The Bridge is a 501c3 non-profit organization that recruits, screens, trains, and places volunteers in the Melrose Public Schools. The Bridge provides a clear, consistent, easy path to begin as a volunteer, and a streamlined system where a single registration allows individuals to volunteer anywhere in the district. Equally important, The Bridge sets expectations about privacy, confidentiality, and professionalism, and performs criminal record checks, all of which helps educators feel comfortable welcoming volunteers into the classroom. 

Our community is filled with talented individuals, and The Bridge offers educators and students access to the specialized skills and expertise of over 2000 volunteers. The Bridge maintains a database that includes information about the occupations, knowledge, and interests of our volunteers. This allows us to tap into their expertise in order to enrich the classroom experience of the nearly 4000 students in the Melrose Public Schools, and also helps teachers to make real world connections to the curriculum. 

Ultimately, what The Bridge does is in our name – we serve as a bridge between our schools and our community. 

We respectfully request your help to strengthen that connection. Below you'll find details about our new sponsorship opportunities, should you wish to contribute financially or donate items for our upcoming online auction. If a monetary donation isn't feasible for you at the moment but you're interested in learning more or getting involved, take a look at the volunteer page or email llewis@melroseschools.com.

The Trivia Bee is our biggest fundraising event of the year; it is a fun-filled evening of competitive, team-based, pub-style trivia. Our 24th annual Bee will be on Saturday, March 29 at the Knights of Columbus. 

Community Reading Day is the Melrose Public Schools way of participating in Read Across America. The event welcomes folks from around the community into our schools to read a story to a preschool or elementary class. In addition to reading the story, we ask the volunteers to talk a little about how they contribute to our community. 2025 Community Reading Day will be on March 4. 

The Bridge’s Volunteer Appreciation event provides an opportunity for all Bridge volunteers to gather and celebrate our accomplishments as well as announce and recognize our annual Volunteer of the Year. The event will take place in April, which is National Volunteer Appreciation month. 

If you are interested in an event sponsorship, please email Lisa Lewis at llewis@thebridgemelrose.org.

More information about event sponsorships is below. 

Annual sponsorships are for the calendar year, and will run from January 1 through December 31. 

More information about the Honor Roll sponsorships is below. If you are ready to join the Honor Roll, you can do so here.