 What a jam packed last few days of celebrations we have had acknowledging the tremendous growth and accomplishments of our students.
Julie Smith Head of School There's so much happening at the end of the year that we really can't put it all into words. Click through some photos of end-of-year events including our Class of 2025 graduation, Class of 2029 (8th grade) promotion, varied awards ceremonies and speeches, a chess tournament, the 2025 Stanbridge Bowl, yearbook signing, Student Government, a K-3 trip to SF Zoo, and some favorite photos of the year thrown in for good measure. Have a restful, relaxing, and rejuvenating summer! Be sure to stay tuned to the Bulldog Blog for Summer School 2025 photos...
 SECOND EDITION HITS THE STANDS!
Our Journalism Club BullPups, who are in 5th through 10th grades, quickly wrapped up their second edition this year. It's twice as long as the first and features some of this year's favorite moments; a comic strip by our most junior Bullpup; student views of the Talent Show, Field Day, and Experientials; Stanbridge Senior profiles; and much more. Once again, they did a great job thinking about what types of information people not familiar with Stanbridge may want to know more about. Everyone loves reading about events from the students' perspective! We hope this remains a staple Club offering for years to come – they're even considering a podcast next year. Thanks again to Journalism Advisor (and Director of Admissions) Emily Mitchell for getting this club off the ground! SUMMER IS TRULY RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! If your child is looking forward to a summer of screens, you may want to rethink and at least schedule some activity throughout the weeks to beat doom-scrolling. Click to read ADDitude's article, "How to Avoid Summer Learning Loss," which includes letting interests blossom. What better way to do that than to enroll in one or more weeks of summer programming? Not only will Stanbridge Summer School help you and your child maintain a reliable schedule, but we also know them and therefore the best ways to support their summer learning. Stanbridge summer courses are nearly secured. PE Extravaganza still needs one more camper 4th grade or older to join our two coaches for summer fun. Also, with just three more enrollments, we can open up a second classroom for Camille's Gimme a Hand plaster intensive, which allows for flexible seating. Current students in 6th grade and up are welcome! Pictured below are now-graduates with their plaster projects in Summer 2019, the last time this hands-on, creative course was offered. TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO ENROLL IN OPEN COURSES!   INAUGURAL EDITION HITS THE STANDS!
Our Journalism Club BullPups, who are in 5th through 10th grades, did a great job thinking about what types of information people not familiar with Stanbridge may want to know more about.
Since our dedicated Journalism Club team meets only once per week after school, they end up doing some of their planning and writing from home. The reporters are now excitedly preparing the second edition and they've certainly found their groove. The next edition is twice as long and features favorite moments of the year, a comic strip by our most junior Bullpup, Stanbridge Senior profiles, and much more. Stay tuned. Thanks to Journalism Advisor (and Director of Admissions) Emily Mitchell for getting this club off the ground this year! Everyone loves reading about events from the students' perspective and we hope it remains a staple Club offering for years to come.  We are down to 21 school days for students and the next few weeks are busy with events. The Middle School had a wonderful three days and two nights at the Montara Lighthouse. They were hiking, kayaking, and working on independence skills together. A BIG thank you to the Middle School team for spending time away from their families to help our students grow.
This coming week, our Elementary students will close out the year with experientials of their own. Upper El will head south to Watsonville for their overnight at Farm Discovery, while Lower El and Middle El heads north for a day trip to the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens.
Have a beautiful weekend and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! – Danny Martin, Principal From breakfast to lunch, as well as all the goodies, gift cards, notes, and gratitude in between, on behalf of all the faculty & staff, thank you to all the families who spoiled us this appreciation week! Your little notes and drawings are often cherished and truly help us get through the day. Thank you, as well, to Student Government for providing lunch from Chipotle yesterday for the entire school – students and staff.
