No Classes November 21 - 25.

SDMC BEC Meeting - What do all these letters mean? Every school has a Site-based Decision Making Committee. At Bush Elementary, we also call this committee BEC which stands for the Bush Excellence Committee. This committee is made up of members of the Bush Elementary learning community and includes: parents, community members, faculty, and staff. This committee meets quarterly and serves as an advisory council to the principal. Some of the functions of this committee include reviewing the annual school improvement plan and reviewing/updating dress code guidelines and other school policies.

The meetings are open to parents and the agenda and minutes are shared on the Bush website after the meeting. If parents would like to speak at the meeting on a certain topic, then the parent must contact the school secretary, Zonia Flores, at zonia.flores@houstonisd.org at least one day in advance and share the topic that will be presented. All parents are given a 5 minute time frame to present.

Bush Elementary’s start time is 7:30 a.m. and students are considered tardy at 7:40 a.m. Attendance is taken every day at 9:00 a.m. If a student is not in class at that time, then the student is marked absent. A student arriving at 9:01 a.m. or later is considered absent for the day. If a student is at school and then the parent picks up their child(ren) after 9:01 a.m., then the child is counted as present for the day. If you're leaving to catch a flight or get on the road later in the morning or in the early afternoon, still have your child come to school for at least part of the day. Your child will have at least some instructional time that time.

Healthy students must come to school and arrive before 7:40 a.m. Students who are sick must stay at home and get well.

School Choice invites you to visit with us to learn about HISD choice schools and the programs they offer. Fine Arts, Foreign Language, Montessori, S.T.E.M & S.T.E.A.M., Single-Gender College Preparatory, and Vanguard. Additionally, HISD has other choice school options to learn about, including Boundary Option, Career/Technology Education (CTE), Dual Language, International Baccalaureate (IB), Prekindergarten (preK), and more.

November is Generation Texas Month, a statewide movement to ensure students have the information and resources regarding post-secondary options such as college, career, and military. Generation TX Week will be November 14th-18th. ALL Houston ISD schools will celebrate the week with college and career activities such as college fairs, college visits (virtual/in person), college application drives, college activities and FAFSA drives.

Monday, 11/14

College Spirit Day - Wear a college shirt or college colors.

Tuesday, 11/15

Go Wild for Education - Wear camouflage or animal print attire.

Wednesday, 11/16

Your Future Looks Bright - Wear bright/neon colors or sunglasses.

Thursday, 11/17

Team up for College - Dress alike with your friends(s) in a college team shirt.

Friday, 11/18

Hats off to College - Wear your favorite hat or cap.

Third grade students across the city of Houston are eligible to participate in the Read to the Final Four Reading Challenge by reading as much as possible to place in the top groups of schools and win prizes.

Bush is registered for this reading challenge, in which students count all their minutes of reading, both in school and out. They are encouraged to read anything that interests them and can count reading done in different languages. They can read both physical and online books and will have their own NCAA Final Four Reading Log to track all their minutes which will be sent home soon.

Please read with your child whenever you can and encourage them to participate to the best of their ability. At the end of each week or reading period (refer to dates), a signature is required to authenticate that the work done is true and accurate.

Thanks for participating in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four READ TO THE FINAL FOUR.

WHAT: NCAA Read to the Final Four Reading Challenge is open to all third graders.

WHEN: Competition begins on November 7, 2022 and ends March 19, 2023.

WHY: To leave a lifelong impact and love of reading.

This parent training has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 8 at 8:30 a.m.

HISD's Family and Community Engagement (FACE) department will be at Bush Elementary to provide a training titled "HISD 101". This 30 minute training is for parents to learn about and understand how to navigate all the opportunities and resources within HISD. Parents will get an overview of HISD’s key resources and tools available to aid in student achievement.

Parents will need to bring a government issued photo identification to enter the building for this training.

HISD is doing on-campus Covid testing for faculty, staff, and students.

Our testing dates and times are:

Monday, November 28 at 9:00

Monday, December 12 at 9:00

Pre-registration is required.

Complete the consent process by visiting this website: www.houstonisd.org/COVIDTesting

Here’s HISD’s information.

