Hello Eagle families,
Spring is officially here and we have a lot going on at Canyon Ridge! This week we had our VIrtual Pep Rally leading up to today’s Rumble at the Ridge. There is so much goodness happening across our campus this year (despite COVID!), and I am beaming with pride (with tears in my eyes) as I watch our AMAZING students in action. We included a year in review of pictures in addition to our fabulous performances from cheer, Dyami, band, and choir and athletics accolades. Please watch to see highlights of how connected so many of our students are, the outstanding work they are doing in class, and some of the many successes and accomplishments they’ve achieved this year. We hope you will continue participating in our dress-up theme days for College Awareness Week.
We also received the exciting news of our student results for National History Day. Our students did extremely well in our regional contest and are advancing to STATE. Of all groups who submitted, every Canyon Ridge student won either first or second place in their category. Please see all the names & results below, and join me in congratulating these hard-working students!
In addition, we were overjoyed to share that our amazing CRMS Band Director, Amy Allison, and the CRMS band program were presented the 2021 Texas Bandmasters Association Exemplary Band Program Award this week, which only goes to one middle school program in the entire State of Texas! Congratulations Ms. Allison on being recognized as a program that has achieved outstanding success under strong, consistent leadership at CRMS!
We are also in the midst of planning end-of-the-year events for our 8th graders. Please see the dates and info below, so 8th graders won’t miss out on any of the fun!
Reminder: Today (3/26) is the deadline to change from Virtual to In-person starting April 12th. This is the start of the last grading period of the school year and will be the last time for a learning location change. If you are currently in-person and want to change to virtual, please email your counselor.
And don’t forget about our CRMS PTA Spirit Nights this week. They donate money back to CRMS, so don’t miss out on Chick-fil-A night on Wednesday and Panda Express on Thursday!
At Chick-fil-A Four Points: Wednesday, March 31st, 5:00-8:00pm.
- At Panda Express Four Points: Thursday, April 1st, all day. Online code 320204 for orders placed on order.pandaexpress.com or the Panda app.
Go Eagles!
Wendy Sturdevant
Eagle News: March 23
LISD Mental Health Minute: March 23
Instagram: Canyon_Ridge_MS
Twitter: @Sturdevant_CRMS
8th Graders--Don't miss out!
Viper Camp, Thursday, April 22nd
- Order your Viper Camp shirt online now! Deadline for shirt order is Sunday, April 11th. (If you don't order your shirt by 4/11, it will not arrive in time for Viper Camp.)
- Viper Camp this year will be organized to follow necessary COVID protocols, so CRMS and FPMS will have separate times at VHS. Viper Camp will include small group rotations to tour Vandegrift, have lunch and learn more about VHS.
- In-Person students: Will receive a permission slip in Advisory next week. Will complete normal daily health screener and arrive to CRMS at 8:10 for class, then will ride buses to VHS for Viper Camp. When Viper Camp is complete, in-person students will ride buses back to CRMS to finish classes for the school-day.
- Virtual students have two options: 1. May have a parent drop student off at VHS (will not ride the school bus) and attend in-person Viper Camp event, 9:15am - 1:35pm. If a virtual student would like to go in-person to Viper Camp, you must sign up here OR 2. May attend virtually. VHS will have a Virtual Viper Camp available on their website by April 21st for students who chose to not attend in-person.
8th Grade Celebration Video
We want to create a celebratory video for all our 8th grade students. Our goal is to have their baby pictures morph into their 8th grade yearbook pictures, all set to fun music. We thought this would be a great way to send our 8th graders on to high school. Please complete and submit this form by Friday, April 30, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.
8th Grade Academic Award Drive-thru Ceremony, Monday May 24th, 5:30-7:00
- We will have a drive-thru pick-up for for certificates and awards.
- Will include an optional outdoor photo-op for 8th graders receiving recognitions.
- More information to come in early May.
8th Grade End-of-the-year Celebration, Thursday, May 27th
- On the last day of school, we will have a 1/2 day early release and we want to have some fun for our 8th graders as we celebrate their last day of Middle School.
- We will be continuing with COVID protocols in an outdoor event here at CRMS.
- Virtual students will have the choice to attend in-person.
- More information to come in May.
