John Sak

Quinn Taylor

Priscila Gonzalez

Michelle Kazmierczak

Patrick Knap

Janell Nolivos

Amber Polanco

Kimberly Solis

Ariana Zepeda

Bernardo Trevino

Room 206

Aaron Borda

Andrew Azzam

Julia Smialkowska

Kelsey Vazquez

Tiara Lopez

Tommy Green

Ashley Badillo

Rebecca Guerin

Alexis Lopez

Nicole Pelaez

Kamila Wrobel

Room 301

Jazmeen Rivera

Dawid Babula

Tomasz Tutka

Diana Trejo

Daniel Tchinibekov

Justyna Szczech

Shawn Rivera

Piort Lesniak

Adrianna Goral

Room 302

Anthony Barsano

Patric Hruswicki

Mateusz Wiechetek

Nicole Brzezinska

Remah Abuhashish

Room 303

Jacob Rivera

James Sobotka

Christina Pecoraro

Kathy Pukala

Room 304

Lauren McGuire

Daniel McGinley

Anthony Jarvis

Lukasz Kornas

Christian DeJesus

Alejandro Gonzalez

Molly Filipowicz

Artana Sherifi

Jose A.Rivera 111

Room 305

Gabriella Borghese

Carlie Vasquez

Gabriela Castillo

Alexandra Macias

Isabelle Santiago

Danielle Walsh

Kienna Bariso

Amber Avila

Room 306

Victoria Galvan

Rozan Deeb

Abigail Escobar

Josue Rodriguez Gonzalez

Room 201

Joshua Kornatowski

Holly Lewandowski

Monika Zawislak

Room 202

Samantha Alanis

Alexis Albios

Patty Amador

Alyssa Galiardo

Eduardo Martinez

Rafael Reza

Paulina Ryndak

Natalia Sak

Filip Bachta

Yuliya Khudzyk

Gabriel Smyk

Monika Staszel

Courtney Zakrzewski

Room 203

Samantha Armijo

Patrick Gillespie

Natalie Hanek

Sebastian Hernandez

Justin Johnson

Brian Kwiatkowski

Shylah Solis

Kelly Tarasiewicz

Dailah Medellin

John Byer

Yareli Flores

Szymon Ramos

Room 204

Nicole Dziedzic

Daniel Michniowski

Delanie Preston

Mateusz Zieba

Congratulations

To Our

Scholars!