Field Day We ushered in the new month with a fabulously spirited week, wrapping up today with Field Day at the Burlingame Parks and Recreation center fields. Huge thanks to our co-Athletic Directors, Daniel Quinal and Gage Daniel, for planning and executing a successful day of field competitions. Our neighborhood groups bonded and stepped up to the plate for a host of games before lunch. AND what a delicious lunch it was! Casadores' catered taco bar was a hit for students and staff alike. The day ended with our students winning the tug-of-war against faculty and staff. I know we were outnumbered, but students really brought their A-game to the match! We didn’t stand a chance. They got us two-for-one this week, winning the annual Student vs. Staff Basketball Game on Wednesday, as well. Thank you to our Stanbridge Parent Association volunteers for all your help and support led by Claire Collet, Pamela Davies, and Lisa Kennedy. It takes a village and we are so glad to have all of you as partners. Please come to our Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast this Wednesday so we can thank you appropriately for all you do for our school. One Community, Many Cultures Stanbridge is a community that has many different cultures and we are in the midst of numerous celebrations. Yom Ha'atzmaut was yesterday, May 1; Monday, May 5, is Cinco de Mayo; and the month of May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. We hope you can enjoy celebrating these beautiful spring days together with family and friends. Wishing you all a restful weekend ahead. – Julie Smith, Head of School  Hello Stanbridge, On Thursday this week, Student Government served Chipotle to students and staff during lunch. Students were also treated to sparkling water and chips to go with their meal. We were happy to see everyone enjoying the meal. Next Friday, May 9th, will be our final Pizza Sale of the school year. Please fill out the Pizza Form in this week's Bulldog Bulletin by Wednesday, May 7th, if you would like your child to get Costco pizza, salad, or hot dogs for lunch next Friday. We have had a great Spirit Week this week! Everyone has been dressing up and we thank everyone for showing their spirit. We ended the week with Field Day today. We have High School Prom coming up on Friday May 16th so please fill out the Prom Form in the Bulletin by Friday, May 9th, if your child is going to Prom. Coming up on Monday, May 19th, is a big event at Stanbridge – 2025-2026 Student Government Elections. Candidates have until Tuesday, May 6th, to decide if they will run. Have a great weekend, Bulldogs! – Daniel C., Student Government Secretary  The weather was perfect for Field Day today (a few pictures below). Neighborhood Groups worked together in a dozen fun Athletic activities including:
 With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Andrea “Andi” Jobe, who founded Stanbridge Academy in 1982. Andi was 84 years old when she died at her beachfront home in Ecuador, where she had lived for the past several years. We got this news in a heartfelt email from her son, Allen, whose difficulty in school due to a learning disability spurred Andi to create a school for him and other students like him.
Allen wrote that he did not speak until he was seven years old, and doctors were pessimistic about his prospects. Unwilling to accept this, Andi enrolled in a Speech Therapy program and graduated with a Master’s. She took an SLP role at a public school in the South Bay and, alarmed at the poor services students received there, set about creating a school that would accommodate their needs. In his email, Allen described our school’s beginning in a rented space in Mountain View. “She had times when she almost did not make payroll. She never turned away a parent in need. Some would drive buses, clean the school, etc. The school grew and grew into what it is today.” Allen’s note clarified a mystery for us…why the name “Stanbridge”? Here is what he said: “Very few people, I think, know where the name Stanbridge comes from. It is a boarding school in England that my family friend attended. It was a really bad place with really bad food. My mom helped my friend move to a school called Kildonan in New York. It is no longer open. So she thought it would be fitting to name the school a better place than that place in England.” Founding Stanbridge Academy was only one of Andi’s significant contributions to children with disabilities. Andi and her husband, Dr. Richard Jobe, a plastic surgeon, created RSF-Earthspeak, a nonprofit dedicated to helping children learn to speak after cleft palate surgery. Dr. Jobe was also one of the founders of Interplast, an international network of surgeons who provide pro bono surgical care to anyone in need anywhere in the world. We are grateful that Allen reached out to us with the news of his mother’s passing and are inspired by his remembrances. In his words, “I am glad to hear that she is still remembered at Stanbridge. It is her lasting accomplishment. She did not have a strong ego and would almost never take credit for anything. She was really hard to buy presents for. She just wanted to give back.” – Mary Stadler, Director of Counseling Thanks to your tremendous generosity and the participation of over 150 current and alumni families, faculty, trustees, alumni graduates, and friends of the Stanbridge community, we raised more than $150,000 at last Saturday's Gala. Your support has made our Fund-A-Need vision of permanent shade structures for the courtyard a reality, with installation set for this summer! Spring Gala photos are now available at Gala2025. On behalf of our students—the ultimate beneficiaries of your support—thank you for being part of the Stanbridge community!
