This week we have been writing about our three focus areas for connecting our thriving community to our neighborhood schools so they will thrive. We are raising up School Champions to share school success stories and change the narrative about our neighborhood schools. We are also committed to raising more resources in 2017 to support teachers and schools.

Today we are outlining our third focus area for creating thriving schools: school bridges.

Our hope is to create bridges from our neighborhood schools to the Edgewater community so relationships can be built and community members can see and experience what is happening in our schools. Practically this means creating opportunities for school staff and students to enter into community events and initiatives. Then from the community side, organizing and advertising opportunities for community members to come to the schools for various events like sports and concerts.

This past fall we worked with parents to launch a Jefferson Sports Booster Club to advertise sporting events and support the sports programs at the junior/senior high school. We publish a calendar of sporting events for each season and distribute them to businesses around Edgewater.

This spring we are working with various partners and community members to plan the Edgewater Community Festival which will be held May 12-14. This will provide multiple opportunities for schools to connect with the community from an Edgewater’s Got Talent show to a pancake breakfast on Sunday morning to support the Jefferson Booster Club. On Saturday during the festival, each school will have a booth set up to showcase what their school offers and give community members a chance to interact with school staff.

These are just two ways we hope to continue building bridges from our neighborhood schools to the Edgewater community.

The best way to keep up to date with ways to connect through these school bridges is by following the Edgewater Echo on Facebook, the website or through subscribing to the Echo email updates.