TH I R D QUA RTER S I LV ER HON O R RO LL

GO L D E N HO N O R

R O L L

Room 001

Radek Bobowski

Anthony Guy

Jason Harenberg

Alexander Jamroz

Pawel Wojtowicz

Kelly Conneely

Amir Abuawad

Juliette Drewniak

Anthony Panagopoulos

Damian Staszel

Konrad Strzalka

Room 002

Francisco Rivera

Oscar Cabrera

Olivia Harcarik

Fabian Martinez

Daniel Santiago

Alexandra Zugaj

Allen Namrood

Justin Munoz

Rochelle Borda

Michael Kurowski

Bruno Myszkowski

Mateusz Wojtowicz

Aleksandra Czternastek

Olivia Hopper

Natalia Kowalska

Room 003

Luz Vazquez

Gabriel Nunez

Samantha Pelaez

Roberto Hernandez

Stephanie Anguiano

Maliha Ahmed

Aleksandra Smyk

Daniel Alcantar

Muimen Fareh

Martyna Akerman

Angel Cadena

Daniel Kania

Alejandro Mesino Her-

nandez

Andrei Rodriguez

Sabrina Villegas

Daniel Peralta

Room 101

Ibraheem Gomaa

Denise Vidal

Allysa Cayas

Alex Harcarik

Somaia Jibawi

Samantha Zamarripa

Emily Riffert

Room 102

Kylieblu Santiago

Azra Haskovic

Tyler Saunders

Room 103

Ailin Corona

Jonathan Flores

Alex Kwiatkowski

Miguel Melchor

Xavier Ramirez

Joana Ruiz

Room 108

Jessica Kowalczyk

Room 202

Jacob Ortegon

Aaliyah Schein

Amanda Santiago

Julian Fajardo

Olivia Kocot

Michael Dylag

Julia Strzalka

Mason Wilder

Room 203

Gabriel Reyes

Tori Napolitano

Matthew Kurowski

Christian Wolski

Allison Aviles

Juan Baca

Joshua Hernandez

Ella Camaci

Mia Castillo

Shawn Guerin

Daniel Kocot

Room 204

Hadeel Abuawad

Cassidy Medina

Denys Chelak

Yasmeen Peralta

Hubert Bartosczyk

Hazel Ceylan

Ayah Fareh

Elias Munoz

Wojtek Strapoc

Veronica Kozak

Room 206

Faustyna Waz

Claudia Szczesna

Adam Pruszynski

Adriana Palka

Kacper Mutl

Natalia Babula

Nicole Czternastek

Mateusz Brzys

Mateusz Jaje

Camilla Mroz

Katarzyna Zawislak

Room 207

Lizbeth Cabrera

Jesus Gonzalez

Kaitlyn Tarasiewicz

Katarzyna Puc

Nicole Stanford

Patricia Banasik

Edin Haskovic

Emily Alanis

Claudia Goral

Room 208

Ayah Ghunaim

Zamary Huerta

Sheraz Ahmed

Cristofer Gonzalez

Room 209

Karol Piotrowski

Kevin Barna

Mateusz Babula

Omar Santiago

Matthew Bozek

Sebastian Kuczek

Shannon Gillespie

Destinee Torres

Suzanne Miekisz

Ayman Abuawad

David Ciesla

Julia Domian

Anna Klejn

Keila Torres

Room 210

Nicholas Nickson

Sarah Guerin

Jahaira Rodriguez

Natalia Obrochta

Brandon Bolivar

Alexander Cross

Raquel Marrero

Michael Mlynarczyk

Maria Tantcheva

Sonya Ruiz

Kathrine Zurawski

Room 211

Nicole Vergel

Jonathan Aispuro

Paola Gomez

Patrycja Bucko

Jasmine Melchor

Destiny Ramirez

Aleksander Stanek

Maksymillan Stanek

Dawid Zieba

Alejandro Vallejo

Room 212

Michael Kasparian

Anisa Kornafel

Lucas Kovarik

Kamil Pisanko

Tomasz Mieczkowski

Angelica Hryb

Miya Badillo

Ariani Gomez

Krystian Wojtylo

Room 201 Jr.High

Magdalena Naruszewicz

Owais Abuhashish

Monika Zawislak

Agapefaith Alfaro

Jairo Salinas

Szymon Kuczynski

Alma Carmona

Anna Kulach

Nicole Soltyszewski

Morad Deeb

Room 202 Jr.

Sylwia Mieczkowski

Kamil Piotrowski

Samantha Alanis

Eduardo Martinez

Piotr Szczech

Natalia Sak

Filip Bachta

Michael Rosa

Patty Amador

Catera Shanks

Gabriel Smyk

Room 203 Jr.High

Samantha Armijo

Victoria Majerczyk

Kelly Tarasiewicz

Dailah Medellin

Brian Kwiatkowski

Natalie Hanek

Patrick Bogusz

Sebastian Hernandez

Patrick Gillespie

Wiktoria Kurc

Sydney Bock

Nicole Brzys

Marek Klejn

Jonathan Mejia

Room 204 Jr.High

Shannon McGuire

Delanie Preston

Kamil Obrochta

Andrea Reyes

Jakub Bigos

Sasha Aponte

Alexander Paszkowski

Ecxon Herrera

Jessica Figueroa

Nicholas Paprzycki

Ruben Garcia

Thomas Wojtyga

Mateusz Zieba

Nicole Dziedzic

Third Quarter

Perfect Attendance

Room 205 Jr.High

Alexis Alvarez

Johnathan Nickson

Jose Reyes

Patrick Knap

John Sak

Jennifer Castaneda

Yadira Dominguez

Jailene Garcia

Ariana Zepeda

Room 206 Jr.High

Rebecca Guerin

Alexander Hernandez

Nicole Palaez

Theodore Nickson

Tiara Lopez

Kevin Mienta

Ashley Badillo

Xochilt Herrera

Valentina Mora

Andrew Azzam

Anthony Davis

Ariel Garcia

Julian Martinez

Brooke Silvestri

Megan Wilder

Kamila Wrobel

David Peralta

Room 301 Jr.High Jacob Parker

Lukasz Boufal

Alexandra Kania

Adrianna Goral

Marcelina Puc

Justyna Szczech

Piotr Lesniak

Joshua Lebron

Karolina Lukasiak

Tomasz Tutka

Samantha Ayala

Dawid Babula

Maria Mendoza

Maciej Mosiejewski

Shawn Rivera

Room 302 Jr.High

Nicole Brzezinska

Bartosz Pikul

Damian Jaje

Nicholas Guy

Remah Abuhashish

Anthony Barsano

Matthew Bock

Robert Lech

Alyssa Polanco

Erika Rodriguez

Jessica Zacny

Room 303 Jr.High

James Sobotka

Juan Sanchez

Jasmine Ayala

Katarzyna Pukala

Jessica Tredota

Thomas Carey

Cyndy Zukowski

Angel Salinas

Aleksandra Niemas

Julia Troszczynska

Manal Abughoush

Ubayda Khater

Brian Kuczynski

Raye Legarda

Roxana Mesino Hernandez

Angel Quintero

Room 304 Jr.High

Christian DeJesus

Alejandro Gonzalez

Megan Szajna

Grzgorz Chlebek

Lauren McGuire

Molly Filipowicz

Darelis Salazar

Stephanie Ayala

William Young

Corey Egan

Mario Martinez

Mateusz Mazurkiewicz

Martha Mesino Hernandez

Room 305 Jr.High

Avery Parker

Alexandra Macias

Isabelle Santiago

Kienna Bariso

Tiffany Myszkowski

Gregory Pikul

Gabriella Castillo

Juan Anguiano

Phoenix Juarbe

Alec Santillan

Carlie Vasquez

Room 306 Jr.High

Victoria Galvan

Nicolas Pesole

David Hruswicki

Damian Pikul

Brandon Reyes

Yasmyn Cardona

Rozan Deeb

Aman Haidari

Third Quarter

Perfect Attendance

Would you like a…

Perfect

Attendance

Record

This

Year

All you need to do is achieve

Perfect Attendance from September 7th -May 31st

Three school quarters down, one to go!!!