It's Spring Cleaning time and Overnight Experientials are approaching for 4th-8th grades! Packing lists can be pretty detailed and some items are often overlooked for inclusion preventing continued warmth and comfort. If you have any of the following items that are gently used, pre-loved, pre-worn, or grown out of, we appreciate any or all donations. Please do not purchase these items for the Stanbridge Experiential Closet. Reduce, re-use, recycle so that others may benefit from your still-usable items. Our goal is to create an experiential tool kit/supply closet to ensure the safety and success of all students and teachers on the trips! Item requests:
Student Government would also like to remind you that their used clothing drive for Samaritan House children and teens continues this week through Friday, April 11th. So clear out your closets and bring in all your pre-loved clothing and overnight/weather gear to give it another life! Plus, there are proven health benefits of decluttering spaces, too. Thank you in advance for your time and effort. It is much appreciated by so many in our greater community!  Spring Sing
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for another fantastic celebration of music in our Spring Sing. We are grateful to Tobias Banks, our talented music teacher, who is able to encourage and support our budding musicians. It is even more remarkable how cohesive the musicians played together, noting that our elementary and middle school only have music one day per week. You can see remarkable growth in our high school music students who take music class as a full semester or year long elective. To all our participants, congratulations! Support Stanbridge's Fund-A-Need and enter to win incredible donation prizes. Are you still finalizing your plans for Stanbridge’s Spring Break April 14-18? Why not make a difference while entering for a chance to win an unforgettable getaway? Donate to our Spring Gala Fund-A-Need and you could win a five-night stay in South Lake Tahoe at the luxurious Marriott Timber Lodge! This spacious two-bedroom, two-bath villa offers the perfect home base for exploring the beauty of Lake Tahoe. Hike the scenic Mount Tallac Trail, visit Emerald Bay, or unwind at Carson Hot Springs. After a day of adventure, indulge in Mongolian-style cuisine at FiRE + iCE Grill and Bar, then relax in the resort’s modern fitness center, outdoor pool, whirlpool, and sauna. This incredible getaway is available from Sunday, April 13th, through Friday, April 18th. Looking for something closer to home? Treat your child and their friends to an action-packed afternoon at LaserMaxx in San Carlos! Use our gift certificate to create a Deluxe Party Package, which includes:
Other exciting prizes include:
Our Fund-A-Need this year will be raising funds for permanent shade structures in the high school and the elementary/middle school lunch courtyard. Those of you who attended the Spring Sing today, saw that we could REALLY use them! All funds raised at the gala this year will support this campus project. Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School  PARENT EDUCATION: TRANSITION PLANNING
April 23, 2025 on Zoom | 5:30 p.m. Join us on Zoom to learn about Self Determination Programming (SDP) at the Regional Centers and how to gain access to this important resource. Tiffany Liang, a San Francisco-based Independent Facilitator, was inspired by her younger sister, Grace (Stanbridge Class of '19) to help families all across the Bay Area navigate Regional Center services and enroll in SDP. With a background in HR at tech companies and a Bachelor's degree from NYU, Tiffany is passionate about making disability services more accessible and empowering families to feel confident in the process.
