The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is back! Students are encouraged to wear their “Go Texan” Western clothes to school on Friday, February 25th in support of its return. Please make sure they leave their horses, guns, and lassos at home!

Our third grade students participated in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Coloring contest again this year. FOUR of our students have been selected in this Coloring & Creativity Contest to have their art work displayed at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo!

The winners are Aleena Khurram*, Niharilka Banerjee, Tanvi Mahajan, and Aadya Sripathi. Congratulations to these girls!!!

This is quite an accomplishment! Over 6,000 entries from across the city were submitted and only 200 were selected to be displayed. That is just the top 3%!! Aleena’s artwork was selected as one of the Top 10 overall entries!

The four girls received certificates, large blue ribbons, and HLSR grounds passes. We are so proud of them!

Bush Elementary will have COVID testing available every Thursday for students, faculty, and staff. Parents must pre-register their child by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday in order to be tested on campus. This testing is completely voluntary and free and requires the student's parent/guardian to first provide a one-time digital consent at https://bit.ly/HISDC19Test .

Once a parent has registered their child, then the child will be tested each time Fulgent comes to campus to provide COVID testing. If you no longer want your child to be tested, you may opt out by emailing your child's teacher to let them know.

Registration dates for the 2022-2023 school year will be announced in April on our website and in the Paw Prints. Intent to Re-Enroll and Sibling Registration dates will also be announced in April.

Stay up to date by reading our newsletter, the Paw Prints, and the marquee.

COVID-19 vaccines are now available for children ages 5-11. If you choose to vaccinate your child, please email a copy of the vaccination record card to dguider@houstonisd.org or send documentation to Nurse Guider so she can update your child's immunization record.

Please make sure Nurse Guider dguider@houstonisd.org has a copy of your child's proof of 2 doses of an approved COVID vaccination if you choose to vaccinate your child.

If your child does test COVID positive, then he/she must quarantine for at least 5 days regardless of vaccination status. If your child is COVID positive and showing symptoms, then he/she must stay home at least 5 days and until symptom free.

Children that are sick, regardless of a temperature, need to stay home. Previously, the nurse’s message was if there’s no fever, but sniffles and a sore throat, the child could be at school. Now, those symptoms qualify as a presumed positive COVID case. Please do not send your child to school if exhibiting any of the symptoms below.

COVID-19 symptoms:

• Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.00 F
• Loss of taste or smell
• Cough
• Difficulty breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Headache
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Significant muscle pain or ache
• Diarrhea
• Nausea or vomiting

For the health and safety of ALL students, faculty, and staff, it is very important that children stay home when they are ill. Students who have thrown up during the night or who are running a fever cannot be sent to school. If your student complains of and exhibits any COVID19 related symptoms, they will be sent home.

Throughout the school year, this section of the newsletter will highlight key points from the Bush Parent Handbook. School begins at 7:30 a.m. Students arriving after 7:40 a.m. are tardy. Students arriving after 9:00 a.m., without a doctor's excuse, are marked absent.

Here are some quick reminders about our Bush Elementary dress code. Shirts must be solid colored red, white, or navy. The only t-shirts allowed are Bush Elementary t-shirts. Dress code pants are navy, khaki, or blue jeans. The pants must not have any holes, rips, tears, or designs on them, just simple plain blue jeans, navy pants, or khaki pants. Exercise pants, sweatpants, and yoga pants are NOT part of the Bush dress code. Leggings can not be worn as pants, only under skirts or jumpers. Please click on the link below for the complete dress code guidelines.

2021-2022 Dress Code Guidelines

Morning supervision of students starts at 7:20 a.m. At that time students are brought into the building and are seated in grade level lines. Morning bus lane drop off is reserved for our 5th Grade Safety Patrols and our students in our self-contained special education classes. These families have a special printed pass to enter the bus lane for morning drop off. All other students arriving by car must be dropped off in the carpool lane. The first bell rings at 7:30 a.m. and the students are tardy at 7:40 a.m. when the morning announcements begin.

We have started a new year so let's start the year by following our morning arrival procedures and being on time for school every day.

Please plan to pick up your carpool and walker students before 3:15. Our students are dismissed at 3:00 and our walker area has been finishing before 3:10 on most days. If you arrive after 3:15, please come to the front office to sign your child out as a late pick up.

Please abide by the No Parking signs on the streets around our school and our neighboring schools. Several parents have received parking tickets from HPD in the past because they were parking in a No Parking zone. When cars park in No Parking zones, it is difficult for our busses and vans to turn into our bus lane.

We're asking for the parents of walkers that park their cars on the other side of Westerloch across from the school to NOT u-turn by the carpool lane entrance once they've picked up their child(ren) and are heading home.

We have seen many students and some parents walking across the street not using the crosswalks. This is extremely dangerous and we ask that all walkers and bike riders use the crosswalks. Westerloch Dr. and Parkway Plaza Dr. are very busy streets during morning arrival and dismissal. If you cross between parked cars, ongoing traffic cannot see you.

We are so happy to see so many of our students riding their bikes to school. Please remember that all students are required to wear a bicycle helmet when riding their bikes to and from school. We want to keep all of our Bobcats safe. Also, please send your bike riders with a bike lock to secure their bikes to the bike rack.