And you will be invited to…

BRIDGE SCHOOL’S 9TH ANNUAL

PERFECT

ATTENDANCE

PARTY

On Friday, May 10th! We want to add YOUR NAME to the list so,

“Come to school every day –

and don‟t be late!”

PIZZA

POPCORN

COTTON

CANDY

Bridge Pre-K News May 2010

Breakfast in the Classroom Has Begun

Bridge School has started Breakfast in the

Classroom. Bridge Pre-K, Morning Session

Students are invited to choose to eat

breakfast in the cafeteria each day at

8:15 with their classmates and one teach-

er from the classroom. Breakfast only takes

about ten minutes and the students then

promptly return back to the

classroom with their teacher.

New Drop-Off and Pick-Up Procedures

For the safety and security of our students, Bridge School is implementing new

Drop-Off and Pick-Up procedures for our students. We appreciate your

cooperation during these changes:

Pre-K families must enter the building outside through the Room 107 door—

door #11—when dropping their Pre-K children off for class.

If you arrive after door #11 has been closed, you must enter through the

school’s main entrance and get a tardy slip from the office. A teacher from

one of the Pre-K rooms will then take your child to their classroom. Please try and bring your child to school on time.

Pre-K families must exit through the door in Room 107 after dropping their

child off. Families may no longer walk through the hallway to exit from any

other door.

If you need to pick up children from different Pre-K classrooms at the end

of the day, you must walk outside to pick them up. You may not walk

through the hallways.

If you are eating lunch with your child, you must stay with them at all times.

You may bring them into Room 107 at 11:30 [no earlier]. You must then exit

through the door in Room 107.

Thank you again for your cooperation.

Bridge Pre-K 2nd Annual Art Gallery

Our Pre-K Art Gallery was such a success

last year that we are having it again! It will

take place during the Bridge School Family Reading Night on Thursday, May 5

from 5:00—7:00 pm.

K INDERGARTEN NEWS

MAY 2011

Field Trip We are going to :

Adler Planetarium Friday, May 6, 2011 .

Apri l w as the month for learning and

explor ing Space and the So lar System. We learned about the d i f fer ent p lanets , the moon, the sun, and the s tar s . We star ted by invest igat ing w hat makes n ight and day. We d iscover ed that the Earth r otates/spins on i t s axi s w hi le orbi t ing ar ound the sun, which causes day and night . T he part o f the earth that i s fac ing the sun has day and the opposite s ide that i s fac ing aw ay fr om the sun has n ight . We lear ned that the sun r i ses in the east and sets in the w est . We d is t inguished the di f fer ence betw een sunr i se, noon, and sunset by looking at the c lock and our shadow. Fur ther mor e, w e became ast ronomer s. We studied the n ight sky. We used chalk on dark paper. We dr ew star s and connected c lusters of them together to c r eate conste l lat ions . We got to name our ver y own constel lat ions. Next, w e exp lor ed the So lar System. We learned that ther e ar e eight p lanets. Mer cur y, Venus, Ear th , and Mars ar e the c losest to the sun. Jupiter , Saturn, Ur anus , and Neptune ar e the far thest f rom the sun. We w er e so sad to lear n that Pluto is no longer one of the planets in our solar system. Pluto i s known as the Dw arf P lanet due to i t ’ s mass . Pluto has less than 0 .24% of the ear th ’s mass . Most of the p lanets ar e e i ther too co ld or too hot for us to l i ve on. Ear th may be the only p lanet that has j ust the r ight type of atmospher e to susta in l i fe . Let ’s do our par t to keep i t gr eener by r eusing, r educing, and r ecyc l ing .

Reminders… Kindergarten

Graduat ion Ceremony i s Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

Kindergarten

Graduat ion Fee of $10.00 due n ow.

Kindergarten

Graduat ion P icture -packet ord ers du e n ow.

I f you h ave not paid for

any of these fees,

Although our “Read to Succeed” pizza

voucher program has come to an end, we

strongly encourage you to continue to

read with your child every day. Keep

track of the number of books you read on

your record sheet. Return the sheet back

to the teacher at the end of the month for your child to receive a fantastic SUPER

READER certificate.

We are very proud of our kindergarten

students. Through our Writer’s

Workshop, many of our students are

beginning to read and write their own

amazing stories. Most of our students can

read between 60 to 100 kindergarten

sight words. Please continue to help your

child practice reading the kindergarten

word list every day. Practicing reading a

few words a day will build stronger

readers and writers.

“BUGZ Take Over the Stage”

First and Second Grade News

On April 14, students from the Primary Drama Club put on quite a show

for the kindergarten through second grade classrooms. There was a picnic

and everyone pitched in...the Lady Bugs were in charge of proper eti-

quette, the Army Ants handled security, the Fireflies were in charge of

lighting, and the entertainment was provided by the Bumble Bees. It

looked as if everything was set! But then, the Stink Bug wanted to come

too! The critters buzzed around as they tried to find a way to help with the

smell. Finally, they resolved the situation by using a handful of flowers.