National History Day STATE qualifiers
Exciting news to share regarding the results of National History Day. Our students did extremely well in our regional contest. Of all groups who submitted, every Canyon Ridge student won either first or second place in their category. Our results are as follows:
Group Documentary
1st Place: Tyler Lowe, Brannan Echols and Rowan Haney for The War of 1812: “The Conflict of Missed Communication”
2nd Place: Sophie Seewald and Sarah Thomas for The Federalist Papers: The Key to the Constitution
Group Performance
1st Place: Abigail Mack, Anjali Narayanan, Catherine Schwenker for The Communication Methods of the Culper Spy Ring
Group Website
1st Place: Carmen Gouws and Siena Hanabery for How the Federalists and Anti-federalists Communicated with Each Other
2nd Place: Brock Hinojosa, Adam Scott, George Sierant, and Kiran Wilson for Compromise of 1850
Individual Exhibit
1st Place: Jordan Mccalister for Secrets of the Underground Railroad
2nd Place: Ian Choudhary for Unexpected Pirates: The Barbary Wars
Individual Website
1st Place: Samuel Kim for Testing the Electoral College: The Letters that Influenced the Election of 1800
Paper
1st Place: Noya Vainbrand for The Voice of Abigail Adams: How the Second First Lady, Abigail Adams, Impacted Society
2nd Place: Devyn Kirk for Spoken Without Words- The American Flag
We are so proud of all of the work that they put into these. Each project represents a huge amount of effort and learning. Each student or group who came in first or second will continue on to the competition at the state level, which will be held virtually on Saturday, March 27th. A virtual award ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 24th.
We're Having a Book Fair!
Dear Parents and Families:
We are working hard to keep kids reading and raise funds for our school with our Spring Scholastic PTA Book Fair. We are so excited to be able to offer students a sense of normalcy and joy after this unusual year. Our Fair will connect your kids to notable books and inspiring characters — helping them become lifelong readers with all purchases directly supporting our school!
Our Scholastic Bookfair starts with on-campus delivery Wed, Apr 14th and virtual pick-up Apr 19th but you can start ordering now through our Google “School Order Form.”
These orders are BOOKS only and will qualify Kids and Teachers to win exciting prizes during this week of Bookfair Fun. CRMS Librarian and ELA teachers will share more details as the fair approaches.
The ONLY form of payment will be thru Scholastic E-Wallet, so go to the CRMS Scholastic homepage now to enter funds for your student. It’s simple to add funds at any time with a credit card and any unused funds are returned to your card after the fair closes on Apr 21st. All sales support Canyon Ridge Middle School PTA. Go Eagles!
The final days of the CRMS Bookfair this year will include Curbside Bookfair events after school:
- Mon, Apr 19th 4-7pm
- Wed, Apr 21st 2:30-6:30pm
Be sure to register on Sign-up Genius to guarantee quick and efficient drive-up ordering for Books, Pens and Accessories.
Stay in your car to order from the “menu” of Scholastic items then pay with either E-Wallet or Credit Card. Enjoy the fun of the Scholastic Bookfair safely from your car, while supporting our school.
We need volunteers for virtual tasks, signage, etc. If you can help, have questions or want to donate please email: lori@exobright.com.
For on-campus volunteering Mar 13th to 21st, please register.
Thank you for helping us bring this Bookfair to the CRMS Community!
BrightBytes: Need Parent feedback please
Dear Parents and Guardians of CRMS,
We are partnering with BrightBytes, an educational research and analytics company, in order to learn more about our students’ school and home technology use for learning.
We are reaching out to ask you to take part in our school questionnaire. Your participation is essential to help us form a more complete picture of technology use for learning in our students’ lives, and will help your child's school choose the right technology for their classrooms. Please know that all of your responses will remain anonymous to protect your privacy. The questionnaire will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
The last day to complete this questionnaire is April 16th. Please respond using the link below:
Thank you for taking part in this important initiative!
Hula Hoop Club
Are you interested in hula hooping? Do you want to learn how to do tricks and spins with the hoop on and off body? If so, go to room 0121 and talk to Mrs. Beasley or email her at misti.beasley@leanderisd.org
BASKETBALL AND VOLLEYBALL INTRAMURALS CLUB
It is time for the basketball and volleyball intramural club this year! The basketball intramural club starts on April 5, 2021. The club will be held in the small gym from 3:30-5:00. The information/permission form can be found on the club website. There is also a sign up sheet there as well. The dates of the club meetings are all listed on the permission form. Please print the permission slip and bring it with you on the first day.
