For nearly 20 years, the face in the office and the voice on the phone many people first encounter at Bright School has been Janie Lemoine. She has decided to retire at the end of this year. Ms. Janie joined the staff in 2000. She has taken untold numbers of temperatures, counseled on injuries and illnesses, answered a multitude of questions, calmed the worries of students and parents alike and been a steadfast colleague and friend to all who work at Bright. We will miss you, Ms. Janie!

Look for information soon about a retirement reception for both Ms. Janie and Coach Connell, whose retirement we announced earlier this year.

Ashley Linehart will be joining our faculty in the fall as the new P.E. instructor alongside Coach Jeff McDaniel. Coach Linehart has been the eighth grade P.E. instructor at GPS since 2015, and there she developed a wellness and health curriculum and coached middle school track, soccer, lacrosse and cross country. She earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a master's degree in educational leadership from Carson Newman University. Please join us in welcoming Coach Linehart to Bright School!

Today is the first track meet of the season. More track meets will be held at Bright on April 8, 15 and 23. April 29 will be a rain date if necessary. Due to these meets, our Bright Afternoons pick-up routine will change. Please reference the photo below for the flow of traffic. When you enter the school parking lot, please have your  green name sign visible on your dashboard  and ready to inform our Bright School parking attendants that you will need to pick up from Bright Afternoons. Proceed to the front of the concourse area to pick up your child. Our Bright Afternoons staff will call for your child and bring the tablet to your car for you to enter your parent code. There will be no parking available on campus during the track meet, so plan to stay in the car as you drive up. 

Get ready for a fun week, April 8-12! There will be activities every day to learn about different cultures represented at Bright School, and students and parents have chances to earn tickets throughout the week for a chance to win a prize. Parents are encouraged to attend P.E. class and lunch with students. For more information on how to earn tickets, click here. Students will bring home a sheet of tickets.

Students may wear Bright World shirts with uniform bottoms this Friday (April 5) and next Friday (April 12).

Plan now to attend Bright World Night on April 12 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the gym. You will get to sample food and cultural activities represented by our families.

A new Bright World activity this year is the Feed BRITE Walk-a-thon that benefits a school in Haiti called BRITE (Building Relief Internationally Through Education). We ask that students raise a maximum of $10 each to participate in the walk-a-thon during P.E. class on Thursday, April 11.

Many students at BRITE walk an average of 20-30 minutes to school each day, and $10 is the amount needed to feed one student over the summer months. Money is due the day of the walk-a-thon. Please see this flyer and form for more information.

All parents, specifically grades 3-5, are invited to Life in Middle School, a talk with the middle school head administrators from Baylor, McCallie and GPS on Wednesday, April 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Centennial Theater.

Topics include social, emotional and physical changes; academic expectations; social media and technology use; changing family relationships, and setting boundaries while fostering independence.

The speakers are Jennifer Lindsay from Baylor, Scotty Jones from McCallie and Lynne Macziewski from GPS.

Students will be bringing home this week a sticky note in which they wrote their favorite thing at Bright School. This was a fun activity for all students, and they made a giant collage out of all the sticky notes. Please take a few minutes to learn about your child's favorite thing. For more information and to view a fun video about the collage, visit our website.

Fourth grader Matilda Joels, who was Head of School for the Day, declared tomorrow is Bring Your Favorite Stuffed Animal to School Day. Each student may bring one stuffed animal tomorrow.

The annual fifth grade bake sale is this Friday. Students from each grade will have a chance to visit the sale and purchase sweets. The bake sale raises money for the fifth grade gift to the school. If you would like your child to support the sale, send in cash with your child. Most items are 50 cents to a few dollars.

We're putting together the 2018-19 yearbook, and now it's time for you to reserve your copy. Order now by going online. Click here or on the box.

Yearbooks are $35 each. They will be available for pick up for rising grades PK-4 at next year's Registration Day. Current fifth graders will receive their yearbooks at a special gathering in the fall.

Take us out to the ballgame! The Parents' Association is planning a Bright Family outing to the Lookouts baseball game on Saturday, May 11. It's a night game. Look for more details coming soon!

Make your child's summer a Bright summer! Registration for Bright Days, our summer program for early learners, is open. Bright Days is open to girls and boys age 3 (by August 1) through rising third graders. For all the details, visit the Bright Days website.