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TBS - A Great Place to Be!
Mission Statement: The Mission of Three Bridges School is to provide a caring, nurturing community where all the students feel secure and accepted. We encourage respect, perseverance, independence, and resiliency to maximize personal and academic growth. We believe our choices can have a positive impact on our world as global citizens. Therefore, we strive to lead by example.
Welcome Back!
Happy September everyone . I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and has lots of memories to share with your friends and teachers. All of us are back and learning so much at TBS. We will be in the swing of things this school year before we know it . The students will be having a great time here at TBS.
It is great to see our friends at school. I can see everyone working together and supporting each other. I love to look into classrooms and see all the students at their desks working so hard.
Week of Respect, Violence Prevention Week, and Red Ribbon Week will be coming up in October. Be on the look out for links to see what we will be doing to celebrate.
The students always love these special weeks and put so much work into showing how much they respect their classmates, teachers, school, and the community. They also show us that they make healthy choices and say no to unhealthy choices.
In November Three Bridges School will observe World Kindness Day. Students and staff will wear colorful clothes to show we are kind everywhere we go.
The CAP program will again be coming to TBS to talk to our 3rd graders. They will talk to the 3rd grade about being "safe, strong, and free". They will show the 3rd graders role plays to help them with conflicts in school, strangers, and staying safe.
Be on the look out again for The District Wide Great Kindness Challenge. We had students in 6th grade come over to TBS last school year to read to our students about kindness. We had spirit days and lots of fun activities. It was a great week.
Please see the links on the side for more information on Distant Social Emotional Learning, Covid-19, and Wellness Resources.
Please see the link for the Parent Guide to Support Remote Learners: Parent Guide to Support Remote Learning
We love TBS.
The students at TBS really show all their good characters and friendship skills as they prepare for the fall months ahead. I will continue to work with the students closely in the fall on conflict skills and what to do if one of their friends is sad or has a problem. They sure are great problem solvers. We also focus on telling an adult right away if someone is making us feel sad or uncomfortable. We will continue to discuss the difference between bullying and teasing and how to be an upstander. We will discuss our school rules (HIB policy) and how that relates to a more peaceful and enjoyable learning environment. We always have so much great learning going on and the kids really show good character skills. They really show a lot of respect, not only to each other but to their teachers too!
In school I will continue to reinforce positive choices and on the bus. I make frequent visits on the bus to help remind the students about bus safety, and show respect to their bus driver and each other. Please help remind your children how important it is to be respectful on the bus to their friends and to the bus driver.
We will be talking a lot about Responsibility for the month of September and being a "Bucket Filler" at TBS. It has been a great year at TBS.
Three Bridges School!
Bus Safety: I will continue to focus with the students on positive bus behavior for the fall months ahead. I will plan to make special bus visits right before the students leave to go home. This is to help remind them to continue to follow the bus rules as they would follow our school rules. They really seem excited over the years when they see me jump on their bus for a quick visit. I will also remind them during their lunch time about their bus behavior.
Students will be reminded of the bus rules ( use an inside voice on the bus, stay seated with their seat belt buckled, respect the bus driver and other students) and to be "Bucket Fillers" on the bus too.
Classroom Lessons : I will continue going into classrooms this fall and focus on being kind to others, coping strategies when "things don't go our way", and what to do if you see a friend being teased (upstander). I really want students to learn to tell a teacher at school if someone is not being nice to them or if they see it happening to someone else. You can click on the link to find a book to read to your children about friendship, problem solving, and feeling good about themselves.
Conflict Resolution at TBS: TBS also continues our conflict resolution program that was started 18 years ago . The kids really seem to enjoy learning new ways to solve small problems with Kelso the Frog. This program will help reduce bullying and teasing ( Board Policy #5515- Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying), and empower students to solve small problems on their own. It will teach students acceptable ways to solve small problems. I have been in all the classrooms over the past years to reteach the program to the students and they really seem to enjoy learning how to solve small problems on their own. We will continue this program in hopes our students will solve small problems on their own with Kelso the frog. Please click on the link called conflict resolution at TBS to read more about it.
Character Ed. at TBS: We will continue this school year with our "Bucket Filling" program. Students, teachers, principal, nurses etc, can write a "Bucket Ticket" to someone who has "Filled their Bucket" and made a good choice. This is a lot of fun for the kids too. Filling your bucket means being a good friend, making a good choice in school, and being kind to others. Buckets are placed in classrooms or hanging on the outside of classroom doors so anyone can deliver a "bucket filling" ticket. This September the character word is Responsibility.
September Paws for Peace: September- Responsibility
October Paws for Peace: October- Respect
November Paws for Peace: November- Cooperation
December Paws for Peace: December-Perserverance
January Paws for Peace: January-Optimism
February Paws for Peace: February- Kindness
March Paws for Peace: March-Friendship
April Paws for Peace: April- Honesty
May Paws for Peace: May-Courage
June Paws for Peace: June- Patience
Need more information on harassment, intimidation, and bullying laws in our schools? Here is an educational video to help you understand the Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying Law in our school and the difference between conflict and bullying.
The link: Harrassement, Intimidation, and Bullying Information Training Vide
Feel free to contact me anytime with questions or concerns, at 908-534-5704
email at bfurka@readington.k12.nj.us
Beth Furka, School Counselor