Ms. Baron and Ms. Sak are extremely proud of the performers. The stu-

dents worked hard to prepare for the show by learning songs, practicing

lines, and acting out their parts. We hope everyone enjoyed the show!

Happy 100th Day of School!

We‟ve had 100 amazing days of school! On February 25th, first and second grade students celebrated

the 100th day of school by dressing up as 100 year-old grandmas and grandpas. Students participated

in various activities such as making “100th Day of School” posters, crowns, and reading stories about

the 100th day of school. Everyone enjoyed this fun-filled day!

Top row (left to right): Cassidy Medina, Katherine Zurawski, Loren Henich, Agnes Zajac, Maria Tentcheva,

Jahaira Rodriguez, Ashley Galeno, Andrea Hoffman, Veronica Kozak Bottom row (left to right): Nicole

Czternastek, Klaudia Gawnik, Lucas Kovarik, Kevin Hawkins, Alexis Vivar, Derik Galeno, Emanuel Crespo,

Jakub Irla, Ally Aviles, Virginia Olech

During the last two weeks Rooms 206 and 208 learned about different types of weather. Among many things,

we studied precipitation, the water cycle, cloud types and wind. Some of the exciting things we did included

outlining our shadows and examining how they changed throughout the day, creating windsocks to measure

the direction of the wind, recreating the water cycle and making snow in plastic bags. Students were amazed

by the things they discovered while learning about weather and enjoyed the different activities.

OH, THE WEATHER!

An Undersea Adventure

After learning about penguins and their habitats, the second grade classrooms took a field trip to the Shedd

Aquarium. Students had a chance to observe penguins, fish, dolphins, sea otters, frogs, and other sea animals.

We also met Nickel, a green sea turtle. During our visit in the penguin exhibit, we listened to a Shedd volun-

teer, who shared interesting information about the Rockhopper and Magellanic penguins. Students had an op-

portunity to ask questions and later explored the Polar Play Zone, where some children dressed in penguin

suits and slid down an icy slide.. Upon our return to school, students composed letters about their trip and were

excited when the staff responded to the letters.

Third and Fourth Grade News The Third Graders Study Chicago

The Third Graders at Bridge have been studying the City of Chicago for the last few weeks. We have found out many fas-cinating facts about our wonderful city!In addition, each student researched a fa-mous Chicago landmark. The students built models of these landmarks and dis-played them for their parents on Parent Teacher Conference Day. We were able to show our landmarks to our classmates and share all of the interesting facts that we found. We love our city!!

Fifth and Sixth Grade News Poetry by 6th Grade (Rhyme, Repetition, Rhythm, Ode, and Free Verse)

Roses are red, violets are blue Hiccup! Hiccup!

The sun brightens my day, and so do you I can‟t stop!

This girls‟ smile is perfect, her laugh is even better Hiccup! Hiccup!

She is my world and I never will forget her I might pop!

If there‟s one thing I want in life, it‟s got to be you Hiccup! Hiccup!

When I‟m older, I‟ll say “I do”…and I hope you do to. Please, some water

Hiccup! Hiccup!

By Jordan Daugherty, Room 206 Can‟t go any longer

What is this?

Time is running out What do I hear?

Be happy for what you got I think I‟ve stopped.

Memories to remember HICCUP!!

Time to celebrate together Oh dear…

Life is something you want

To remember! By Rachel Schnoebelen

By Xochilt Herrera, Room 206

My parents don‟t understand me, they try so hard.

My parents just don‟t get me, I need my space.

My parents don‟t understand me, I can‟t always have

A smile on my face.

By Brooke Silvestri, Room 206

I stand on a forsaken island Ode to DJ‟s

My eyes an audience to an eyesore

My sky once blue and beautiful is fire Fellow fist pumpers

My water once bountiful and gentle is lava Party starters

My grass is dust, my food is ash Disc jockeys

My green plants are withered and brown You twist the jams

The green Earth beneath me is rock Make them go

My sky is shredded Wikiwikiwam!

My air is fouled Pauly D, David G.

My water is met with sulphur Gangster Boogie

The wind blows sand in my face, but I ignore DJ Boon

As I stand, the world collapsing Bringing life

I do not weep, and why? To the party

For I too, have given here. Swaggin‟ it up

For us, break it down

By Daniel Michniowski, Room 204 Adding funk

Lookin‟ cool

Long live DJ‟s

By Alyssa Galiardo

Ode to Dance Ode to Poland

It‟s my life My beloved

This is the way I talk to people Where my

It completes me Ancestors were born

This is the way I let my emotions out The place of my mothers

And Fathers

I listen to the beat The land where

And I move my feet I belong and

Don‟t try to stop me Remember in my memories

„Cause I‟ll dance right into you The land I will always

Remember

I dance even when I‟m in pain

I never give up, without any shame By Kamil Piotrowski, 202

I dance for me and for everyone to see

I‟ll never stop believing in myself

By Neidelyn Reyes, Room 202

Ode to My Mother

She‟s short as can be, but she‟s taller than me

She‟s nice like sweets, not mean like spice

I love my mommy, and she loves me.

She makes me all happy inside,

My smile is six miles wide.

We love to play in the summer sun,

But sometimes things aren‟t always fun.

