Message from the Principal
Hello Eagle Families!
On Monday, it is a B day and we look forward to our last step of the Phase-in process for middle school and welcoming some of our 8th graders who have chosen to start in-person. If you selected in-person learning starting on Monday, but have changed your mind and want to keep your student as a virtual learner for the 2nd 6 weeks, please email Mrs. Lauren Gripentrog.
Please do not forget to fill out the CRMS Student Self Screening Form EVERY DAY that you are coming to campus. Rest assured that we will have faculty members welcoming students and helping them find their 5th period classes. Remember to bring a water bottle, your computer, your charger, and headphones with a microphone. Please review the arrival map to ensure your student understands where to enter the building daily and you may want to also review the phase-in plans below carefully to see what your student can expect to return to campus physically. For full return to be successful will require a total effort from all staff, students and community on campus to follow the protocols necessary to keep our doors open and move the year forward.
As we are getting more accustomed to the blended learning with some students virtual and some in-person, we have had questions about student attendance, so we want to provide you with an Attendance update:
* Parents, if your child is going to be absent, please notify the attendance office before the start of the school day, by sending an email to crmsattedance@leanderisd.org. Please include student’s full legal name, student ID & grade, date of absence, reason for absence and parent phone number. For additional information, please see the attendance section on the CRMS homepage.
* Please allow 48 hours for attendance notes to be processed.
* If an error was made in your student’s attendance, please send an email to the attendance office and copy the teacher, to expedite any corrections.
* If you would like to change your student’s learning location to a virtual learner, please email your grade level counselor as soon as possible. This is important as attendance is entered differently for in-person and virtual learners. To change your student’s learning location to in-person, please see the “Deadlines for Parents to Change from Virtual to In-Person Learning” section of this newsletter.
Thank you for your continued support of Canyon Ridge Middle School.
Go Eagles!
Mrs. Wendy Sturdevant
Instagram: Canyon_Ridge_MS
Twitter: @Sturdevant_CRMS
2020 Cross Country
There is a Cross Country meeting on September 28th, 2020, 7:40am in the small gym. All CC athletes need to attend (athletes only).
Practice will start for all athletes on Tuesday September 29, 2020, 7:00am in the small gym.
Please bring your water bottle and wear your mask!
See the website for additional details. Cross Country
Single Sign-On with LISD Google Account Enabled Enhancing Student Security
Starting this week, students are required to be logged in to their LISD Google (First.last##@K12.leanderisd.org) account to access their Zoom classroom meetings. The district has added this new feature to enhance the security of our virtual meetings. If you are logged through any other personal account and not using your LISD Google email, you will not have access to the Zoom meeting. Since most students currently only log in with their Google account, this should not be a significant change. The SSO feature will not change the classroom links your teacher has already established.
If you encounter any issues accessing a Zoom meeting due to this change, please send your teacher an email so they can problem-solve the issue with you.
Why are is this required? The authenticated user option through Zoom uses Google SSO to only allow students and teachers from approved LISD domains to enter a meeting. It will not allow a non-Leander ISD student into the meetings. It will also track the Google users in attendance, which should help eliminate security breaches, aka “Zoom Bombing.” This feature will help us create a safe and secure virtual learning environment for all our students.
Remember, it is your responsibility to protect your Google log in credentials. Do not share this information with anyone.
PTA News
Eagles~
Hoping everyone is finding some positivity in this different school year. With a new grading cycle underway, it is a good time to reset and get organized. Some things to add to your calendar:
*Spirit Night: Chick-fil-A Four Points is giving a portion of proceeds back to the CRMS PTA on Wednesday, September 30 from 5:00-8:00 on drive-thru and app orders. This will recur the last Wednesday of each month throughout the school year.
*Spirit Night: Panda Express Four Points is giving a portion of proceeds back to the CRMS PTA on Friday, October 2 ALL day on all orders when you tell them you are there to support CRMS. This will recur the monthly throughout the school year.
*Book Fair: Scholastic is hosting a Fall Virtual Book Fair for CRMS October 5th-18th. It will be online and books will be sent directly to your house.
*Secret Pals: We have 22 teachers still in need of a Secret Pal. Please consider signing up ASAP and joining the fun of anonymously surprising a teacher throughout the year. This year is already proving to be a challenge for our teachers. Secret Pals is an awesome way to boost their spirits!
Click here to send an email and sign up to be a Secret Pal
Thank you for all of your support to keep the Eagles Soaring!
There are also neighborhood collections for donations of cleaning supplies like Clorox wipes or paper towels. Please note: there are COVID EPA requirements on certain products so please check those before purchasing.
