August 24, 2022

We're excited that all students are back to learning and growing at Bush Elementary. Our teachers, faculty, and staff are working hard and providing an outstanding learning experience for all students.

Morning arrival is going very smoothly as parents drop off their students in the carpool lane on Westerloch. The bus lane on Parkway Plaza is for buses, day cares, and specially tagged cars for Safety Patrols and Ms. Phillips, Ms. Pusparani, and Ms. Bianci's students. Starting tomorrow, Thursday, August 26, students will be marked tardy if they're not inside the building by 7:40 a.m. On Tuesday, all cars had finished the carpool lane drop off before 7:40 a.m.

Please use this year's dismissal number. Throw away any dismissal number from last school year as this is causing confusion at dismissal as someone else has that number this school year.

... is our motto for this school year. Bush Elementary has a tradition of excellence in everything we do. Please make sure as adults we're modeling safe habits before and after school. Please use the crosswalks to walk across the street. Please do not walk across the carpool or bus lanes as these are continuous moving lanes of traffic. We need parents' help in modeling these safe practices at arrival and dismissal.

Everyone deserves to be treated respectfully. The Bush faculty and staff and our dedicated PTO Board members are working hard to provide a safe arrival and dismissal process for all students. Please respect the rules and don't crowd the areas where students are entering or exiting the building. Our procedures and rules are for the safety of all students.

The carpool lane is already empty by 7:40 a.m. for morning arrival. It takes time to learn the system and every day dismissal will be quicker.

September 8 @ 5:00 p.m.

PK, 1, 3, 5

September 15 @ 5:00 p.m.

K, 2, 4, Ms. Pusparani, Ms. Phillips, and SLL

Parents' Night is an important event for all parents. The evening starts in the Multi-Purpose with Ms. Rose. She will provide a "State of the School" overview to parents and will introduce the teachers in attendance. Our PTO President will briefly speak about this school year. Then, parents will be dismissed to the teachers' classrooms to see and hear about their child's classroom and instruction.

This event is designed for parents only.

Every student brought home a large manila envelope on Monday. This envelope contains homework for the parents. Parents need to complete the forms for each child that attends Bush Elementary. Please return the completed forms to your child's teacher at your earliest convenience.

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.

Vacations

Please remember to plan your family vacations and trips during regular school holidays like Thanksgiving, Winter and Spring Break. Family vacations cannot be considered excused absences by the State of Texas. As a result, they are recorded as unexcused absences. All students must have a 98% attendance rate. Every day at school is important. All students must attend school up to and including the last day on May 31, 2023.

Early Pick Ups

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.

Nurse's Rule

Please do not send your sick child to school. If your child has a fever, pink eye, or upset stomach, please keep him/her at home. We have lots of folks under our roof every day. For the health and safety of ALL students, 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. Students must be fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication before returning to school. When your child returns to school, please send a signed note stating the days your child was absent and the reason for the absence.

Safety is our number one core value. We must be safe before we can teach, learn, and grow. Safety

policies and procedures are constantly reviewed and revised as needed. ALL adults entering

the building MUST show a government issued photo identification at the front office every time entering the building.

The identification will be run through a background check device before an adult may receive a visitor’s

pass. If parents are to come into school to volunteer and/or attend field trips, then they must be VIPS approved. Information about being VIPS approved is available on the HISD website, in the Parent handbook, and will be available in the first few weeks of school.

View the 2022-2023 Back To School Guidelines

Bush Elementary is not responsible for patrolling the streets in the Bush Elementary zone. However, we can ask for parents to "Be Kind" while waiting for the carpool lane to start moving and once the cars starting moving up in the carpool lane.

Please "Be Kind" when navigating around parked cars. Have your carpool number displayed so the other cars will know that you're not one of the parked cars and won't attempt to pass you. Please stay in your car and be prepared to move once the line starts moving.

Please do not block any entrances to parking lots while stopped and waiting for the carpool lane to begin moving. Also, please allow the cars attempting to enter or exit the West Briar parking lots to do so.

Thank you for doing your part to keep the streets around Bush Elementary safe.

Hello Bobcat families! I’m so excited to be part of the Bush learning community this year! I’ve already gotten to experience the brilliance of Bush teachers and staff and I look forward to learning with you and your children throughout the year. For the past 7 years, I’ve been a school leader at Briarmeadow K-8 in HISD as a Reading Specialist and International Baccalaureate Coordinator of the Primary Years Programme. I’ve recently become a Global Schools Advocate and look forward to working alongside teachers and families to apply our learning in local and global real-world contexts.