She knows how to mend my broken heart

Because she is my mom, and that‟s what moms do.

She‟s my mommy and she‟s special to me.

By Catera Shanks, Room 202

From the Bridge School Family!

More Fifth and Sixth Grade News Science Storms

On March 31st, the sixth grade classrooms visited the Museum of Science and Industry to explore one

of the newer exhibits entitled “Science Storms”. They had the chance to view larger than life models of tsuna-

mi waves, tornado winds, avalanches, and much more. This exhibit fit perfectly into our Weather Unit. Stu-

dents worked in teams to search for answers about each part of the exhibit. It was very crowded due to the

popularity of the exhibit. Everyone had a great time!

Disney‟s “Big Cats” On April 30th, the fifth and sixth grade classrooms went to the theater to see the latest movie in the Disney se-

ries. The footage was intense and amazing.

It‟s incredible to see how these animals live in their natural habitat. Great experience…great movie…a must

see!

Science News The sixth grade classrooms are finished up their Weather Unit by preparing newscasts which were performed

during the week of May 2-6th. Each group shared news stories and, most importantly, presented a weather

report by a “meteorologist”. Much research and planning went into the presentations and students did a fantas-

tic job. Nice props!

STONE SOUP The sixth grade classroom would like to thank the Lyric Opera House of Chicago for choosing Bridge

School as one of the eight schools to receive their music program this year. We were so fortunate to have

worked with one of their talented

teaching artists, Ms. AJ Wester. She did a fantastic job to prepare them for their show on May 6th. Many stu-

dents found their “singing voice” and they really enjoyed her class over the past four months. Hopefully more

students will have the chance to work with the Lyric Opera House in the future.

The Ancient Kingdom of Kush The 6th graders just finished learning about the ancient kingdom of Kush. We learned that Kush had a

very close relationship with its neighbor, Egypt. Sometimes they were peaceful and sometimes they were ene-

mies. In its long history, we learned that Kush was invaded several times by outside groups and even had its

first capital city destroyed. In the end, Kush returned to its traditional African roots. Although we did not com-

plete a project for this unit, we did appreciate learning about Kush‟s vibrant history.

6th Grade Math Hey, guys spring has just started. Whenever spring starts that means baseball starts. So in 6th grade math we

have started making our fantasy baseball teams. Mrs. Loxas has given us $35,000,000 to spend on our team.

She also gave us a list of players that we can get. On the paper it says what each player‟s value is. In total there

are 9 positions and 2 backups that we have to get. We had to try to get as close to the $35,000,000 maximum

when we were buying our players. We will base our scores on real life statistics. For example a homerun

would be worth ½ a point. Weekly we will be calculating our points based on our stats. We will be keeping a

top ten list. There will be prizes for the people with the highest points!!!!!

By: Kamil Piotrowski

Pom-Pons Rock City Competition! This is the first Pom-Pon team Bridge has had and we never thought we would make it this far!

In our first competition we placed second which sent us to the Regionals. In the Regional com-

petition we took first place! This sent our team to the City Finals competition. We earned a

third place finish at the City competition. We were so excited! Not bad for our first year. We

can‟t wait until next year.

By Shannon McGuire & Ashley Bock, Room 204

Seventh and Eighth Grade News

A Roller Coaster Ride Using Newton’s Three Laws of Motion

In our 8th grade Science classrooms we have started a new unit dealing with forces, energy, and motion.

After learning about motion we went on to forces; throughout the chapter we analyzed Newton‟s three laws of

motion. Law one states that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion unless

acted upon by an unbalanced force; law two states that acceleration depends on an objects mass and the net

force acting upon the object; and lastly law three states that if one object exerts force on another object that

second object exerts the same amount of force in the opposite direction. To prove these laws true we were

challenged to build a roller coaster that a) followed the 3 laws and b) to include loops, hills, and a grand finale.

We were assigned into groups of 4-5 people and were told that we could only use 5 insulation tubes, masking

tape, and whatever we found necessary to create one larger-than-life roller coaster (just kidding it was just for

a marble). Each group followed a different style some did spirals, other used leaps and funnels, some kids even

made a roller coaster going in different directions; some kids even used chairs and desks to support their coast-

er! Each project was both unique and insane in there own ways! Once we had built our roller coaster we were

told to advertise it- if you look around you just might find one of our advertisements. All of groups got real

creative! All in all, our entire project turned out to be a success and we did prove the three laws true!!

Marcelina Puc homeroom 301

Marcelina and Megan Rock City Science Fair! On Friday, March 25th Marcelina Puc and Megan Szajna participated in the 61st

Annual Chicago Public Schools Student Science Fair. They both earned 2nd

place awards and enjoyed meeting new people. Marcelina‟s Botany project was

titled, “Achieving Optimal Tomato Plants (Lycopercison Essculentum Hybrid)

Through Implementation of Various Forms of Cultivation”. Megan‟s Chemistry

project was titled, “Vitamin C in Orange Juice?”

Congratulations to Marcelina and Megan!