If your child is absent from school, please make sure you send in a note explaining the absence date(s) and reason for the absence upon return to school. We will need this note even if you're at home quarantining or a Positive COVID-19 case. Please email your absence excuse note to the homeroom teacher and our registrar, Ms. Rosales at arosale3@houstonisd.org

If a note is not received within 3 days, then the absence is recorded as unexcused.

On September 10, HISD School Choice opened up the system to apply for the PK lottery for next school year. The Bush PK program is only for families that are already enrolled at Bush Elementary and have another child who will be 4 on or before September 1, 2022. Students must meet PK eligibility requirements such as being economically disadvantaged or qualifying as English as a Second Language.

The site will accept applications from September 10, 2021 - March 10, 2022. Families will be notified by HISD School Choice on April 7, 2022 if their child was accepted into Bush Elementary's PK program or if their child is on the waitlist. Go to HISDChoice.com to apply. Bush Elementary's PK program is only one class with 22 students that must be comprised of siblings of currently enrolled Bush students. The only way to apply for and be part of the lottery for Bush Elementary's PK program is to apply online at the address shared above.

Safety continues to be our top priority, and while we love our furry visitors, we ask that you keep them at home during arrival and dismissal. We have several students, faculty and staff members who are allergic to dogs and cats and students who are very afraid of dogs. Please keep them at home.

Please do not plan to pick up your child after 2:30 p.m. from the office. To ensure a safe dismissal, students will not be called to the office to be picked up after 2:30 p.m. Thank you for helping to make dismissal safe for all our students.

Help your child celebrate their birthday and support the library and other programs that enhance the educational experience of Bush students by joining the Birthday Book Club.

Your child will be given a personal "Happy Birthday" greeting during the morning announcements and Paw Prints shout out from Ms. Rose! The donation will be recognized with a nameplate in a new book from the library. A group photo of all the other BBC members with the same birth month will also be displayed in the library display case.

It only costs $20 for a Birthday Book Club Membership (Add Electronic Marquee display for $10 more). Please visit www.BBEPTO.com for more details or to make your purchase.

Enrollment Schedule:

February – July Birthdays: Enroll through January

The PTO Board wants you! The PTO is looking for volunteers for next school year. The PTO Board consists of over 20 different positions, all with a focus on the quality of education at Bush Elementary. We welcome working and non-working parents and guardians from all different grade levels and backgrounds. We encourage you to find a position which sounds interesting to you and one in which you feel you can contribute your unique talents and skills towards the betterment of Bush Elementary. If you would like more information about any of the positions you can read about them on the Job Descriptions page of our website, or email our PTO President at presidentbbepto@gmail.com . If you are ready to submit your application for a position on the PTO Board for the 2022-2023 school year, please complete this form.

Order your 2021 - 2022 Yearbook Today!

$30 (Price will increase to $35 on March 12th)

Go to www.bbepto.com or CLICK HERE TO ORDER

No Yearbooks will be sold after March 20th, so please order now!

Do you have a graduating 5th grader? Give them a shout-out in the yearbook! Dedications are $20 for 25 words or less. Order on the website at www.bbepto.com before March 5th. (Dedications are available for 5th graders only.)

We are continuing to collect 5th grade students' pictures. Send your child’s pictures (1 baby , 1 current picture). This is such a fun surprise for the kids at the end of the year.

Pictures can be sent to your child’s teacher or 5th grade coordinator fifthgradebbe@gmail.com.

We are looking for some pictures for the yearbook. Please send photos of your child from TWOsday, Go Texan day (this Friday) and any other events. If you have any, please share them with us! Please send no more than 5 photos for all events to bushptoyearbook@gmail.com and label pictures with your child's grade.

School store on the go will be back after spring break! Keep an eye out here or on our facebook page for more details. Our online school store is still open and items will be delivered to the classrooms on Fridays. Visit the store at www.BBEpto.com

For any questions related to PTO please contact Val Shaikh, presidentbbepto@gmail.com.

Updated policies on field trips, COVID-19 Quarantine and more effective January 3, 2022

https://www.houstonisd.org/readysetgo

The Houston Independent School District is closely monitoring COVID-19 pandemic and is in contact with the Centers for Disease Control, Texas Department of State Health Services and Houston Health Department to ensure all students and staff members are safe and updated with the latest information. For more information please visit, https://www.houstonisd.org/healthalerts

HISD's COVID-19 protocol has been updated in regards to terminology use and reporting. At all HISD campuses, this means that when there is a positive case in your child's homeroom class you will be notified in writing by the principal. The message you will receive is below. Please note that this message is simply for notification, and does not require further action (i.e. quarantine). I want to thank you all for your diligence in ensuring that students are wearing their masks and that we are all remaining healthy.

Sample Message: This message is to inform you that an individual in your child's homeroom has reported testing positive for COVID-19. Your child has not been identified as a close contact and there is no action required of you at this time. This notification is for your awareness only. Due to privacy requirements, we cannot release the name of the COVID-positive individual or details that may identify them; however, it is important for you to know this individual is self- isolating until they are cleared to return to our campus. As a reminder, HISD has health and safety protocols in place to help prevent the spread of illness. We are asking our staff and families to do their part by adhering to these protocols, and not reporting to their worksite or sending their student(s) to school when they are ill. We appreciate your continued support as we work together to ensure the safety of our students and staff.