For information about CISD COVID-19 Safety Alert Levels and updated information on the District's mitigation and response strategies, please see the Roadmap to Remaining open. Please check back frequently as the site is updated as information changes.

Good afternoon,

As you have probably heard, Conroe ISD is moving to COVID Alert Level 3 beginning Monday. This allows us to carefully do more. We are excited that we can begin to allow lunch visitors. As with many schools in the district (including our neighboring elementaries), we will allow lunch visitors by reservation. Specific information about our lunch reservations and the location of our lunch visitor picnic area is included immediately below this message. We will work through our visitor processes next week and then will open up reservations for three week periods. Thank you for your patience as we return to this important part of the elementary school experience.

In addition to looking over the lunch visitor information, I encourage you to watch Dr. Null's message linked above. As our Alert Level changes, please know that the health and safety of our students, staff, and community remain priorities. I am personally grateful to see new cases of COVID and student/staff isolation numbers decreasing. I will continue to encourage mask wearing, hand hygiene, and other mitigation strategies to support that downward trend. I have spoken with many of you about your concerns. I respect those concerns and will personally continue to model wearing a mask for students and staff.

In terms of communication, I have also spoken with many of you about a variety of topics. I heard from a few of you at the recent PTO general meeting about technology skills and instruction for students. You may also have seen the results of the Bush PTO's survey regarding technology. A good portion of our community responded to that survey, and I look forward to continuing this conversation with the whole Bush Community. On this topic—or any topic—please reach out. I love to talk with parents. I learn so much from you and your experiences.

I believe there is great value in on-going dialogue. Please feel free to reach out to begin a conversation; I will continue to reach out to each of you as well.

Dr. Jarod Lambert

Principal

We are excited to once again allow lunch visitors at Bush Elementary. It has been a while, and many of our families have never had an opportunity to each lunch with children at school. We know that having visitors for lunch at school is a special event for our Bobcats.

This is an exciting chance to begin welcoming families back into the building, and we hope to provide a special lunch experience for our students and their lunch visitors. When family members come to eat lunch with a student at school, they will enjoy a picnic environment on the blacktop behind our second grade hallway. This area is covered by a large outdoor canopy and is just outside the cafeteria. Please remember too that family members may only eat lunch with their child.

We remain committed to the health and safety of all of our students. As we reopen to lunch visitors, you will use this SignUp Genius to make a reservation to eat lunch with your child. There are ten slots per lunch period per day for reservations. We can only allow parents who have made a reservation to enter the building, so please do not show up for lunch if you have not made a reservation.

Please be mindful when booking your reservation that we have limited spaces. We would like to give all parents the opportunity to have lunch with their child. Please only make one lunch reservation each three weeks. We will post the first week registration forms, implement our procedures, and review the week to make any needed adjustments. After that, we will post reservation sign-up forms for three weeks at a time.

Visitors will have 25 minutes with their children for lunches. Five minutes prior to the scheduled end of the lunch period, students will return to the cafeteria for the next transition with their classes. Visitors will exit the building—checking out at the front office—at this time to allow for the next lunch period's visitors to arrive.

As you plan your lunch visit, please arrive at school with plenty of time to sign in at the front office. You will need your driver's license to check in. Without identification, we cannot allow you into the building to have lunch with your child. You will receive a visitor badge. This will notify our staff that you have permission to enter the building.

As we have learned throughout this year, things may change with little notice. We appreciate your understanding if we need to change the schedule. If a change is made, we will communicate that through The Banner and directly to those parents who have a current reservation in SignUp Genius.

Please select the appropriate button below to make a reservation for next week.

10:45 Lunch Period

Classes: Armstrong, Baum, Costenbader, Hull, Johnson, Miller, Murdock, Saunders, Sellers, and Sunseri

11:15 Lunch Period

Classes: D. Anderson, Bruno, Dalessandro, Edgar, Foley, Garza, Harrell, Hunsdale, Landry, Perry, Powell, and Reyna

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B45A5A82FA2F94-lunch2

11:45 Lunch Period

Classes: Abbas, N. Anderson, Barnett, Brock, Bruce, Castillo, Cleaveland, Clifford, DePedro, Everett, Lamberti, Milo, Nettuno, Riggs, and Ross

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B45A5A82FA2F94-lunch1

12:15 Lunch Period

Classes: Brown, Davies, Eschenburg, Kamal, Lenfant, Saldana, Samford, and Shaw

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B45A5A82FA2F94-lunch3

All across the country, communities will be making efforts to spotlight a range of dyslexic needs, struggles, and signs. Dyslexia is one of the most common language-based learning disabilities. While it is true that the earlier we can intervene, the better; it is also never too late to get help! This month, students and educators across the nation are raising awareness about the struggles associated with dyslexia.

Art can use your help to upcycle some things from your home. Art is collecting empty paper towel rolls/toilet paper rolls, empty cereal boxes, cardboard egg crates and small empty box containers about the size of your hand. These items will be used for armatures for students' sculptures. Please drop these items off in the front office or send in with your child.

Referral requests will be collected from October 1 - December 17, 2021 for Conroe Independent School District Gifted and Talented program. Although the testing will not take place until late January, referral requests are accepted starting Oct 1st. Referral requests can be made by the parents and/or teachers. It is recommended that parents of 2nd grade students wait until CogAT scores have arrived before nominating their child because CogAT scores are part of the GT assessment. If you are interested in referring your child, you may want to discuss this with your child’s teacher at conferences. Referrals will be accepted through December 17th. You may request a referral form from the front office or the Assistant Principal. You can also find the referral form and other GT information on the CISD GT homepage.