THE EVOLVING PLANET

On March 29th, the 7th graders went on a field trip to the Field Museum and

saw the exhibit, “The Evolving Planet”. During the field trip we were given a

worksheet to fill out about the many mass extinctions that happened in the

past. In “The Evolving Planet” we saw real fossil, skeletons, played with inter-

active, and took notes on mass extinctions. We were fascinated by the life

sized settings and the animals! The 7th grade had a wonderful time and we

hope you will go visit this Field Museum exhibit soon.

By: Isabelle Santiago and Kienna Bariso

Get veggie-cated Did you know that most of your plastic plates, cups, and even bottle cokes are made from plankton

juice!!! They are all made from fossil fuels!

On March 23rd, Mr. Andy Hershberger from the Field Museum came to our school to talk about their

go-kart which is power by clean-used vegetable oil that restaurants no longer use. He not only talked about

the go-kart but also about many other oils that come from cooking oil. He said that they use a type of cook-

ing oil called biodiesel because it‟s cheaper and its viscosity is almost the same as gasoline. This means that

we can use veggie oil instead of fossil fuels. While Mr.Hershberger was here he let Mrs. Iammartino drive

the go-kart!

By. Miriam Delgado

ATTENTION 8TH

GRADE PARENTS & STUDENTS

A Message from the Bridge School Counselor…

Important Reminders!

If your child has been accepted at a Chicago Public High School, please provide a copy of the acceptance

letter to the counseling office.

If your child has been accepted at a private high school, please provide verification to the counseling office.

If you have or are planning to move, please notify the school office.

If you are planning on pre-registering your child for classes and need copies of academic records, please

contact the counseling office.

The State of Illinois requires all incoming 9th

graders provide copies of a new physical exam and

inoculation record to their high school. Failure to comply will result in exclusion after October 15, 2011. If

you have those documents, please provide copies to our school nurse.

CPS Promotion Policy requires 8th

graders to pass reading, math, and writing with a grade of “C” or higher.

ISAT reading and math preliminary scores must meet minimum requirements. The Federal & State

Constitution Tests must be passed.

Finally, if your child is planning on attending Steinmetz High School during the 2011-12 school year,

please examine the attached letter for further information. This letter was provided to 8th

graders during the

last week of April.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact my office at 534-3718.

Thank You!

Warren Metzdorff

Counselor

Bridge Jr. High School

7001 W. Addison

Chicago, IL 60634

Phone: 773-534-3718

April 25, 2011

Dear Eighth Grade Parent,

You are cordially invited by the Steinmetz High School Counseling Department for your

son/daughter to participate in an early registration process on Tuesday May 24, 2011

and sign up for classes beginning fall 2011. A parent/guardian must accompany the

student at registration; the process takes 10-20 minutes to complete. Only students living

within the Steinmetz attendance area will be allowed to register. The parent must

present two proofs of address: utility bill, state ID, driver’s license, etc. Steinmetz

Address is 3030 N. Mobile Av.-Phone is 534-3030.

Parents, when you arrive at Steinmetz, please report to Room 122. Please contact me if

you are planning on participating in the registration process. If you have any questions

please call me at 534-3718. Registration is 8:30-12:00.

Parking is not available in parking lot; use street parking. Main entrance available on

Mobile Av. (There will be a High School Investigation Day at Steinmetz on Wednesday

June 1, 2011…more information will be available as we get closer to that date!)

Thank You!

Warren Metzdorff

Counselor

Please clip and return to Mr. Metzdorff!

Dear Mr. Metzdorff,

I will attend the registration conference at Steinmetz High School on Tuesday, May 24,

2011 at ____________ (time). My student’s name is ___________________________.

I will not attend the registration conference at Steinmetz High School; my student’s

name is:

______________________________________.

Parent Signature

2011 FRESHMAN CONNECTION REGISTRATION FORM

Program Dates: Starts as early as June 22, 2011, and will run for up to 4 weeks. Contact your high school for more information.

Please contact your high school for more information or check out: http://www.chooseyourfuture.org/freshman-

connection

Registration Deadline: June 10, 2011 Complete and return this application to your counselor or future high school

Student Information

ID Number: ___________________________ Date of Birth: ________________________ Name:_______________________________________________________________________ (please print) Address ______________________________________ZIP ___________________________ Email ______________________________________________________________________ Elementary School Name ______________________________________________________ Expected High School _________________________________________________________ Parent/Guardian Name ________________________________________________________ Relationship to Student _____________________________ Phone ____________________ Email ______________________________________________________________________