If you are wanting to donate and unsure how, we will gladly accept donations of bottled water, paper towels, hand sanitizer or Clorox wipes on campus. As long as the item meets the EPA requirements, is sealed and brand new, we can accept deliveries of donations during office hours on campus.
Eighth Grade PSAT
In past years, 8th-grade students in Leander ISD were administered the PSAT 8/9 as part of the College Board’s SAT Suite of Assessments. This exam will not be given to 8th grade students this school year. This decision was made based on the need for proper spacing of students and the limited availability of space and proctors.
There will be no option to take the PSAT at home as this is not allowed by the College Board.
Current 8th-grade students will have an opportunity to take the PSAT 8/9 next year when in 9th-grade.
Please note: On the A/B calendar, we have October 29th as a PSAT/"C day" schedule. Even though we will not be doing PSAT, we will NOT be changing the A/B calendar and will instead utilize October 29th as a day for other campus activities to assist students as we approach the end of the second 6-weeks grading period. More detailed plans and information to come in October.
LISD presents Parenting the Love and Logic Way
LEEF MUDstacle in 2020 is a Campus Competition!
Classroom Impact Team members who sign up using the monthly donation form at leeftx.org/mudstacle from September 21st through October 31st and enter their school name, will count for the competition. More details: https://leeftx.org/mudstacle/
Library Update: Select books you want!
Hey Eagles!
Even though you may not be able to visit the CRMS Library, you can still check out books because the CRMS Library is going mobile! You can reserve books through Destiny, our online library catalog, and Ms. Fuller will check them out to you.
Video and written instructions for placing books on hold in Destiny can be found in your grade level Google Classrooms. Just click on Classwork, and then scroll to Library Resources.
If you are an in-person learner, Ms. Fuller will deliver your books to you during your ELA class beginning Tuesday, September 8.
If you are a virtual learner, you may pick up your books during curbside services every Tuesday and Friday from 10:30-11:30 beginning Friday, September 11. Virtual students and parents, please wait for an email confirmation from Ms. Fuller that your books are ready before coming to campus.
If you have any questions, please email Ms. Fuller at amy.fuller@leanderisd.org.
CRMS Bell Schedule with 6 lunches
Thank you for your patience as we started our new bell schedule this week to allow for 6 lunches. We plan to remain on this bell schedule so we do not anticipate anymore changes whether you transition to in-person or virtual.
- Bell Schedule for In-Person and Virtual Empowered Learning
- A/B Calendar: please note the Staff Dev./Student Holiday on November 2nd was moved by the school board to November 3rd)
- Lunch times are deteremined by your 3rd/7th period teacher
- Students may be in the Blue lunch group on A day and Gold lunch group on B day or vice versa.
- As well, some elective courses may be a mix of 7th/8th graders so the lunch may not be pure to the assigned grade level. Those classes are assigned to keep lunches as small & balanced as possible.
- Homeroom time will still not be a required for virtual students. For in-person students, homeroom time will be utilized in 3rd/7th period classroom for a break to use the restroom, wash hands, etc. around lunch time.
- All students will keep their scheduled Advisory period. Advisory is an assigned, required class and the teacher will be taking attendance and have expectations in place for both virtual and in-person students.
Phase-In Information for In-Person at CRMS
(Please note: we had technical difficulties with the recording at the beginning, so we did a recap of all information from the beginning again later in the Webinar and here are the presentation slides also.)
More Clarification about In-Person:
If we have a person on campus test positive for COVID, the following actions will take place:
We will immediately send the individual home (if present on campus). Quarantining and contact tracing will be done with the local health department. Guidance will be provided by the health department, as well.
We will immediately clean/sanitize the classrooms/areas where the individual has been on campus.
Parents will be notified if their child comes in close contact with the positive case.
We will respect the individual’s privacy and follow FERPA and HIPAA laws.
The entire school will receive a notification if there is a positive test within the school.
LEEF Campaign to Put $1 Million into Classrooms
DAILY Student Health Self-Screening & Checklist
Either a parent/guardian or the student is required to accurately complete and submit the CRMS Student Health Self-Screening & Checklist form EVERY morning before coming onto school property or getting on a school bus.
Self-Screening is an activity that all staff, students, and visitors must conduct EVERY DAY prior to entering a Leander ISD facility or bus to identify and exclude temporarily those who may have been exposed to COVID-19. This screening is an effort to maintain a healthy and safe learning/working environment.
The following is from the LISD COVID-19 Health Response Handbook:
Per the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
• “Schools have the ability to prevent anyone who either does not complete or does not pass a screening from entering their campus.”
