On September 10, HISD School Choice opened up the system to apply for the PK lottery. 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.

An application/letter of interest will be available this month for interested students. Students must request a form from Ms. Miller in the library. Notes will not be sent home with all students. Applications are due by Thursday, September 30th. Read more about the contest on the Houston ISD Digital Resources page.

Currently HISD's G/T application site is undergoing maintenance. If you would like to request GT testing for your child, please submit the completed application to our GT Clerk, Ms. Jessica Ayala at jessica.ayala@houstonisd.org. Deadline to submit G/T applications is November 11, 2021. HISD will continue to test all kindergarten and 5th graders who have not been previously identified as being GT through our Universal Screening. Kindergarten and 5th grade parents do NOT need to complete an application.

G/T Application

If you do not have access to a printer, please contact Ms. Ayala to have an application sent home.

We have seen many students and some parents walking across the street not using the crosswalk. Parents, 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.

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.

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 these 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.

The carpool lane and Westerloch are very busy places between 2:50 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. The intersection at Westerloch and Parkway Plaza is extremely busy as you have the crossing guards crossing parents, walkers, and bikers while allowing the cars to pass through.

We're asking for the parents of walkers NOT to U-turn by the carpool lane entrance once they've picked up their child(ren) and are heading home. All these extra cars from the walker parents U-turning and going through this busy intersection causes the carpool lane to slow down and back up.

When driving home, walker parents who drive are requested to drive straight down Westerloch towards Eldridge and make the right on Eldridge and then the right on Briar Forest. Eldridge is not busy at this time in the afternoon.

It is imperative all information on each child's enrollment card be complete and kept current. Every student brought home a large manilla envelope on the first day of school. This envelope contains homework for the parents. Parents need to complete the forms for each child that attends Bush Elementary. Thank you to all parents who have returned their completed forms. If you have not already done so, please return the completed forms to your child's teacher by this Friday, September 24, 2021.

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.

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

September – January Birthdays: Enroll during September

February – July Birthdays: Enroll during January/May

Limited time offer for ADULT FLEECE JACKETS!

Please order by Friday, October 1. The jackets are for PREORDER and will be delivered in October.

Order here: www.bbepto.com

PTO MEMBERSHIP DEADLINE EXTENDED! Due to the rescheduling of the PK-2nd grade parents night, we have extended the deadline to sign up for PTO membership. We want to give all families an opportunity to hear the message from our PTO president and ask their child’s teacher any questions about PTO. We have extended the deadline to this Friday, September 24.

October 1st is an important date:

• Free dress day for those classes who reached their goal! If your child's class is awarded a free dress day, their teacher and you will be notified. Free dress is only for specific classes, not the entire school.

• T-shirts for anyone who signed up for Bobcat Level membership. We will take inventory of t-shirts we have and any we need to order by the end of this week. You should receive your t-shirt no later than Oct.1st.

• Luggage tags for anyone who signed up for Paw or Bobcat Level membership. We will take inventory of our luggage tags and send them out no later than Oct. 1st. Bobcat Level members will receive their t-shirt and their luggage tag at the same time.
  
  

Sign up at www.BBEpto.com or contact Michelle Jackson at bushpto.vp@gmail.com for more information.

Each year we print a directory of all the families at Bush. All PTO members will receive one with their membership. Families often use this information to connect for birthday parties and playdates.

Please fill out this form to have your contact information in the directory. You can include as much, or as little information as you are comfortable releasing. The only required items have an asterisk.*

www.bbepto.com

Thank you for helping us collect this information. Please submit your information by October 15.

(formerly known as Underwriting Campaign)

This year, the PTO’s goal is to provide new furniture and upgrades for the school library which will benefit all of the students at Bush. The majority of our fundraising comes from our Bobcat Boosters.

Bobcat Boosters is a direct fundraising campaign which means:

• We will NOT ask you to sell promotional items such as gift wrap, cookies, et cetera…

• 100% of the funds given will support our school projects and programs

• Families can choose the level they wish to donate; any level of support will help!

• Some employers have a matching gift program which can double or even triple your donation
  
  

For more information or to sign up please go to our website: www.bbepto.com. If you have questions please email presidentbbepto@gmail.com .

Contacts for 5th Grade Coordinator Eliza Machala:

email: fifthgradebbe@gmail.com

5th Grade Whatsapp Group:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/FSoS38eUu5q7hJExTUlctp

5th Grade Celebration Fee

Parents are asked to pay $40 5th Grade Celebration Fee, which includes: a custom Fifth Grade T-shirt that can be worn all year as part of Bush dress code, Holiday Party contributions, a memory stick of pictures and a giveaway gift bag to be distributed at the end of the year.

This can be purchased on the PTO website (www.bbepto.com) or through this link Fifth Grade Celebration. Deadline is end of September. Shirts need to be ordered as soon as possible, so students can wear them most of the year.

ATTENTION: Some Bush Teachers that are in Need of Room Parents:

If you have a child in the following classes please consider being Your Room Parent.

• First Grade - Jamie Simone
• Second Grade - Caroline Pham
• Third Grade - Katy Frietsch

As a Room Parent you can do everything from your fingertips.

• Room parents emails other parents in their class and communicate the needs of the teacher

• Forwards emails from VIPS Coordinators related to what's happening at Bush

• Coordinates gifts for teachers

Simple Right? Please Volunteer Today!

Business Owners we want YOU...as our Partner

Do you own a business and want to partner with the PTO?

Do you know a business owner who wants to partner with the PTO?

What does it mean to partner with the PTO?

Promote your business and benefit the children and school by direct sponsorships, hosting a spirit night event, sign up to donate items for PTO events (food, drinks, supplies, etc) and much more!

Contact bushpto.partnerships@gmail.com for more information.

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

At the end of last school year we were required to notify the parents via the School Messenger system if there was a confirmed positive COVID case on campus. This year's policy states we will only inform parents of a COVID positive case if their student came into direct contact with someone on campus that was confirmed COVID positive. Our nurse investigates and begins the contact tracing process on our campus, and documents all confirmed COVID 19 cases. The nurse contacts the parent of any child that has been in contact with a COVID positive individual. That student is then told to quarantine for 10 days and to sign up for the Temporary Online Learning (explained in the article below). Information regarding active COVID cases may be found on the Houston ISD COVID Dashboard site located on the HISD website.

If a Bush student lives in a home with another individual that has tested COVID positive or has been in unmasked contact with a tested COVID positive person, then the student needs to quarantine for 10 days. HISD has established Temporary Online Learning for the student to continue learning during the quarantine. Parents enroll their child for TOL via this site https://www.houstonisd.org/HOME

The parent must apply for TOL by noon for their child to be enrolled in temporary online learning for the next day. The four hours a day of live lessons are taught by an HISD teacher, not a Bush teacher. However, the student is still enrolled at Bush Elementary and the daily attendance and weekly grades are sent to the Bush teacher. When the 10 day quarantine is over, then the student may return to in-person learning at Bush Elementary.