-Parents of 8th Grade Students-

Dear Parents/Guardians: Healthy school meals are an important part of educating the whole child. On January 26, 2011, the CPS Board adopted a policy to implement Morning Max: Breakfast in the Classroom in all Chicago public elemen-tary schools. This policy fosters breakfast participation, encourages students to embrace a morning routine that includes breakfast and creates a healthy start to each school day. The Morning Max program currently operates in more than 200 CPS elementary schools. Principals and teachers in these schools have reported that they have observed beneficial effects on student behavior, attendance and tardiness. Research has shown that school breakfast programs have led to higher grades and test scores. Students are offered a choice of cold breakfasts that fits the age appropriate guidelines established by the USDA, with different menu options daily. White milk (low-fat or fat-free) is offered every day. Students will eat breakfast during the first ten minutes of the school day. Teachers view this time as an investment in the rest of the day—helping to ensure their students are focused and ready to learn. During this time, teachers take attendance, make classroom announcements and begin instruction around relevant topics such as nutri-tion, health, energy and science. We anticipate that the Morning Max breakfast program will result in an overall reduction of non-biodegradable waste entering the waste stream. The breakfast bags are made with recycled paper, are bio-degradable and Morning Max eliminates the use of Styrofoam serving trays. After the students have finished eating breakfast, all breakfast-related items will be removed from the classroom. While every student will have the opportunity to eat a school breakfast at no charge, participation in the breakfast program is strictly optional. Like the school lunch program, Morning Max will accommodate stu-dents with food allergies classified as a disability. These are food allergies that cause an anaphylactic reac-tion and are considered to be life-threatening. For students with 504 plans, we will provide a menu that meets the needs outlined by the physician in the plan. We are pleased to announce that Morning Max started on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at Bridge Elementary School. Please assist us in getting the program off to a great start by making sure your children arrive at school on time and ready to start their learning day by eating breakfast with their classmates. Sincerely, CPS Nutrition Support Services

Elementary Library News

April has been a very exciting month in our Elementary Library. In March, 3rd and 4th graders studied

Haiku poems, and the poems they wrote were so exceptional that Mrs. Banaszak decided to submit them to the

Young Poets Organization‟s National Schools Project. The National Schools Project was designed to share our

youth‟s talents with others as well as provide publishing opportunities for young poets. Poems were reviewed

by the selection panel, which is made up of several educators who select only the best poems for publication in

Young American Poetry Digest. 37 poems, written by Bridge 3rd and 4th graders were selected for inclusion in

the 2011 Poetry Book. Students from around the whole country submitted their work for review, and it is a very

great honor to be selected to be published in the Young American Poetry Digest. Our school library will have a

copy of this Poetry Book, and it will be available for check out so that other students can have a chance to enjoy

these great poems. Congratulations to our outstanding poets, you are to be commended for your creative ef-

forts. We are all proud of you!

Our young poets from room 207: Alex Hernandez, Jacquelyn

Rodriguez, Kayleigh Green, Patryk Romanowski, Armando Aya-

la, Patricia Banasik, Claudia Goral, Kasia Puc, and Edin

Haskovic (not pictured)

Our young poets from room 209:Omar Santiago, David Ciesla, Alex

Kaim, Mateusz Babula, Shannon Gillespie, Ania Klejn, Matthew

Bozek, Karol Piotrowski, Sebastian Kuczek, Ayman Abuawad.

Our young poets from room 001:Liam White, Konrad Strzalka, Dylan

Ciotuszynski, Pasquale Sanfelice, Lesly Herrera, Damian Staszel,

Juliette Drewniak, Maja Konieczna

Our young poets from room 002:Ola Zugaj, Andrea Avila, Emilia

Jakubaszek, Daniel Santiago, Michael Kurowski, Naiya Graciani,

Olivia Harcik, Rochelle Borda, Austin Beecham, and Veronika Smial-

kowska (not pictured)

More Elementary Library News Also in April, Mrs. Banaszak was awarded a double matching grant from the CPS Department of Li-

braries and Information for the sum of $10,000(hooray)! This grant was rewarded to school libraries that show

commitment to improving literacy. With this money, Mrs. Banaszak will buy a new industrial printer and con-

nect the computers from the library to it. $8,000 will be spent on new books that support our school‟s curricu-

lum as well as books that can be read for pleasure. So get ready for new sets of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and

other favorites!!

Spring has finally come; during the week of May 2nd we are having our annual Spring Book Fair. I was

told by the PTA moms who organize this event for us that there will be many exciting new books as well as

sequels to the series that we all enjoy. During that week we will also have our Bridge Family Reading Night

(May 5th 5:00PM). Many teachers are planning exciting activities for our students: arts and crafts, book reads,

and even a puppet show! Our book fair will be opened that evening so bring your parents and have a fun night

together. You‟ll be able to enjoy all the activities and even have a chance to win great prizes in a raffle.

Please plan on coming with your family to this exciting event.

Spring NCLB Family Reading Night When: Thursday, May 5h 5:00PM Where: Bridge Elementary School

Schedule Book Fair will be open in the Elementary School Gym from 5pm to 7pm.

Activities for Elementary students

5:00 – 5:30 and 5:30 – 6:00 Room 103 – Ms. Chum and Ms. Grimaldo – “The Three Little Pigs” – Arts and Crafts activity to reenact story

Room 202 –Ms. Anderson and Ms. Mays– “Monarch Buttlefly” – Butterfly Activities

Room 206 – Ms. Baron and Ms. Sak – “The Cat in the Hat” – Making bookmarks and hats

Room 207 – Ms. Cutler and Ms. Schmeisser – “From Seed to Plant” – Planting seeds

Room 211 – Ms. Janiszewski – “The Legend of the Queen of the Baltic” – Making stick puppets

Room 212 – Ms. Loise – “The Best Nest” – Making Bird Nests

6:00 – 6:30

Library – Ms. Banaszak and Ms. Byerly –Readers‟ Theatre, Poetry selections by Shel Silverstein, “I‟ll Read

to You, You Read to Me” selections by Mary Ann Hoberman

6:30 Gym - Raffle Tickets

Thank you Mrs. Page and all the students and parents who supported the

American Heart Association

Jump-A-Thon

Fundraiser held on March 30th Sponsored by P.E. Teacher Mrs. Page

The event raised over $2,000 for the American Heart Association!