Our goal at Houston Independent School District is to foster a caring, joyful, and challenging learning experience for every student, every day. That’s why your school is providing free COVID-19 testing to all students in partnership with the Houston Health Department Testing is completely voluntary and requires parent/guardian consent first. You can be confident our school is safe, and free COVID-19 testing adds another layer of protection to our safety strategy. Free testing puts our student’s health first, it allows us to maximize learning in school and promotes equity by ensuring every student has access to testing if they want it and if you, as their parent/guardian, provide consent.

● Who will be tested? We will offer testing to everyone who consents - all students and staff - even if they don’t have symptoms of COVID-19.

● How is the testing done? The COVID-19 testing is free, quick, and easy. Trained medical professionals will conduct testing with a short, shallow nasal swab.

● Where and when is the testing done? Our school’s testing site will be in a room or area large enough to accommodate an organized flow to testers in and out of the space. Testing will take place every two weeks. Test results will be available within 24-48 hours.

● How can I be sure that my student’s information will be protected? Sharing of information about your student will only be done for public health purposes and in accordance with applicable law and policies protecting student privacy and the security of your student’s data. We are asking you to:

● Learn more about testing at www.HoustonISD.org/COVIDTestingFAQ

● Complete the consent process by visiting this website: www.houstonisd.org/COVIDTesting

The carpool lane is the safe location for morning arrival drop offs. The bus lane is not to be used for morning drop offs, unless you have a special bus lane car tag. Certain families have a pass to drop off in the bus lane due to being a member of the Safety Patrol or a student in a special self-contained class. If you do not have this special pass, then you must use the carpool lane for morning drop offs.

The carpool lane is monitored each morning and if it is moving slowly or weather is causing a slowdown, then the carpool lane entrance doors are kept open and students in the carpool lane drop off are not considered tardy. The carpool lane entrance doors are closed when the line is empty, and carpool students will be considered tardy after that time and need to enter the building via the front door. Students dropped off in the bus lane and walkers entering through the front door at 7:40 a.m. or later are considered tardy.

Do you have a costume that is too small for your child, but in good condition? Mrs. Miles is looking for gently used costumes! Sizes 5t to 12. They will be used by various grades, and may make an appearance in a production. Shirts, pants, hats, vests and jackets are all accepted! Please send them with your child in a plastic bag labeled "For Mrs. Miles."

Cooler temperatures are slowly making their way to Houston! We have many jackets in our lost and found waiting to be picked up by their rightful owners. Parents, please label your child/children's jackets/winter clothing so that we can return their lost jackets to their classrooms. Also, please remember that in school, students need to have dress code jackets in solid red, white or navy. Their outside jackets worn for recess do not need to be in dress code colors, they can be any color.

Now that cooler weather is finally in Houston, students need to continue to follow our dress code guidelines. Please review the highlights shown below from our Dress Code in the Bush Uniform Policy.

All items worn in the building must follow our dress code colors stated in our dress code policy.

Sweaters

Solid colored sweaters

Solid Khaki, navy, red, white

Solid colors with no embroidery.

Jackets worn in the classroom

Jacket, sweater, or sweatshirts

Solid red, white, or navy

Official Bush logo fleece jackets are permitted.

Tights, leggings, and Pants

Tights, leggings, pants worn under skirts, shorts, or jumpers

Solid red, white, navy, blue denim or khaki

Leggings are permitted only under skirts, shorts, or jumpers, and cannot be worn by themselves as pants.

Here are a few more reminders:

● Only solid red, white, or navy long sleeved shirts will be permitted under uniform tops on cold days.

● Sweatpants, athletic pants, athleisure pants are not part of dress code even if they are following our dress code colors.

● Only plain headbands or headbands with bows are allowed.

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A friendly reminder, Physical Education is required by the State of Texas and if your child cannot participate in P.E., they must bring a note excusing them from class. They cannot verbally tell Coach Pham they cannot participate. It must be in written form from a parent if they need to sit out for less than a week. If the child must be out for more than one week, they must have a doctor’s note. Thank you for ensuring all documentation is on file so all children can be safe in P.E. class.

