Bridges Site Planning Worksheet
Focus Areas for Bridges Programming
Program Leadership & Accountability
Staff Meetings
Is there a staff handbook or staff
orientation?
Has staff seen Bridges grant?
Does site coordinator host staff meetings?
Are there written agendas for staff
meetings?
Does site coordinator attend monthly site
coordinator meetings and report back to
site staff?
Do meetings focus on organizational topics
and/or focus on student academic
achievement?
Staff Collaboration
Does site coordinator have administrative
support?
Does site coordinator communicate
regularly and effectively with staff?
Does site coordinator collaborate with staff
and regularly seek their input and ideas?
Does site coordinator encourage staff to
develop & implement programs & systems
for students?
Does site coordinator support additional
efforts?
Does site coordinator build staff capacity?
Accountability
Does program conduct formal or informal
evaluations?
Does Bridges program use indicators
beyond MSAs or report cards to evaluate
effectiveness of program?
Is evaluation input gathered from staff,
students and parents?
Do evaluations get reviewed by site staff?
Site Notes/Additional Considerations
Typical Topics/Preferred Topics
Why are staff meetings important? Do staff members
benefit from attending?
Current Practices/Program Improvements
What are roadblocks to collaboration?
Evaluations & Data Reporting
What are grant requirements for evaluations? Is
program effectiveness and student achievement the
same? How could staff use data more effectively?
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Bridges Site Planning Worksheet
Building/Maintaining Relationships
Student Behavior
Is there a discipline policy in place? Do
students know what it is?
Is Bridges discipline policy extension of
regular day or stand-alone policy?
Is there administrative support of discipline
policy?
Is there parental support of discipline
policy?
Is there professional development available
for volunteers or non school day staff in
behavior management?
What other resources are needed to help
with student behavior?
Cultivating Student Interest &
Motivation
Do Bridges staff work at building positive
mentor relationships with students?
Is the staff to student ratio low enough to
develop quality relationships with
students?
Are students motivated to attend Bridges?
Is there an emphasis on student choice and
autonomy during Bridges?
Is there an opportunity for students to
direct their learning through projects?
Are there opportunities for character
building during Bridges?
Are students rotated through various
activities daily to maintain student interest
and motivation?
Does Bridges program offer opportunities
for students to work collaboratively with
each other (performance activities, etc.)?
Does Bridges program take students on
field trips?
Regular Day /Bridges Expectations
What are predominant issues? Are there program
practices that could be changed to address these
issues?
Additional Thoughts
Why is relationship in extended day programs
different than regular day? Are there opportunities
for staff members to develop this with students?
What degree of choice should students have?
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Bridges Site Planning Worksheet
Research Based Curriculum &
Instructional Practices
Instructional Practices
Is there a written goal for student
achievement? What does grant state?
Are there high expectations for student
academic performance during Bridges?
Does Bridges instruction differ from
instruction during regular school day?
Is Bridges instruction meaningful?
Does Bridges instruction help students
improve basic skills?
Do staff help students understand
homework assignments in meaningful
way?
Standards Based Learning
How does Bridges instruction link to
mathematics content standards?
How does Bridges instruction link to
science content standards?
How does Bridges instruction link to
standards related to vocabulary and fluency
development?
How does Bridges instruction link to
technology standards?
How does Bridges instruction link to art
content standards?
Research Based Academic Activities
Does literacy instruction include read-aloud
and literacy circles/groups?
Does math instruction include centers,
research supported math activities, and real
world problem solving activities?
Does science instruction include hands on
procedures, investigations and
experiments?
Does technology instruction use content
integrated curriculum, skill building and
gathering, and sharing information?
Does art instruction include self-expression
as well as creating finished products for
sharing and critiquing?
How Do We or Should We Teach
What is meaningful instruction? How do we know?
Why is it important?
What Do We or Should We Teach
What is reasonable expectation? Is it reasonable to
expect that site meets all content standards on a
daily basis? Not every session for every standard?
Which are well covered? Which need attention?
What Works Well
What is reasonable expectation? Is it OK to have
instruction without outcomes? Which outcomes are
well covered? Which should be incorporated?
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Bridges Site Planning Worksheet
Do all instruction areas have project-based
components with expected outcomes?
Is homework time about completion or is it
time to work?
Does homework time include a focus on
helping students develop better study skills,
work habits and organizational practices?
Does homework time address time
management, locating and using sources as
well as note taking?
Articulation to Regular School Day
Is homework expectation clearly articulated
to Bridges staff? Is there tool for
communicating homework issues back to
regular day teacher?
Is there formal communication set up
between Bridges staff and school day staff
(such as assignment book) or is
communication more informal and
frequent?
Is HW completion expectation clearly
defined?
Professional Development Opportunities
Does site coordinator have copy of grant?
Does site coordinator attend monthly
meetings? Does site coordinator invite
staff to attend site coordinator meetings if
relevant?
Does site coordinator seek input/ideas from
other site coordinators?
Is site coordinator or staff encouraged to
attend conferences?
Are there job embedded opportunities:
Train the trainer, online, self directed,
professional learning communities?
Does HCPSS professional development get
transferred to Bridges—is there an
opportunity to do this?
Working Together
What is reasonable expectation? How can school
day staff help Bridges staff? Is there something
working well that could be expanded or built upon?
Is there something in school that is under utilized?
What are roadblocks to articulation?
Does knowledge gained in professional
development transfer to student interaction?
Is professional development tailored to specific
needs of population served?
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Bridges Site Planning Worksheet
Family Engagement & Community
Connections
Family Engagement
Are families invited to volunteer during
Bridges program?
Are opportunities to strengthen job, life,
parenting or education offered?
How does site coordinator communicate
with parents? Is communication home
frequent, varied (face-to-face, newsletters,
fliers, computer, at school functions) and
language-appropriate?
Are families invited to participate in an
advisory capacity?
Does Bridges program communicate with
families about their child’s progress or
about what is going on in Bridges
program?
Do Bridges families feel Bridges is high
quality program?
Who else in school works with Bridges
parents—are the efforts coordinated?
Community Partnerships
Does Bridges program use volunteers?
Does Bridges program incorporate service
learning that benefits a segment of the
community?
Does Bridges program have mentors from
the community?
Do students have opportunities to explore
career interests and benefit from
professional expertise in the community?
School Role v. Parent Role
What is school already doing to engage parents?
What role could BSAP mentor, Parent Liaison,
Hispanic Achievement Liaison play in improving
family engagement?
Program Strength
What if funding was cut? What parts of program
are sustainable? How can sustainability be
fostered? Does community see Bridges as
invaluable to students?
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