Thank You!

Dear Parents and Families: Please do not drive onto the Bridge Elementary School (3800 N.

New England) parking lot to drop-off or pick-up students. Smaller children

are hard to see and the car traffic has created a dangerous situation for our

children and staff! Thank you for your cooperation!

-The Bridge Safety Committee-

Bridge Art-i-facts Elementary School

Architects Visit Bridge School! School of the Art Institute Architecture students Vrinda, Cleo and Ed , visited our

art classroom April 16th. Vrinda, Cleo and Ed brought 3D Styrofoam shapes and

asked students to draw what they thought it would be used for. Drawings includ-

ed skateboard ramps, slides and couches. Next, they set out pipe cleaners, wood-

en sticks and straws for students to build with. Students looked at different imag-

es and textures to get ideas of what to build. Vrinda, Cleo and Ed are going to use

Bridge Student‟s ideas to design mobile play areas for children in Talca, Chile

who were affected by last year's earthquake. Thanks Vrinda, Cleo and Ed!

Bridge Art-i-facts Elementary/Jr. High School

All students at the elementary school are

working on paper cutting and layering pro-

jects. Kindergarten students are learning

about positions, and how to draw things

that are in front or behind a subject. 1st

and 2nd grade students are creating under-

water murals with fish made from cut piec-

es of paper. 3rd and 4th grades will be

starting color collages made from different

types of papers.

Andy Warhol and Pop Art

Jr High students have been learn-

ing about Andy Warhol and the

start of the Pop Art movement in

the 1960‟s. Students drew a

picture and traced it 3 times for a

total of 4 identical images. We

looked at how Warhol used color

in his famous print “Marilyn”,

and tried to replicate it without

repeating colors. Students are al-

so still printing their Styrofoam

relief prints.

Scenery Crew and the School

Play Scenery Crew has been

working very hard on sets for the

school play “Pocahontas”.

Students created backdrops of a

forest, a fort and a shoreline with

a sunrise.

Attention all 7th/8th grade artists! 7th and 8th grade art club will begin in a few weeks. Art club will be painting

murals on the remaining bulletin boards in the 7th and 8th grade hallway. You

will learn how to use acrylic paint, and how to mix colors while painting murals.

Sign up directions will be on the announcements next week.

Special Staff

Appreciation Issue

LSC = Local School Council NCLB PAC = No Child Left Behind Parent Advisory Committee

PTA = Parent Teacher Association BAC = Bilingual Advisory Committee

LSC President:

Mrs. Lynda Jurewicz

Parent Representatives: Mr. Daniel Aviles

Mrs. Terri Ignatowski

Mrs. Susan Szajna

Mr. Robert Walsh

Community Representatives:

Mrs. Yvonne Majewski

Mrs. Pat Walenga

Teacher Representatives:

Mr. Warren Metzdorff

Mrs. Kelly Naughton

Non-Teacher Representative:

Mrs. Maria Crespo

Administration:

Dr. Christopher Brake

PTA President:

TBD

Vice-President:

Mrs. Susan Szajna

Secretary:

Mrs. Terri Ignatowski

Treasurer:

Mrs. Lynda Jurewicz

NCLB PAC

President:

Terri Ignatowski

Vice-President:

Dan Aviles

Secretary:

Yvonne Majewski

BAC President:

Mrs. Sylwia Krupinska

Vice-President: Mrs. Claudia Lozano

Secretary:

Mrs. Zapata Adriana

Representative:

Mrs. Sabina Galinska

Alternate Representative: Mrs. Anna Lysek

“Bridges to Success” Bridge Elementary School

3800 N. New England Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60634

773-534-3718

Bridge Jr. High School Branch

7001 W. Addison Street

Chicago, Illinois 60634

773-534-0940

Principal:

Dr. Christopher Brake

Assistant Principal:

Mrs. Joyce Giannini

IM PORTANT CPS DAT E S 2010-2011 SC H OOL YE AR

Holidays May 30, 2011 - Memorial Day*

Vacations Summer Vacation: Schools close for students on Friday, June 17, 2011

Report Card Distribution Days Friday, June 17, 2011

*Indicates days of non-attendance for students

Bridge School

Proudly Presents a

Student Production

of the Musical:

Pochantas K-4th: Tuesday, May 17th @ 8:30 AM

5th-8th: Tuesday, May 17th @ 12:45 PM

Parents & Families: Tuesday, May 17th @ 6:00 PM -6:00 PM show is limited to parents and families of students performing in the

show First come, first serve tickets due to limited seating-

There will be an Open House for parents and

families of children starting Pre-School/

Kindergarten in September, 2011. Children

must be five years old by September 1st to at-

tend Kindergarten, 3– or 4-years old to attend

Pre-School. The Open House will be held on

Wednesday, May 18th from 5:00 - 6:00 PM.

A meeting will be held in Room 107 followed

by a tour of the elementary school building.

PRE-SCHOOL/K INDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE