The Bridge: A School/Community Partnership recruits, screens, trains, and places volunteers in all 8 Melrose Public Schools (preschool through high school) to enhance and support MPS programs. Volunteers bring diversity of culture, skills, experience and perspective; they provide a bridge between the schools and the community at-large. Our philosophy is that young people greatly benefit when community members contribute their time, talent, and expertise in public education.
Founded in 1993, The Bridge is a 501c3 non-profit organization that recruits, screens, trains, and places volunteers in the eight Melrose Public Schools. We provide centralized volunteer management that benefits both volunteers and educators alike. Bridge volunteers enrich educational opportunities for all Melrose students from preschool through high school – they work in elementary libraries, serve as PTO leaders, chaperone field trips, share career information with students, and much more. Bridge volunteers give thousands of hours to our schools every year.
Our philosophy is that young people greatly benefit when community members contribute their time, talent, and expertise to assist in public education.
The Bridge has one part time staff member and a Board of Directors made up of community volunteers. We welcome community partners, and are always eager to have more people get involved.
What We Do
The core of what we do is build connection (a bridge, if you will) between our community and our schools.
Public schools are a huge part of any city, and we feel it is important for the adults in our community to feel close to and understand the work being done in those schools. We aim to make sure our families and community members feel connected to our schools. Furthermore, research shows that students do better when they see that the adults around them (adults beyond school personnel) care about their education.
We do this primarily by bringing volunteers into our 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. Having a staff member dedicated to making volunteers a priority ensures this runs smoothly and efficiently.
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 helps teachers to make real world connections to the curriculum.
The Bridge 