Grizzly Gazette- 11/14/22

Congratulations to our Theater students who placed first in the UIL Finals Saturday!

We had a great week last week that ended with a beautiful Veterans Day ceremony. Thank you to our WBMS PTO for helping make the event special. Cycle 2 Report Cards went out Friday during 6th period. If your student did not receive theirs, they can ask their 6th period Teacher, ask the Front Desk, or check Power School to see their grades. Please excuse the typo written last week, but this week is actually Generation TX week.

This week is also our West Briar Book Fair- in the Library. See the flyer below to utilize the convenient E-Wallet without having to send your student with money.

Let's have a great week before we celebrate Thanks the following week!

• Nov 14 - Nov 18- Gen TX Week
• Nov 14- Nov 18- WBMS Book Fair
• Nov 14- Bush Elem Blood Drive
• Nov 16- Wired Wednesday (Advocacy Bell Schedule- Digital Lesson)
• Nov 17- WBMS Band Fall Concert- 6 PM
• Nov 21-Nov 25- Thanksgiving Break
• Nov 28- Optional COVID Testing @WBMS

WBMS AM Announcements Link

The HISD School Board updated our Student Attendance Policy to mirror the Texas Education Code (TEC) 25.092 (Attendance for Credit 90% Rule). A student in grade levels K-12 should not be given credit or final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance 90% of the days in which the class is offered.

We will continue to remind students the importance of attendance- in all class periods. In middle school and high school, the 90% rule applies to each individual class period. This includes coming to school late and remaining in all classes throughout the class period.

Students who have accumulated more than 10% absences in their courses during the school year will have asterisks (NG) printed on their report cards next to the courses in which the excessive absences occurred. These students will be denied credit in these courses based on the current HISD attendance policy unless the attendance committee grants credit because the absences are due to extenuating circumstances.

• Students who lose credit due to excessive absences may appeal if the student achieves an average of 70 or above at the end of the semester in which the no-credit (NG) status appears.
• All Attendance Committee meetings and appeals for the 22-23SY must be cleared by June 15, 2023.

HISD has partnered with Panorama Education to gather student perception of their classroom experiences. Student Feedback Surveys will be administered twice this school year- once in the Fall (Nov 7-11) and once in the Spring (May). Students in grades 6-12 will respond to a 25 question survey about two different teachers (automatically selected). The survey will take about 16-20 minutes and will be taken in their Social Studies class this week.

Surveys includes questions about classroom climate, classroom rigorous expectations, classroom teacher student relationships, and pedagogical effectiveness. This valuable data will help our campus take action by incorporating into strategic priorities, campus improvement plans. In the future, this data will be used in conjunction with the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS).

For more information, see the one-pager below.

HISD will be offering free COVID-19 PCR Testing at West Briar again this school year. This testing will be every other week and is completely voluntary. Testing will be offered to everyone (students & staff) who consents, even if they don't have symptoms of COVID-19. Testing is free, quick, and easy and done by Fulgent Genetics trained medical professionals with a short, shallow nasal swab.

Test results will be available within 24-48 hours.

• Learn more about testing here: https://www.houstonisd.org/COVIDTestingFAQ.
• Complete the consent process by visiting this website: http://www.houstonisd.org/COVIDtesting.
• Contact Fulgent if you need help completing the consent process at mailto:cshou@fulgentgenetics.com or by calling 346-803-5828, Option 2.

Testing Schedule at West Briar - 10AM, Mondays

• November 28
• December 12
• (past December- TBA)

Attendance: Mr. Anderson- compassion.anderson@houstonisd.org

Registration/Enrollment- Ms. Rodriguez- laura@houstonisd.org

Nurse: Nurse Papillion- rebecca.papillions@houstonisd.org

Special Education Secretary: Ms. Aguilera- joana.aguilera@houstonisd.org

6th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Johnson- shanta.johnson@houstonisd.org

7th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Bass- vbass2@houstonisd.org

8th Grade House Secretary: Ms. Young- syoung1@houstonisd.org

Social Worker: Ms. Taylor- madison.taylor@houstonisd.org

Wraparound Specialist: AJ Buadu- Adjua.Buadu@houstonisd.org

Campus Administrators Webpage (includes new School Counselors)

Faculty/Staff Directory