• “Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school on campus if the child has COVID-19 symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test. School systems may also establish a screening process for students.”
By coming to school, you are attesting that you confidently answered “NO” to ALL of the questions related to COVID-19 symptoms and have a very low risk of carrying or spreading COVID-19. If you answered “YES” to ANY of the questions, you are to stay home. All screening information will be kept confidential by the campus administration and the campus nurse.
Students experiencing ANY of the symptoms from the list below, in a way that is not normal for the student, MUST REMAIN AT HOME and a parent/guardian should email the CRMS Attendance Clerk (CRMSAttendance@leanderisd.org) and provide the student’s Full Legal Name, Student ID Number, date and reason for absence.
***Students who are required to stay home due to COVID-19 related symptoms can still access learning virtually if they feel well enough to attend virtual classes.
Deadlines for Parents to Change from Virtual to In-Person Learning
Deadlines for Parents to change from Virtual to In-Person Learning & Date Students Return to In Person Learning:
Deadline - September 11 for 2nd 6-weeks beginning September 21 for 7th graders & September 28 for 8th graders
- Deadline - October 23 for 3rd 6-weeks beginning November 2
- Deadline - December 11 for 4th 6-weeks beginning January 4
- Deadline - February 5 for 5th 6-weeks beginning February 16
- Deadline - March 26 for 6th 6-weeks beginning April 5
Attendance & Absence Information
Criteria for Students to Return to School After an Illness Absence
Since almost every illness contains symptoms associated with COVID-19, the LISD guidelines applying to suspected or diagnosed COVID-19 illnesses apply to all student absences which are due to illness.
Students absent from school for an illness with ANY of the symptoms listed above will need to meet the following criteria before returning to school:
• At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared; AND
• There is improvement in COVID-19 associated symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath); AND
• At least 1 day (24 hours) have passed since recovery, defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.
A parent note for a student illness will NOT be accepted until AFTER the 10 day exclusion period has ended.
If a student has had a negative COVID-19 test (and provides documented results), the student may return to school once they are fever free without the use of fever-reducing medicines and has felt well for 24 hours.
Students can also return to school, if they receive confirmation of an alternative diagnosis from a health care provider that would explain the COVID-19-like symptom(s), once they are fever free without the use of fever-reducing medicines, and they have felt well for 24 hours (documentation required).
Students who return to school from an illness related absence without meeting the above criteria will be removed from class to wait in the lecture hall. Parents must then pick up their student immediately.
Procedure for Returning to School After ANY Absence
• Students returning to school after an absence, for any reason, must go directly to the Attendance Office before going to their 1st/5th period class.
• Students meeting the criteria to return to school will be given an Attendance Admit Hall Pass to be given to their 1st/5th period teacher.
• Teachers will not admit students who have been absent from class without an Attendance Admit Hall Pass.
• If the student does not meet the criteria to return school, they will wait in the lecture hall and a parent/guardian will be immediately notified take them home.
Message from CRMS Nurse
Dear Parents,
We are excited to see some of our students return to campus on September 8th. If your child requires medication during the school day or has emergency medication, please contact the school nurse to schedule an appointment. All paperwork, including doctor's signature for prescription medication, will need to be brought to the campus nurse during your appointment time. Medication must be properly labeled (prescription medication must have the pharmacy label), unexpired, and in the original container. Appointments will be made by grade level according to the phase in plan for our in-person students. For any questions or concerns, please contact our nurse, Rachael Kristoff at 512-570-3507 or email rachael.kristoff@leanderisd.org. Thank you.
Rachael Kristoff RN, BSN
Canyon Ridge Middle School Nurse
512-570-3507
512-570-9258 confidential eFax
Update to Remind & Newsletters!
Launch to Learning Guides and FAQ
As the upcoming school year takes shape, we want to ensure the information families need to make important decisions is easy to access in our Launch to Learning 2020-21 guides.
We know that our community still has questions, so we’ve worked hard at cultivating an expansive, updated FAQ section of the Launch to Learning site. The latest additions will be highlighted green for a few days and then moved into a queue under the appropriate heading.
Canyon Ridge Middle School
AP/Counselor by grade-level:
- 6th: Cassandra Ricks/Shirley Dean
- 7th: Mandi Vogel/Staci Cote
- 8th: Monica Diaz Carle/Lauren Gripentrog
Instagram: Canyon_Ridge_MS
Email: wendy.sturdevant@leanderisd.org
Website: https://crms.leanderisd.org/
Phone: 512-570-3500
Twitter: @Sturdevant_CRMS