A Message from Dr. Hilton

Dear Bradfield Families,

Broncoland was humming with activity this last week. On Friday, I participated in one of my favorite events at Bradfield, the 2nd-grade Economics Fair. I was blown away by all of our innovative entrepreneurs! The students thought of a good or service, developed and executed a plan, and sold the goods at the market. The level of creativity and attention to detail in every shop was truly amazing! Way to go, Broncos!

In Garden Club this week, the mornings were chilly but the afternoons were beautiful! Students learned about winter changes in the garden, onions (history and uses), planted onion slips, and watered. Thank you, Farmer Porter, for providing our students with interactive garden lessons!

I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend, and I will see everyone at the front door tomorrow morning.

Kindly,

Dr. Aimee Hilton

A Message from our PTA President, Kamela Aboussie

Dear Bradfield Families, 

This week at Bradfield felt great being back in the swing, and it ended with a very special rite of passage for our graduating 4th Graders at their 4th Grade Outing to Urban Air! As many of you know, my oldest is a Bradfield 4th Grader, and I now know how true the cliches are…elementary school goes by in a blink. 

The Fourth Grade Programs team did a wonderful job planning and executing the outing, and every student had a blast! These are some sentimental months as a 4th grade parent enjoying the culmination of friendships, memories, teammates and classmates built over the last five years. As they prepare to head onto a new and bigger school next year, I am so grateful to Bradfield for cultivating these lasting relationships. 

Earlier this week I brought home and looked through some Bradfield yearbooks from the past, and they are darling. I am reminded that while things change through the years, they really do stay the same! Photos in these yearbooks capture the same Bradfield school spirit, the same traditions, the same sense of happiness and excitement and warmth we all associate with elementary school.

It was really fun to see a few of the same smiling faces, and one of those I was so excited to spot in the 2001-2002 yearbook is Gretchen von Ende, one of Bradfield’s exceptional 4th grade teachers! 

Ms. von Ende has been teaching at Bradfield for 26 years! She is this week’s Bronco Legend, and the first Bronco Legend of 2026! Learning more about her will make you, as it has me, feel so blessed to have her guiding our students.

I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend, and I’m wishing you a great week of school!

Love,

Kam

Ever since she was a little girl in McAllen, Texas, Gretchen von Ende dreamed of becoming an educator. She would come home from school with her homework and graded work and teach her stuffed animals. (As an elementary school parent, what a sweet sight!) When she turned six, her parents gifted her a big rolling chalkboard, and she hasn’t turned back!

This was a natural fit coming from a long line of educators. Ms. von Ende’s father spent 42 years as an English professor, while her mother was a substitute teacher and tutor. Her grandparents taught at the college level, and two of her aunts were teachers. Serendipitously, it was her sister’s and brother-in-law’s careers in HPISD that brought Ms. von Ende to Bradfield. She had been teaching in The Colony for four years and decided to attend a HPISD job fair, and the rest is Bradfield history! She began teaching at Bradfield in the fall of 2000, and has now spent 26 years as a Bronco! How lucky for us!

“Home” and “family” are the words Ms. von Ende uses most when describing her nearly three decades at Bradfield. To her, Bradfield has fostered a culture where the staff grows so close to become a family. She is inspired and amazed by all the wonderful teachers and staff she works with and learns with on a daily basis. She also describes a culture of parents and families who are so supportive and generous in every way.

When I asked about her favorite parts of the “new Bradfield” she mentioned the grade-level learning pods and described our entry way with its big table and pretty flower arrangement. It gives the feeling you’re walking into someone’s home, because Bradfield IS her second home.

And when you’ve been at Bradfield 26 years, you have stories to tell! She tells the funny story about the wild squirrel who took up residency in the old building. “You’d hear screams and knew where he’d been spotted!”

Though, her very favorite part of Bradfield, new and old, is teaching the kids. She loves seeing them laugh, smile and grow in confidence. To her, all the changes “fade together into the best place on earth.”

When she’s not at her “second home,” she loves time at home-home with her husband Raul and their lab-mix “furry child,” Tootsie. All three are self-described homebodies, and love being together resting and relaxing when they’re not working.

We are so blessed and honored that Ms. von Ende has chosen to serve Bradfield with her talent year after year! Thank you for your heartfelt dedication of 26 wonderful years!