(Interested parties should contact [email protected] for Zoom link.) SPRING GALA 2025
The Stanbridge Gala is only three weeks away! We are busy planning the biggest fundraiser of the year and hope you join us for sunset in The Farallon Room at Skyline College. This year we will honor Director of Counseling Mary Stadler for her 20 years of service at Stanbridge. The festivities feature yummy appetizers, delicious dinner, and thirst quenching drinks; dancing to live music from The Justin Geraci Duo; raising the paddle for this year's fund-a-need: permanent shade structures in the inner courtyard; chances to win donation drawing prizes, including stays at timeshares; and more. Join us for an unforgettable night of fun! Click the link below to purchase tickets. Book the babysitter now and we hope to see you all for this adults-only event on Saturday night, March 29th! Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Danny Martin Principal & Spring Gala Emcee Hello Stanbridge,
My name is Monie, and I am the President of the Student Government. I will be sharing some information about some of the things we are discussing in our meetings. One of the things we are planning is a used clothing drive starting next week. We are asking parents if they can find clothes that don't fit their child anymore to donate to the Samaritan House. We will have a bin located right inside the front door of school, where clothing can be dropped off. The clothing drive will be taking place starting March 11th through April 11th. When we are done collecting all the clothes, the Student Government will take it to the Samaritan House after Spring Break. We ask that all students check the Stanbridge Lost and Found for any missing jackets or water bottles that they may be missing. We will also be donating the Lost and Found items to the Samaritan House after Spring Break. Our next sale coming up is the Costco Pizza Sale which will be on Friday, March 14th. Because of the high demand for hot dogs, we will keep on selling them. Parents please note on the Pizza Form how many pieces of pizza your child is buying. We will also be selling chicken Caesar salads as well. Finally, Student Government has narrowed down and figured out the themes for Spirit Week at the end of April. The days are listed below:
– Monie A., Student Government President  In the Elementary division, we have been learning about program music. Program music is instrumental music that tells a story without words. We listened to Smetana's "The Moldau," a piece for orchestra that follows the course of the river Moldau, depicting the scenery along the way. Together we heard a farmer's wedding party, a group of mermaids dancing under the moonlight, and some powerful river rapids! The Middle Schoolers are hard at work preparing their songs for the Spring Sing, coming up on March 21st! It's been very exciting seeing students who performed for the first time at the Winter concert continue to take on new musical challenges and step into the spotlight in new ways. High School has been working on their Garageband projects and preparing for the Spring Sing, as well. We've been exploring different styles of classical music, focusing this week on Minimalism. We learned how composer Steve Reich creates complex music based on simple ideas as we listened to and discussed his "Clapping Music" and "Piano Phase." – Tobias Banks, K-12 Performing Arts   Dear Stanbridge Community,
The Stanbridge Academy Showcase series traditionally takes place mid-winter afternoons before dismissal. We invite current parents to experience the learning that your child is engaging in at school. Think of Showcases as what used to be called (in our school days) a traditional school open house. Each division showcase builds on previous learning to challenge our students in public speaking, presentation skills, sharing of knowledge, individuality and creativity. Please see your division schedule and plan to have at least one family member attend the event. Also plan to arrive early for parking, as both our lot and the neighborhood are sure to be impacted by these community events. HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION High School classes will have two to three student speakers per class period. We will follow your individual student's daily schedule. Please pick one up in Hayden Hall prior to programming.
Middle School Advisory Groups will present slide decks about life in Middle School. We will meet in Advisory classrooms. Please pick up your individual student's daily schedule in Hayden Hall prior to programming.
Families will gather in Hayden Hall to see a variety of presentation formats by all students.
Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Danny Martin Principal ONLY AT STANBRIDGE
We ended the year with a visit from the one-and-only Stanbridge Santa and lively performances at the Annual Holiday Concert. A highlight of the concert is the leadership of performance arts teacher Tobias Banks, he certainly makes our students shine bright. Thank you all for supporting this annual event. (Stay tuned to social media over break for lots of pictures... and get a sneak peek in the weekly collages below!) Thank you to the Stanbridge community for your thoughtfulness, generosity, and support. We appreciate the gifts and the snacks that were brought in for the staff on Tuesday, as well as through the rest of the week. We were able to feast on savory and sweet treats all week long! ANNUAL FUND UPDATE We have now reached over 85% participation in the 2024-25 annual fund from our parent community! A special thank you to our Advancement committee members Cindy Kuenhle, Kinga Czegeni, and Sherrie Shagong for sending emails and making calls to help us close the gap. It takes a village – we appreciate all you do for our community. We all wish you health and happiness as you head off into Winter Break to celebrate the holidays. Spending time with friends and family to laugh, relax, and recharge. Wishing you joy to come in 2025. Happy Holidays! Julie Smith & Danny Martin |
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