Ridge Relay

Today is is September 11th, a National Day of Service and Remembrance (9/11 Day) and Texas First Responders Day. Today is a chance to help others in tribute to those killed and injured on September 11, 2001, first responders, and the countless others who serve to defend the nation’s freedom at home and around the globe. September 11, 2023, is the 22nd Anniversary of that tragic day and we will never forget. Today, we honor those who aid us in emergencies. Police, firefighters and EMTs rush to help those who are in emergency situations and in many cases place their lives in danger to do so. When you see a police officer, firefighter or EMT tell them thank you for helping and keeping you safe. We encourage our Eagles to step forward to serve in a remarkable spirit of unity, honor, and compassion and in recognition of first responders. Remember, even a small act of service is a giant act of patriotism. Honor. Serve. Unite.

Go Eagles!

Mrs. Wendy Sturdevant

Come join the PTA meeting today, Monday, September 11th at 11:00am in the CRMS lecture hall. If you haven't ever been, there is no better time than now to join us and see what middle school PTA is all about.

If you can't make it on September 11th, please mark your calendar to join us on November 13th at 11:00am.

The CRMS PTA is excited to bring back our Secret Pal program this year! Sign up to be paired with a teacher or staff member and anonymously shower your Secret Pal with gifts (favorite snacks/gift cards/gift baskets, etc) FOUR times throughout the school year. You will receive an info sheet with your Secret Pal's favorites along with the gifting dates, program details and guidelines once you are matched! Matches are made on a first come, first served basis. Secret Pals will be revealed at the end of the year!

Email crmssecretpal@gmail.com with any questions. If you would like to be a part of this program click the link below to sign up!

CRMS Secret Pal Program - Parent Sign-up Form 2023-2024

Parents: Here is an opportunity to recognize a Canyon Ridge Middle School teacher or staff member who has made a difference! Every week, a faculty member will be chosen as the Golden Eagle recipient. If the teacher or staff member you nominated is recognized for this award, you will be invited to come to campus and join us to present the award with the admin team. Please complete this brief form to honor a CRMS teacher or staff member.

The district will host an online information session to review GT services, screening, and identification processes. At this meeting, we will also explain the purpose of the 23-24 District Gifted and Talented Advisory committee.

Monday, September 11 · 6:30 – 7:30 pm

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/ejh-cdrj-uga

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 419-540-8536‬ PIN: ‪124 777 977‬#

Contact Shirley Bachus with questions.

The application for the 2023-24 GT District Advisory is now open. All GT parents, GT teachers, GT students, GT Counselors, and GT administrators interested in serving this important role should complete the LISD GT Advisory Interest Form 23-24 by Friday, September 29, 2023. Those selected for service on the committee will be notified by October 6, 2023.

“QUEST” is an acronym for Quality Utilization and Enrichment of Student Talents. Leander ISD’s QUEST and Gifted & Talented (GT) Services are designed to meet the needs of identified gifted students who have demonstrated above-average ability in the following area of giftedness as defined by the Texas State Plan for the Gifted: high general-intellectual ability at the top 8-10% of the campus population. If you wish for your child to request QUEST testing, please email your grade level counselor by September 29, 2023.

CRMS families, if your child is proficient in a language and would like to pursue testing opportunities to earn high school credit for this language, please contact your school counselor for information on 2023/2024 testing. Testing date for fall 2023 is October 20, 2023 on the CRMS campus. The deadline to register for fall testing is September 29, 2023. Testing slots are limited due to the nature of the test and classroom capacity. Once the slots are full, your child can be added to the spring 2024 list. Testing is open to all grade levels, but recommended for 7/8 graders.

Registration forms for DI are located on the LISD Destination Imagination Site.

Forms due to Mrs. Seema George by October 2nd

Hello families, the latest Special Programs September newsletter is here.

The Canyon Ridge Yearbook is available for sale HERE! Yearbooks are currently $40. Pre-order yours today!

Yearbook Recognition Ads are also available to purchase for 8th Graders ONLY; they cost $25.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jared.Lichtenberger@leanderisd.org

Please note that we have a new yearbook vendor for this year, so please make sure you are purchasing with our link for Jostens Canyon Ridge Middle School Yearbook.

Parents, please be aware of new apps that some students have started downloading, Saturn and Gradeway.

As educators, we are very concerned about students sharing their school schedule in apps like Saturn and Gradeway. For example, we have already had parents getting Artificial intelligence (AI) fake phone calls that sounds like it is from the school because the app knows what classes the student is currently taking.

Here is one recent news story about the concerns of student safety with Saturn.

And an article about the safety, parent controls, etc. of the app.

As a parent myself, I would discourage students from downloading these free apps.

*Gradeway asks you for your log-in to HAC and this is NOT associated with CRMS or Leander ISD. It is not recommended to ever share your HAC or any school log-ins with any apps/programs.

Have you joined the CRMS PTA yet? Only $10. Enter your child’s ELA teacher name on form as part of contest to see if ELA class can get 100% participation. When you join, you support teachers and students!

Joining the CRMS PTA does not require you to volunteer; we would love to have you volunteer, but it is not required.

Please see the image below of our amazing PTA and community treated our teacher to a coffee cart full of goodies last week.

This year, to give more kids an opportunity to learn more about STEM, VHE team 4545 is offering a STEM opportunity to kids in Elementary, Middle School, and High school students. They are calling it Innovation Station and will host it every first Saturday of the month (except February) from 10am-12pm. The kids can explore everything from CAD to coding to other STEM related activities!

The first Innovation Station will be held on September 2nd at the VHS robot room. Attached is a flyer and there's a QR code that leads to a RSVP form and there's more information on the form too!

