Rock Bridge Elementary School

By ALISON POWERS
news@columbiamissourian.com
With new student teachers, after-school clubs and air conditioning units, Rock Bridge Elementary School continues to develop academically.
Each year, the Rock Bridge faculty works with student teachers and “teacher fellows” who participate in the senior year on-site program and MU Teaching Fellows Program.
“We have senior year, on-site students that are also student teaching with us,” Rock Bridge principal Mary Korth-Lloyd said. “They begin at the very beginning of the year so they see how to set up a classroom, and they are at our very first faculty meeting.”
Fellow mentors assist with lesson plans, team-teach and coach student teachers from MU.
Students at Rock Bridge are offered a wide variety of after-school activities, including Reading Club, Math Club and Adventure Club. This year, students can also participate in the Games Club and Chess Club.
Although Rock Bridge is open to students after school, it has never been available during the summer. That changed in mid-March when air conditioning units were installed in all Rock Bridge classrooms.
Another feature the school is particularly proud of is its PTA involvement. The PTA holds a chicken barbecue every October to raise money for various school projects. Last October, the event raised $22,000, which went toward mini-grants for teachers and classroom technology upgrades.
“The PTA really supports us a lot,” Korth-Lloyd said. “When we need some things for kids or some things for classrooms, they really offer up a lot of support.”