While March Madness bubbles around Bridge Boston, a much more competitive competition rises …

The Literacy Task Force’s March Reading Challenge!

About this Challenge...

Check out the Literacy Task Force’s videos that introduce each week’s theme! Follow “Detective S” on her adventure to find the missing trophy.

The first week of the March Reading Challenge was Mystery themed. Mystery activities included flashlight reading and a dress-down day as a detective! Students were initially challenged to read 25,000 pages as a whole school in the first week… they blew past that number to read 90,534 pages!

Week 2 of the Reading Challenge was Fantasy themed! Activities included dressing like a fairy tale character and reading with Beardy the Bearded Dragon. Students who wrote their own fairy tale story were granted extra pages in the competition!

The 3rd week of the Reading Challenge was Biography themed, which included a Reading Scramble! Students in the lower division were paired with students in the upper division to read together. Our final week is Poetry themed. This week, students participated in Drop Everything and Read, where every single Bridge Student was reading at the exact same time!

There’s only a few days left of the challenge and the competition is fierce. While 4th grade was the front runner for the first two weeks, 1st grade pulled ahead for week 3! It’s anyone’s truly anyone’s game.

The winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 3rd at the all-school celebration. This celebration also includes a PJ dress-down day, cookies & milk, live music, and the trophy reveal! Every student will receive a new book for completing the reading challenge, while the top grade will receive the trophy and a pizza party. The top 3 student readers will receive an Amazon Kindle, and the top 3 readers in each grade will receive a $20 gift card to a bookstore!

Why Reading? Why Now?

Engaging our students in creative literacy has never been more important. At Bridge, we know many of our students are particularly vulnerable to literacy loss because they face barriers to learning. Our school is designed to serve the needs of at-risk children, all of whom possess great cultural capital and resilience, to not only meet expectations, but greatly succeed.

Because of this, Bridge Boston formed our Literacy Task Force. This grassroots force of teachers were trained in the Science of Reading on their own, saw impressive results in their classrooms, and were elevated into leadership positions to train the whole school. Our LTF has committed Bridge to the Science of Reading & providing our students with the appropriate, rigorous curriculum to achieve on grade level & beyond.

The Science of Reading is a data-driven practice. According to DIBELs, or Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, our educators saw at least a 40% increase in individual student performances across grade levels. We know our intervention efforts are effective at reaching and uplifting our youngest scholars.

Our March Reading Challenge is a Bridge Boston Tradition that promotes fun & literacy for all ages!

Currently at School

Earlier this month, the Bridge Boston Boy's Basketball Team competed in the championships and playoffs against the Spartans. It was a hard-fought game: congrats on an amazing season!

The perfect way to round off the winter basketball season? The annual Student/Staff Basketball game! This is one of our favorite traditions at Bridge!

Limited time only: grab your Flag Football Gear before April 5th!

Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia was the keynote speaker at the Parent Academy Conference! She chatted with family members while they learned about math games, self care, student independence, fire safety, internet safety, first time home buying, and more.

February was Black History Month at BBCS! We celebrated with Read-Alouds in classrooms, announcements from SGA, our Door Decorating Contest, and our Culmination Assembly on February 29th. The whole school gathered in the atrium to hear remarks from Principal Walker, poetry from our Student Government representatives, and lovely music from our 6th Grade Orchestra.

The annual BBCS Art Show was a huge success! Students had the opportunity to create and sell artwork to families, teachers, and community members. Masterpieces included collages, paintings, bracelets, bookmarks, coffee mugs, key chains, and more. Our student artists raised over $1,000!

This week, Principal Walker visited homeroom classrooms to present Perfect Attendance awards to students! Scholars who have been at school every day this year received a certificate, and lower division students received medals. Watch this video from Social Media Club about why attendance is so important.

Paper Violin Night was March 14th! Students and families met in the atrium to create instruments from unusual materials, like cardboard, tape, and paint.