In April and May 2023, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests were administered to students. The state released final performance level results to parents this week on Wednesday, August 16th. Please see below for information on how to access your child’s scores using the STAAR Parent Portal.

Here are Steps to Access Your Child's STAAR Scores

On the STAAR Parent Portal, a screen will prompt you for a portal access code. Enter your student’s unique access code (not their school lunch/ID number. Portal access codes can be found on previous STAAR communications or in HAC following the linked steps).

If you need assistance, please contact Larissa Baggett, CRMS Testing Coordinator.

Important Attendance Reminders:

• Absence notes should be emailed to crmsattendance@leanderisd.org within 48 hours of the absence.
  

• When you email the school, please include the student's first and last name and ID #. Student nicknames can cause confusion with attendance coding.

• If you will be picking up your child from school early, please call the school (512-570-3500) ahead of time to let the Receptionist know. This allows our Receptionist time to get a pass written ahead of time and helps to move the process along more quickly.
  

• The only people who will be permitted to pick up a child will be parents/guardians and those individuals listed as an emergency contact in your Home Access Center (HAC). Due to safety reasons, we are no longer allowing a parent to call in and give permission for someone to pick up your child during the school day other than those listed in HAC.

  We do not allow early pick up after 4:00pm.

• If you feel like there is an error for a particular class period, please email the teacher directly first. For example, if your student was tardy and the teacher accidentally already marked the student absence, email the teacher because the attendance office has to have it in writing from the teacher before attendance can update anything

• There is a turn around time in updates if a student was with the nurse, AP, counselor, etc. It is not necessary to email the attendance office. Please remember that we have almost 1100 students so it will take 1-2 business days to show the update. We appreciate your patience and understanding that our team is working tirelessly to support all of our Eagles!

At CRMS, we are a 1-to-1 device campus. All students are required to have a device with a keyboard each day at school. Students may bring their own device or get a device from mLISD.

This coming school year, all 6th graders will begin receiving new devices as part of the technology rollout from the last bond election.

The payment window is now open for families to secure their students’ district-provided laptops for the 2023-2024 school year. Plans to distribute laptops will be communicated at a later date. This program is optional. A non-refundable security deposit will be required for participation. The security deposit will be waived for students who qualify for Free and Reduced meals.

Price:

Middle School Students: $40 per school year

High School Students: $60 per school year

Students who qualify for Free and Reduced meals: $0.00

(Registration through our online store, currently EdPay, or submission of a signed acceptance form is required.)

Payment methods:

A) Debit/credit cards through the mLISD website

B) Scholarship opportunities are available. Please contact mlisd@leanderisd.org or your counselor for more information. Please include the following information in your email:

• The student’s name

• Campus

• Student ID number

• Parent phone number

Click here for more information about mLISD, scholarships and access to sign-up and pay

The Leander ISD Transportation Department uses SMART Tag – a system that provides accurate, near real-time monitoring of where and when students load onto and unload off of their school bus – to help promote student safety and security, keeping parents, school administrators and the district’s transportation department more informed.

Returning bus riders are asked to continue to use the SMART Tag card they were issued last year. If they do not have a card, the student will punch in using their lunch number (student ID) when getting on and off the bus. Bus drivers will begin to issue cards in September for new bus riders.

The online parent portal allows parents and guardians to register to receive alerts for when the bus will arrive at their child’s stop; see a live map of their child’s bus; and view a riding history for their child. Be sure to register if you have never done so.

By Wednesday, Aug. 9, Leander ISD parents can enter their home address into Infofinder to look up their child’s bus route number, pick-up/drop-off times, and bus stop locations for the 2023–24 school year. Bus routes are subject to change, so LISD parents are strongly encouraged to confirm their child’s bus information again the week prior to the start of school.

During the 2023–24 school year, Leander ISD will welcome back Southwest Foodservice Excellence (SFE) as its food-services provider. That’s right – that means Crispitos are coming back!

All students who qualify for free meals during the 2023–24 school year will receive breakfast and lunch at no cost. In 2023–24, students who qualify for reduced-price meals will receive free breakfast meals and lunch for $0.40.

For elementary students who do not qualify for F&R meals, prices will remain the same from last year. At elementary school, the cost of breakfast is $1.50 and lunch is $2.90. For secondary students, the cost of breakfast is $1.75 and lunch is $3.15.

Parents who would like to apply to find out if they are eligible for F&R meals for their children can visit our Child Nutrition Services website for more information.

Beginning last school year, all tickets for all high school and middle school athletic events hosted at LISD facilities will be sold online only. There will be NO cash sales at the gate.

Tickets can be purchased through link on the athletics webpage:

https://www.leanderisd.org/athletics_ticketspasses/

Randall's has agreed to add CRMS to the Good Neighbor Support program and it is SO easy! Email below, then do your regular shopping and Randall's will donate back to the CRMS PTA.

Simply copy/paste the below message to send an email to good.neighbor@randalls.com with the following:

Hello,

Please link my customer account connected to phone number [type your Randall's phone number] with Good Neighbor Charity #14216 for Canyon Ridge Middle School PTA.

Thank you,

[type your name]

AP/Counselor by grade-level for 2023-2024:

• 6th: Dr. Ashley Thompson1 / Kimberly Mills
• 7th: Leah Cox / Jillian Baaklini
• 8th: Brian Bass / Staci Cote

Email: Wendy.Sturdevant@leanderisd.orgg
Website: crms.leanderisd.org
Location: Canyon Ridge Middle School, Country Trails Lane, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-570-3500
Twitter: @Sturdevant_CRMS