Summer Bridge
A Transitional Program
GMS offers a Summer Bridge program for incoming freshmen to better prepare for them for their high school experience. Participants are introduced to our media magnet program, earn elective credits, take field trips, learn to film and edit videos, develop media and presentation skills, collaborate on multimedia projects, and get the inside scoop on what high school is really like. Students who attend Summer Bridge have higher attendance rates and overall grade point averages in their freshman year. Most importantly, students make new friends!
Developing Leadership Skills
Summer Bridge participants feel more comfortable and safe in the high school environment, and better understand the structure of high school. Participation can enhance students’ confidence, self-esteem, and motivation to learn.
In addition to meeting some of their teachers and their peers, Summer Bridge participants also are guided and mentored by students from the upper grades, and even recent graduates, of the GMS Magnet. Summer Bridge Leaders undergo leadership training and must apply to participate in the Summer Bridge program. Often they are former Summer Bridge participants themselves.
Summer Bridge Leaders help plan fun and educational activities that ensure our incoming freshmen feel very connected to our GMS family.
Summer Bridge Testimonials
"Summer Bridge was generally really fun; Capture the Flag was my favorite!"
- Alexander Goshert-Hossain, Class of 2025
"It doesn't seem like summer school - it's more like a fun activity, in the summer!"
- Jake Lazarit, Class of 2025
“...It is always a joy to see the growth our students experience before our eyes. Our GMS community grows stronger whenever students new and old actively participate in creating something greater than themselves."
- Mr. Clutario, GMS Summer Bridge Instructor
Field Trips
Summer Bridge is, at its heart, about discovering...and field trips are a wonderful way to explore locations close to home, and the greater Los Angeles area. Some field trips involve taking public transportation to familiarize students with that mode of travel, while others are via the traditional school bus.
Our field trip destinations during Summer Bridge have included: Olvera Street; the California African American Museum; the LA Central Library; the Santa Monica Pier; the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar; LATV, an American bilingual broadcast television network owned by Latinos and based in Santa Monica; Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural in Sylmar, founded by celebrated Los Angeles-based writer Luis Rodriguez; and the California Science Center in Exposition Park.