Thank you to all the parents who have been regularly volunteering in the cafeteria to support our hard-working staff! We can always use volunteers in the cafeteria, so if you haven't already completed your VIPS approval and attended the training, there's always time to get approved.

Volunteers are needed to help supervise and assist students in the cafeteria at lunch. This is an active volunteer time and not a time to sit with or stand by your child. Parents will be supervising and helping all students in the cafeteria. Only the parent, and no younger or older siblings, may take part in the cafeteria supervision.

There are 2 requirements that must occur before parents may volunteer in the cafeteria.

1. VIPS approved - online approval process

2. Attend training that happens on Mondays at 10:30 a.m.

Please use the link below to sign up to volunteer once you're VIPS approved and have attended the training. This is not a once a month time to volunteer, but rather we need consistent volunteers showing up on a a regular basis at lunch time.

Please make sure you bring your driver's license to sign in to enter the building. Also, be prepared to show a copy of the certificate/email that shows that you're VIPS approved at your first time volunteering.

We look forward to having cafeteria volunteers at lunch time.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4CACAA2EA0FB6-bbelunchroom

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 coming into school to volunteer and/or to attend field trips, then they must be VIPS approved. Information about being VIPS approved is available on the HISD website and in the Parent Handbook.

View the 2022-2023 Back To School Guidelines

The Spectacular Science Word for the week of November 7 is mixture.

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

Isabel M. who turns 9 years old on November 11 and is a third grader in Ms. Mayces' class.

Saavi S. who turns 7 years old on November 12 and is a first grader in Ms. Brown's class.

Happy Birthday and Welcome to the Bush Birthday Book Club!

Our namesake, Ms. Barbara Bush, was an advocate for blood donations. She personally answered the call when blood donations were requested. In an effort to honor her legacy, Bush Elementary is hosting a blood drive!

Commit for Life Donor Link

Monday, November 14th

MP Room

8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

FREE BLANKETS FOR DONORS!

Contact Zonia Flores @ zonia.flores@houstonisd.org if you have any questions.

Wrap Around is in need of donations for the following items:

• Rice
• Beans
• Crackers
• Apple Juice
• Pasta
• Red sauce
• Cereal
• Mac and Cheese
• Sweaters

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Positive Parenting Program works one-on-one with parents and caregivers to look at why children misbehave, how to get children to behave, what to do when children misbehave and how to parent positively in real-world, everyday situations.

Every parent needs a little help sometimes. Maybe your child doesn’t listen to you. Maybe he throws tantrums at the drop of a hat. Or maybe she just won’t go to bed when asked to. Well, you aren’t alone. The truth is, while there are many kinds of families, they all have one thing in common: raising children can be tough sometimes.

This training won't tell you how to be a parent. Instead, it will offer simple and proven ideas to help you deal with problem behavior, making raising your children easier and your whole family happier.

Go from timeouts to time together.

Interested? Please email maria.quevedo@houstonisd.org to sign up for this free event.

Date: November 17th

Time: 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Location: Bush Elementary Rm. T505

Make your plans to join us at the BBE PTO Let's Glow Wild! Party and Silent Auction on Friday, November 11, from 5-8 pm!

Join us under the black lights and groove to awesome music from our DJ, play fun glow games, enjoy food, drinks, and treats at the concession stand, and bid on our fantastic silent auction items and experiences!

Presale for entry bands, tickets and Glow Party Bundles has ended. All pre-ordered items can be picked up at Will Call.

Entry wristbands are available for purchase for $7 at the door. Entry bands are required for all adults and children age three and older. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Once you’re in the door, you can purchase tickets for glow games and pizza, popcorn, candy and drinks from our concession stand.

See below for information about the Silent Auction, happening online now through 7pm on Friday, November 11th at the Let’s Glow Wild Party!

Please contact bbeptofundraising@gmail.com with any questions.

Our Fall Fundraiser Silent Auction is happening online now through 7pm on Friday, November 11th at the Let’s Glow Wild Party. You do not have to attend the Glow Party to bid on items and/or win them.

