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Dear ,

It is hard to believe that we are half way thru the second six week grading period. So starting on Monday Nov. 9 until Friday Nov. 13 you will be able to update your selection for the third six weeks for either in-person or virtual instruction . Please make your selection via HISD Connect Parent Portal.

Don't forget to complete the Student Information Verification application to ensure information is up to date. The form is now available in the HISD Connect Parent Portal. Check out the helpful how-to video.

Have a great and safe weekend!

School Choice Application Deadline
Nov. 6, 2020
See information about applying to Kindergarten at Wharton below.  Also, 5th and 8th grades have to apply for middle and high school, respectively.

Socioeconomic Form for 2020-2021
Nov. 22, 2020
Please see letter from Ms. Murillo asking all parents to fill out this form by Nov. 22. You can also visit our Title 1 webpage to learn more.

Help your Grade get to 100% form completed. Which grade will win? Ready Set Go!!

INCOMPLETE FORMS BY GRADE:
PK - 38, K - 54, 1 - 56, 2 - 51, 3 - 40, 4 - 37, 5 - 29, 6 - 33, 7 - 22, 8 - 13

Calaveritas Literarias Contest
To celebrate el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Wharton PTO's Heritage Group is sponsoring a "Calaveritas Literarias" contest. NEW Submission deadline: Nov. 13. 

What is a calaverita literaria? A form of poetry popular in Mexico during Día de los Muertos. These poems can be teasing, joking, fun, satirical, or critical. They are often written in ‘honor’ of a specific person or famous personality. They typically are written in metric verse with a rhyme scheme. 

To participate:

• Create your calaverita literaria in English or Spanish, or challenge yourself to write a bilingual one. Check out thishow-to guidewith examples.
• Send your calaverita toheritage@whartonpto.orgby Nov. 13, 2020. Include the student's name, grade, and teacher.

Three winners will each receive a $15 Amazon gift card.

Spirit Night at Torchy's Tacos
Save the date for our November Spirit Night at Torchy's Tacos (2411 Shepherd Dr)! Nov. 18 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Print Your Holiday Cards and Support Wharton!
If you are purchasing holiday cards or gifts, visit Minted.com and use Wharton's unique code: FUNDRAISEWK8DA to receive a 20% discount. Wharton will receive 15% of sales on orders placed with our code through December. For the fine print, please log into our Wharton PTOMinted page.

Our school is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school thanks to the generous contributions of parents over the years. The IB program is funded entirely by Wharton's PTO, and each year we need to raise $43,000 to cover its costs. We need your help more than ever this year! Any amount helps. 

Unfortunately, we had another presumed positive/exposed contact reported on 11/5/20, there was very minimal exposure to the students and staff.

Exciting news! School nurses will have access to facilitate rapid CoVid-19 testing for symptomatic students (with parental consent). The teachers and staff will have the option of testing monthly. The test is called BinaxNow from Abbot laboratories. The test is a self-nasal swab and it only takes 15 minutes to get the results. For more information visit https://www.abbott.com/BinaxNOW-Test-NAVICA-App.html#/. The roll out for these test could be as early as next week. I will send out the information regarding consents soon.

HISD and the Houston health department are working together to evaluate schools for safety measures. We are compliant with all regulations and are waiting for our visit to be scheduled.

We educated the Pre-Kindergarten classes on hand washing last week. It was fun to see them sing the alphabet song and wash their hands correctly. If they can do it, everyone can!

Words from the Safety committee:

The fire drill on October 30th was perfectly executed.  Our shelter in place drill - Severe Weather (while physical distancing) went well yesterday.  Our drill for Shelter in Place - Intruder/chemical will be next week:  RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.

Nurse Dana

To the parents who received an invitation for their child to attend Academic Bootcamp: 

HISD compiled a list of students to be invited to attend Academic Bootcamp on November 23 & 24, December 21 & 22, and March 15, 16 & 17. This list was compiled using data from the student Beginning of the Year (BOY) Renaissance 360 screening when all students were in virtual learning and having just returned from the 2019-2020 4th cycle of virtual learning followed by summer break. Therefore, this data is not necessarily an accurate assessment of how your child is progressing academically. Teachers have a more accurate idea of how your child is doing and will make you aware of any concerns they may have. Receiving this invitation does not mean that your child is struggling academically.

Wharton teachers already have interventions in place with their students who have academic challenges. These interventions take place during the school day. Some students may be invited to tutorials after school or on Saturdays in the spring if their teacher thinks this would benefit them and if circumstances allow. 

HISD’s Academic Bootcamp is not required and will not be held on our campus. Students who opt to attend may participate virtually or in-person with teachers from other campuses. Parents should consider whether Academic Bootcamp or taking a well-deserved and needed break on these days would be a better choice for their child.

Please complete the Request for Evaluation form on HISD Connect. Click here for instructions on how to complete the Request for Evaluation. The deadline to apply is Friday Nov. 6.

Please read the attached letter. HISD tests all kindergarten and 5^th grade students who are not already identified as Gifted & Talented (G/T).

Please note: We do not do "Entering K" GT testing for Pre-K students on our campus. Results will be returned in the spring semester.

G/T Testing Dates Kinder & 5th Grade – In Person Students

• Wednesday, November 11th
• Thursday, November 12th
• Friday, November 13th

G/T Testing Dates Kinder & 5th Grade – Virtual Students

• Tuesday, November 17th
• Wednesday, November 18th
• Thursday, November 19th

Universal G/T Testing is being done on campus.  Virtual students will need to come to school to take the test in person.  Testing is not mandatory, parents can choose for their child not to participate if they do not wish to bring them to campus.

Most of the testing will take place in the morning.  Specific schedule information will be sent to parents of virtual students before Nov. 17.

For virtual students, please confirm with Ms. Hancock at lhancock@houstonisd.org if your child will be coming to campus for G/T Testing or if you are choosing for them not to participate.

Ms. Hancock can be contacted for questions regarding the testing schedule at 713-556-6150 or the school main number 713-535-3771.

The HISD deadline to apply for Kindergarten, Middle School and High School for the 2021-2022 school year is fast approaching! Deadline for online application is Nov. 6.

Complete your online applications for your school selections at HISD Choice.

If you have a student currently enrolled in Pre-K at Wharton DLA and are planning on returning for Kindergarten, you do not need to complete an application. Our Pre-K students automatically enroll in to Kinder. Remember our 5th grade students must reply for Wharton Middle School or any other Middle School of their choice. All 8th grade must also apply to the HIgh School of their choice or attend their zoned school.

For more information regarding magnet applications, please see the HISD Magnet website.

If you have questions directly related to applying, you are welcome to email Ms. Syreeta Lazarus or Ms. Elizabeth Cortez.   

Friday Nov. 13th 6 PM Virtual Middle School Dance: Parents, if you would like to help organize our first virtual dance, please send us an email today. We are hoping to bring back our "Dia de los Muertos" theme.

Wharton K-8 Dual Language Academy PTO

900 W Gray St

Houston TX 77019