August 14, 2024

Dear Bush Elementary Families and Community,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! We are thrilled to have had a fantastic start to the school year, our teachers have been hard at work laying the foundation for a great year ahead. Our theme this year is, “The Paws-ibilities are endless,” and we are certainly excited about the endless possibilities this school year holds. I have had the opportunity to meet many of you. I am so proud to be representing Bush Elementary and to continue my work in this community. We will continue to update you with information this year in a variety of ways including: our weekly newsletter, students red folders, teacher Dojo accounts, and callouts.

We have a few important announcements as we navigate the beginning of the school year:

• Arrival and Dismissal Information: Detailed information regarding arrival and dismissal procedures can be found on our website. Please review these guidelines to ensure a smooth and safe process for all students.
• Grade Level First Point of Contact: For any questions or concerns regarding classroom, attendance, discipline, or other grade-level inquiries, your first point of contact will be the Assistant Principal (AP) assigned to your child’s grade level:
• AP Lewis oversees Kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade, and Ms. Locus’s PreK class.
• AP Windham oversees 1st grade, 3rd grade, 5th grade, and Ms. Espinoza’s PreK class

We are committed to making this school year a successful and enriching experience for all our students. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Bryce Barry

Dear Bush Community,

I am honored to have been chosen by a panel of BBE stakeholders as an Assistant Principal for the 2024-2025 school year. I am excited about the opportunity to join such an esteemed campus and contribute to the continuing Tradition of Excellence that has always been present at Bush Elementary.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in my home state of Florida. In 2002, I moved to Texas to teach, eventually earning two master’s degrees—one in Reading from the University of Houston-Victoria and one in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas here in Houston.

Before joining Bush, I served students and families in a variety of roles, most notably as an Assistant Principal at Edgar Allan Poe Elementary in HISD. Like Bush, Poe is a non-Title 1 public school with a history of high student achievement and an engaged and active PTO. One major accomplishment during my time at Poe was successfully navigating the IB Recertification process and maintaining our “B” rating on the TEA accountability system despite the challenges presented by COVID-19.

As the daughter of an educator and coming from a family of educators, I take pride in every small interaction with children because I believe that being a part of a child’s life and educational journey is a privilege. As a leader, I set and maintain high expectations for myself and others so that the children under my care know that they can achieve great things and that they have me on their side to support them as they grow.

I love to travel and have visited six countries and nine states so far, with the goal of visiting each state. I also love reading, particularly business and science fiction books. Nothing gives me more pleasure than reading aloud with students to create a sense of belonging and deepen a love of reading.

I am excited to connect with you and build something amazing with the Bush Community as we move forward into the next school year.

Tamica Lewis

tamica.lewis@houstonisd.org

August 27, 2024

5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

August 29, 2024

5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

This event is just for parents to meet the teacher(s) inside their classrooms. We will meet in the Multipurpose room for staff introductions. Then you will be released to the classrooms to meet the teachers.

Good attendance is a good habit to start in elementary school. This is a life long skill that will prepare your child for a successful life by knowing the importance of showing up daily for a commitment whether school or work.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) sets the elementary school attendance goal at 98%.

If your child is sick, has a fever at or above 100, or is vomiting or other intestinal issues, then your child must be at home. Please send your child to school with a note to excuse the absence for illness.

If your child is healthy, then your child must be at school.

Every day your child is healthy and not in school is a lost day of instruction and learning. There are days built into the calendar along with a long summer break for family time and trips. Please look at the school calendar that is in a link below and plan your family time around the breaks.

Did you know just missing 2 days a month of school will add up to missing about 17 days and approximately 10% of the instructional days? Every day counts and attendance matters.

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 June 4th, 2025.

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.

All adults entering the buildings MUST show a government issued photo identification at the front office every time you enter the building.

If you are coming into the school to volunteer and/or attend field trips. then you must be VIPS approved.

Parents, in lieu of Birthday treats and trinkets for the entire class. We invite you to come up to school on your child’s birthday and have lunch with them to celebrate!

From August 19th to August 23rd, Bush Elementary will be conducting campus-wide Beginning of Year (BOY) NWEA testing. This round of testing is designed to establish a baseline of where our students are at the start of the academic year.

There is no need for any special preparations or changes to your usual routines for this testing period. We are simply gathering important data to better understand and support our students’ learning needs.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Mr. Barry would like to wish a very special birthday to:

Aiyana F. who turned 9 years old on August 4th and is a fourth grader in Ms. Zhang's class.

Juliet B. who turned 8 years old on August 7th and is a third grader in Ms. Hodge's class.

Happy Birthday and Welcome to the Bush Birthday Book Club!

If you have not already visited the PTO website, you can find it at www.BBEpto.com. All families are encouraged to make an account on the site so you can make purchases, receive our newsletter and learn important information. If you have any questions or issues creating your account, please fill out the Contact Us form on the site.

If you already have an account, please log in and add your student’s teacher name. This is important as it helps us deliver any items that you purchase throughout the year. If you have not updated your other information this year, please do that as well. You can add teacher names or update any information on your Family Information form found on the Dashboard.

Support the PTO and join as a PTO Member! Membership does NOT require any volunteer commitment. Your membership includes access to the online family directory, invitations to PTO Board Meetings and the voting rights for specific PTO items. Find it all here.

Annual Donation Drive will be replacing Boosters campaign this year.

Our 'Annual Donation Drive' Fundraising Campaign makes it easy for families to help our school. Instead of selling items like wrapping paper or cookie dough, families and friends can make a one time donation and 100% of the amount goes directly to our school. Donate here.

Online sales for uniforms will re-open in a few weeks after we have had time to restock and take inventory after back to school sales. Be sure to check the newsletters or follow us on social media to learn when uniform sales are open again.

School supplies are available for purchase at www.BBEpto.com . When they are purchased through the BBE PTO they will be delivered to your child’s classroom and proceeds will directly benefit our school community.

Welcome back to a new year at BBE! If you would like to volunteer your time this year on campus or at school-sponsored events, please make sure to get your VIPS certification. Follow this link to the application. https://360.articulate.com/review/content/aaf7de0a-6df1-404f-b348-8a57d4a4bd0a/review This approval process must be done yearly!

Hope to see great community involvement. Go Bobcats!