Transportation changes must be made in writing before 2:00 PM. We cannot accept transportation changes by phone. To submit a transportation change, you may send a written note to your child's teacher or provide a not to the front office with the following information:

• the date
• your child's full name
• homeroom teacher
• bus number (if applicable)
• your signature

If an emergency arises, you may send an email to bush@conroeisd.net. The e-mail must include all of the above information, including a parent signature, and must be received before 2:00 PM. If you submit a transportation change by email, it must go to the email address referenced above. Teachers do not check their email regularly throughout the day, so transportation changes should not be emailed directly to the teacher.

Please send a new note for each day the change occurs; we cannot accept notes for multiple days or with multiple changes. District policy states that a student may only ride the bus they are registered to ride; students may not have a transportation change to ride a different bus.

Free COVID-19 testing is available to all Conroe ISD employees and students
Monday through Friday 8-6 and Saturday 8-4 at the
Conroe ISD Police Department

2900 N. Loop 336 E.

Conroe, TX 77301

Employees and students must schedule a test through the CONROE ISD SSO in the COVID Central APP Prior to arrival. Please use your student’s ID number to register students for testing

As a reminder - Please review the Roadmap to Opening on the Conroe ISD home page for current COVID policies and procedure.

After school playground reminders... Due to safety reasons a parent or guardian is required to monitor their children while playing after dismissal on the playground. Students are not allowed to return to the building after dismissal to use the clinic restroom.

If your child receives a positive COVID-19 test, please go to the link below and follow the prompts to enter your child’s positive results. This will be entered into the Conroe ISD COVID Absence APP for excused absence until the date cleared to return. https://www.conroeisd.net/roadmap-to-reopening/covid-19-positive-self-report/

Stay Healthy,

Nurse Cheryl Kirchner, RN

clkirchner@conroeisd.net

Evelin Padilla, Clinic Assistant

epadillaguerrer@conroeisd.net

Children, Technology and the Digital World

How does the digital world affect our children during the developmental years? Click here for movie resources that examine the control of the digital world on our children.

Save the date! Wednesday, November 10th Parent University Tessa Stuckey, LPC and I will be discussing technology and children in their developmental years.

Click here to complete the Request for Assistance Google Form

Click here for Coronavirus Resources.

Angela McGhee - School Counselor

amcghee@conroeisd.net

936-709-1608

All SMS messages received from the Conroe ISD District Office and your child's campus will begin with "Conroe ISD:" and come from the subscribe code 67587. If you have not yet opted-in to receive SMS messages, you can do so at any time throughout the school year by texting "Y" to 67587.

Thanks to all who participated in our survey about technology education at Bush Elementary. The results are in and when asked, "Do you feel ‘Tech Lab’ is an essential special that should be offered at the elementary level?"

-108 respondents said Yes

-12 respondents said No, and

-2 were Unsure

Several respondents left comments that can be read HERE (hyperlink to spreadsheet).

While the comments varied, numerous respondents feel time dedicated to technology education outside of the classroom in some fashion - whether it be focussing on basics such as learning how to use hardware like a mouse, or covering larger topics such as internet safety - is important.

Your Bush PTO has shared the results with Dr. Lambert, and will continue promoting an open dialogue encouraging technology education within the Specials rotation. Always feel free to reach out to Dr. Lambert directly with questions or concerns.

We are looking for some great volunteers to help with our spring fundraiser, the Bobcat Bonanza! Please contact Caitlin Reeves at president@bushpto.com if you are interested in helping!

Co-Chair - Will work with the VP of Fundraising to oversee the event. Ensure various committee members are on task, keep a detailed spreadsheet of everything. Will assist in reaching out to local businesses to help sponsor the event.

Silent Auction Coordinator - This person will oversee the entire silent auction, though will want additional support. The coordinator will work with other members to seek out donations from local businesses (passing out fliers, email, phone calls) for the auction. They will organize receipt of the items, create bid forms and run the auction on the night of the event.

Silent Auction Team Members - Work with coordinator to solicit donations and oversee the auction on the night of the event.

Food Coordinator - Reach out to local BBQ and pizza restaurants for the best pricing of meals for the event. Also work with our HEB Community Rep for donations/discounts on chips, water, drinks, etc.

Volunteer Coordinator - Work with committee members to find out volunteer needs for the event. Create signup geniuses and coordinate with room moms and social media coordinator to reach out to adult volunteers. Reach out to local youth volunteer groups to staff event with youth volunteers as well.

Children’s Raffle Coordinator - This person will oversee the collection of items for the children's raffle. In the past, this has been a mixture of donated items, and items purchased on sale. S/he will also coordinate with the person over ticket sales regarding raffle ticket sales.

Wristband/Raffle Ticket Sales - This person will work with our graphic designer/social media coordinator to promote sales. They will coordinate online sales, deliver tickets to school once a day as they are purchased, as well as in person sales the night of the event.

Use the Box Tops app to scan your store receipt, find participating products and instantly add cash to your school's earnings online. From playground equipment to technology, our school can use this money to help teachers and students get the supplies they need.

BoxTops4Education.com

The Conroe Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding these non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator, 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, Texas 77304; (936)-709-7700 and the Section 504/ADA Coordinator, 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, Texas 77304; (936) 709-7670.