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Bradford Preparatory School

Lori Hawes, 4th Grade

Lori Hawes graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood and Special Education from Bowie State University in Maryland. She has taught K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th in MD, TX and NC. Teaching License Status: Standard Professional Elementary Education K-6. Lori lives in Charlotte with her dog, Lexi.  She has two adult children (Cody & Nikki) that live in NC too.  Lori enjoys walking Lexi and spending time with family & friends. 
 

Posts

Data Binder

Data Binder

 

Dear Parents,

At Bradford Preparatory School our lower school students do not receive report cards. Instead we track children’s growth in a data binder. A data binder is a collection of formal and informal assessments. Your child will be bringing home his/her data binder approximately every two weeks. (We will try and send out an email the day the data binders come home so you know to look for them.) This binder will show you the progress your child is making and the areas that need improvement.

All the work that is in the three binder clips must remain in the binder. Papers in the front pocket of the binder are for your information, and you may keep these at home unless otherwise noted. Papers in the back pocket should be reviewed and returned to school. We encourage you to take time to review the data binder and discuss it with your child. Use the notebook to help your child make progress. After you have reviewed the binder with your child, please date, initial, and write a comment to your child on the Parents Comments page. The binder should then be returned to school on the following school day unless otherwise noted.

We appreciate all that you do to support the teachers, staff, and students here at Bradford Preparatory School. We hope that the data binder will provide you with the information you need as we work together in making sure that our children are happy, healthy, productive, and capable kids.

Sincerely,

The 4th Grade Team

House Buddies - Bradford Cares

House Buddies - Bradford Cares

 

At Bradford every student is placed into one of four houses: Paz, Esperanza, Fuerza, or Sabio. The house names correspond with important qualities we try to build in every student: peace, hope, strength, & wisdom. Every other Friday Bradford students meet with their House Buddies, a grade level paired to foster relationships between students in Lower, Middle, & Upper School. This is an opportunity for students to practice leadership and conversation skills as well as work together to serve our community through service projects. Fourth grade is paired with 9th & 10th graders and are the oldest of the pairs. Next year, fourth graders will become the elder buddies and partner with Kindergarteners. So this is a great year for them to learn to be leaders and good examples of what Bradford House Buddies should be.
 
The motto of the House program is Bradford Cares. Not only do we foster caring among students at our school; we also teach them to care for the community. Throughout the year, each House Buddy pair will decide on a project they want to sponsor for the school. The groups brainstorm ideas, vote for the one they believe will be the best, promote the project throughout the school, collect items, run the competition between houses, and announce the winner. It's a chance for them to show initiative and be proud of the positive difference they can make in their community. Fourth, ninth, and tenth grade go first and we brainstormed our ideas on Friday. They will vote in their homerooms next week for the project they want to sponsor.
 
We have seen this program grow so much since it's start in 2016. Each year students learn new ways to work together and what it means to be a Bradford House Buddy. Because we welcome new students each year, it's a great chance to teach others The Bradford Way. You can help your child develop these skills in a variety of ways:
• Watch for the announcements of the current project. We will announce the projects in our newsletters but communication may also come from the school and be on the web page.
• Talk to your child about how they can participate in the current project. Incorporate it into everyday conversations and dinner table talks.
• Allow your child to make sacrifices to contribute. Giving of themselves is an important part of students feeling like they made a difference.
• Help them be responsible for bringing the items in. Bins will be placed in the front hallway that students can drop donations into. If there is an option to purchase online, a receipt of purchase is enough to give their house credit.
• Encourage healthy competition between houses. Help your child be proud of his/her house buddies, color, and quality (peace, hope, strength, wisdom). Talk about how great it would feel to know your house made the biggest impact in helping others.
 
If you know of any charitable organizations and ideas that we can consider for our projects, please let the school know. We are always looking for ideas to help the community and although we can only choose a few, it's important that we hear about what is out there and where the needs are around us. Secondly, if you have any concerns throughout the year about your child and their buddy, please let your child's teacher or House teacher know. I am the House teacher for Fuerza and I would hate to find out at the end of the year that your child never connected with their buddy or didn't have a good experience. We can't make a difference if we don't know about the concerns. So please keep us informed. The house teachers are as follows:
 
Sabio - Julia Haferman
Paz - Kayla Champion & Lori Hawes
Fuerza - Liz Hill
Esperanza - Brittany Flair 
 
Buddies are flexible from year to year, so if your child has had a certain buddy in the past that they didn't connect with, the beginning of the year a good time to change things up. The bottom line is that we put student safety first and we will do our best to make sure every child is placed with someone who will nurture and be a good example to them.
 
Thank you for all you will do this year to help us build this program! We look forward to this year and showing just how much Bradford Cares!