There are a lot of great items to bid on such as Texans football tickets, Astros Baseball tickets, Donuts for a Year, Ice Skating Lessons, Principal for a Day, Reserved seating for school performances, and so much more!

Visit our auction on Bidding Owl and create an account now to start bidding! Don’t miss out on all the amazing items. Bid early, bid often!

Email ptosecretarybb@gmail.com if you have any questions or issues.

There is no School Store on the Go this week! We will resume School Store on the Go next week FRIDAY, November 18th for Third grade. See below for the dates for other grades. Prices range from $0.10- $5. Please help teach your child how to be responsible with their money and to also be kind to students who did not bring money.

11/18- 3rd Grade

12/2- 2nd grade

12/9- 1st, Kinder and Pre-K

School Store will also be open each Wednesday morning from 7:30-8:30 for parents, guardians and students to buy apparel or school supplies such as notebooks, agendas, crayons, etc.

Families can always shop our school store online. Items purchased online by Thursday at 5:00pm will be delivered to your child’s classroom on Friday.

Be sure to follow @bbepto on Facebook or Instagram for the latest updates when we get new stock!

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

Join us at the Nature Center! We'll be working on cleaning the tire garden area, as we prepare for planting in the spring. Students will also make a small holiday craft/ornament. There are two dates offered for this event, and details are included in the link below.

Thursday, Nov 17: Holiday Craft + Garden Care (3pm - 4pm)

Saturday, Dec 3: Holiday Craft + Garden Care (10am - 11am)

All students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the duration of the event. Events are weather permitting and space is limited.

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4CACAA2EA0FB6-nature2

Please contact bushnaturecenter@gmail.com with any questions.

If you missed our First Friday Social Hour last week, don’t worry– come chat and relax with us on Saturday! We would love to get to know fellow BBE parents and guardians, and it’s time to rectify our lack of connection with one another after the forced isolation of the last few years.

Second Saturday: November 12th, 8:00am @ Terry Hershey Parkrun - Parkrun is a free 5K walk/run along the trail in Terry Hershey Park. You must pre-register at https://www.parkrun.us/terryhershey/ but there is no commitment to attend, and you only need to register one time. Children, strollers, and pets are welcome, and you can be a spectator if you aren't up for walking.

Wear your BBE spirit t-shirt and look for others to spot our group!

Please contact presidentbbepto@gmail.com with any questions about our Social Hours.

There is still time to make your 5th grade fee contribution on the BBE PTO website! This fee covers the 5th Grade t-shirt (dress code approved), holiday party contributions, and the End-of-the-Year Celebration and gift bags. There is also the option to “Help a Friend’ if you would like to donate to help cover the cost for families who do not have the means.

This year, we have also added the option of donating to the holiday teacher gift in advance. Donations for this are available in $5 increments. This donation is entirely voluntary.

Please purchase your 5th grade fee and any add-ons HERE.

Does your child see themselves in their classroom library?

Please help us in creating our very own diverse 5th grade class library! We have created an Amazon wish list for the 5th grade books for Ms. Pucci and Ms. Mireles Click here to access the wishlist.

We are hoping to get two of each book for each classroom (4 total) so that students have access to challenging, engaging and significant reading experiences that reflect the diversity of the classroom as well as Houston at large.

Each book on the list was hand selected and either an award recipient or written by an award winning author.

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 would love for families to send in any photos that are school-related, such as Pajama Day, Astros day, or any grade-specific event/project that we can include in the yearbook!

Please send no more than 3 photos to bushptoyearbook@gmail.com and label the pictures with your child's grade.

Subscribe to the PTO Events Calendar through iCal or Google

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

22-23 Faculty and Staff

Counselor - Jewell Quinonez

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

Jewell.Quinonez@houstonisd.org

Click here to visit the BBE Counselor Corner

FOR RESOURCES AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH -

Wraparound - Maria Quevedo

(P) 281-368-2150 (ext. 275105)

maria.quevedo@houstonisd.org

FOR ATTENDANCE -

Registrar - Adriana Rosales

(P) 281-368-2150 (ext. 275104)

arosale3@houstonisd.org