My name is Ms. Quevedo and I am your WrapAround Specialist. You might wonder what a Wraparound Specialist does? Well, I am here to help students, parents, and the community with non-academic needs by providing them with any type of resources. I am located in room T505, and my room already has school supplies and uniforms!

If you need assistance in clothing, food, hygiene products, school supplies, transportation, or legal , please fill out the Student Assistance Form by scanning the QR code below, and I will be finding resources and providing you with any need.

Mi nombre es Maria Quevedo y soy la especialista de WrapAround. Se deben preguntar, ¿que es la especialistra de WrapAround? Bueno, yo estoy aqui para ayudar a los estudiantes, padres, y comunidad con necesidades no academicas y les brindo cualquier tipo de recurso. Estoy ubicada en el salon T505, y mi salon ya tiene utiles escoles y uniformes.

Si necesita asistencia con ropa, comida, productos de higiene, utiles escolares, transportacion, o legal, por favor complete el formulario de Asistencia del Estudiante por medio del codigo de barra abajo, y yo encontrare el mejor recurso para brindarle la ayuda que necesita.

Happy first week of school! It has been so wonderful seeing our returning families and all the new faces as we begin the 2022-2023 school year. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if you or your child needs my support in or out of the classroom.

I am attaching my email and our Barbara Bush Elementary Counselor’s Corner link. This will be where you can find Social Emotional Learning resources, our student referral form (referral process for me to meet with your child), and additional parent supports. I look forward to a great school year with you and your littles!

(P) 281-368-2150 (ext: 275212)

Jewell.Quinonez@houstonisd.org

Click here to visit the BBE Counselor Corner

The Spectacular Science Word for the week of August 22nd is organisms.

Ms. Rose would like to wish a very special birthday to:

Camila C. who turned 9 years old on August 5th and is a fourth grader in Ms. King's class.

Zeal P. who turns 6 years old on August 24th and is a first grader in Ms. Simone's class.

Ramzi A. who turns 5 years old on August 26th and is a kindergartner in Ms. Nguyen's class.

Aleena K. who turns 9 years old on August 27th and is a fourth grader in Ms. Jones's class.

Happy Birthday and Welcome to the Bush Birthday Book Club!

Join the PTO today and enjoy all the benefits! At the Cub level, become a voting member and receive a copy of the Bobcat Calendar. At the Paw level, enjoy all the benefits of the Cub level, PLUS an adorable paw print magnetic clip. At the Bobcat level, enjoy all the benefits of the Paw level, PLUS an adult size BBE Spirit Shirt (and the opportunity to purchase additional adult shirts) AND your children’s name and age printed in the Bobcat Calendar on their birthday. Paw and Bobcat levels also include a donation to support PTO Pals, a no-questions-asked program for any family wanting to join the PTO but who needs financial assistance to do so.

Joining the PTO does not obligate you to help with any PTO events or activities, attend meetings, or participate in any way– it is simply a way to invest in the success of all our students at BBE (but of course we welcome all those who would like to give of their time as well).

From now until September 23rd, every family who joins the PTO will help their child’s class compete to earn a Free Dress Day!

The school store online has now reopened! We sold out of some sizes/colors of several items at Meet the Teacher, and will be placing orders this week for several items. Be sure to follow @bbepto on Facebook or Instagram for the latest updates when we get new stock!

The school store will be open for families each Wednesday morning from 7:30 to 8:30am. During this time we will sell apparel and select school supplies such as agendas, zipper pouches, notebooks etc.

Anyone entering the building will need to present a photo ID at the main office.

Please help us to continue improving the volunteer support that we give our students, school and teachers, by completing this quick survey. If you complete the survey you can choose to be entered in a drawing for a $25 gift card! This survey will close on September 15th.

Join the Birthday Book Club and make your student’s day extra special! Your student will receive a personal birthday greeting from Ms. Rose during the morning announcements, and have their name printed in the weekly Paw Prints newsletter, in a book for the library, AND on the electronic marquee during the week of their birthday.

We are looking for 2022-2023 Room Parents!

Room Parents help facilitate communication between the classroom and families at Bush. Please let your teacher know if you would like to volunteer, and get your background check completed now so you're ready to roll!

Please consider volunteering as an alternative Room Parent for other teachers in need. In the past, some of our fabulous teachers have not had this type of help.

By volunteering your time, you make the experience for every student at Bush extraordinary!

Please contact bushpto.vips@gmail.com with any questions about becoming a Room Parent.

Please contact bushpto.partnerships@gmail.com for more information on becoming a business sponsor.

Subscribe to the PTO Events Calendar through iCal or Google

For any questions related to PTO please contact Amy Gnau, presidentbbepto@gmail.com

Families, we’ve brought back Bush’s twitter account! Please follow us for updates and peeks into learning @BarbaraBushElem.