Everyone is invited to join the club and come have fun learning and playing basketball with Coach Waddell. If you have any questions please feel free to email: Luke.Waddell@leanderisd.org
The volleyball intramural club will start April 29, 2021. The club will meet in the small gym from 3:30-5:00. Although there are three days that we will meet on early release days from 1:30-3:00. The permission slip and information sheet are on the club website. There is also a sign up sheet there as well. All of the meeting dates and times are listed on the permission/information sheet. Please print the permission slip and bring it with you the first day.
Everyone is invited to join the club and come have fun learning and playing volleyball with Coach Edwards. If you have any questions please feel free to email: Brenda.Edwards@leanderisd.org
Exam for Acceleration
Each year, LISD offers students an opportunity to take an Exam for Acceleration (EA) at no cost to the family. LISD offers multiple EA testing windows each school year. Click this link for more information and dates. Students and parents can request the exam through their grade level counselor. The next and final testing window for this school year is listed below. Please note the deadline to request a test:
Testing Window: June 7-10, 2021
Registration deadline: April 23, 2021
Logistics: Arranged with student's counselor, LISD district staff, & UTHS
In person and online testing offered
Note: Students who pass an Exam for Acceleration in the June 2021 testing window will receive their acceleration in the 2021/2022 school year.
Cropped Logo Challenge
For current 8th graders: The Leander Virtual Learning Academy
High school students may have a choice for a permanent virtual school in 2021–22. The LISD Board of Trustees has approved the exploration of a permanent online school choice for high school students with the creation of a Virtual Learning Academy. Current online offerings are limited to New Hope High School (grades 11–12, permanent) and Virtual Empower Learning (temporary during the pandemic). The proposal would merge New Hope into the Leander ISD Virtual Learning Academy, an online program in which all participants will transfer to, participate in, and graduate from the four-year high school. If there’s enough interest, the Virtual Academy will open to 9th- and 10th-grade students starting in Fall 2021 with plans to add 11th-grade students for Fall 2022 and 12th-grade students for Fall 2023. Please check out the webpage for The Leander Virtual Learning Academy where you may register for the information session next week. Contact Barbara Spelman with any questions.
VNAB yard sign to celebrate your Eagle due April 12th
Last call for VNAB Yard Signs: The order for the first round of yard signs has been placed. We will only be doing one more order due April 12th.
Viper Nation Academic Booster Club is offering yard signs again this year for all the schools in our area. They will only be placing two orders.
Here is the form: CELEBRATE YOUR STUDENT WITH A YARD SIGN! (cognitoforms.com)
YEARBOOKS!
2020-21 Yearbooks are available for sale NOW! Don't wait to pre order your yearbook for this extraordinary and unforgettable year! Yearbooks are $40 through April 14th. On April 15th, the price will increase to $45. There is a limited supply, so order yours today! Click here to order.
Did you miss out on purchasing a CRMS yearbook from last year? We still have some yearbooks available that will be sold for a discounted price of $30. If you'd like to purchase last year's yearbook, please visit the front office at CRMS with $30 exact cash or check. Books will be sold on a first come, first served basis.
Use Randalls & Amazon Smile to donate to CRMS PTA
Turn your sound on and please watch this video from CRMS students!
*Randall's will donate to CRMS PTA if you select us as your Good Neighbor Program just because you shop there! Complete this form and then e-mail to good.neighbor@randalls.com or take to any store customer service location..
*Did you know you can buy all your Amazon purchases through Amazon Smile, and they will donate to our PTA all year long?!?! It doesn’t cost you anything and you order the same way. Just set up your Amazon Smile profile to donate to PTA Texas Congress Canyon Ridge Middle School PTA.
*CRMS PTA: If you have not yet, please consider joining the CRMS PTA. Memberships start as low as $10.
*SPIRIT WEAR: Spirit Wear has recently been restocked. Porch pickup is very close to CRMS.
Be sure to follow Canyon Ridge Middle School PTA on Facebook and join the Facebook group for your child's grade level. Thank you for your time and all of your support for our Eagles!
Library Grab & Go
Grab & Go Library Curbside hours have been updated:
Tuesdays 10:30-11:30am
Wednesdays 4:00-5:00pm
See the CRMS Library website for all the details and MORE on how to get books from your CRMS Library at curbside or on-campus! Thank you for checking at home and returning all library books during curbside hours or on the cart in the hallway outside the CRMS Library!
Athletic Events Updates/Leander ISD to limit spectators at sporting events:
As we approach Soccer season, I wanted to give you an update on LISD Spectator Guidelines. LISD has lifted the two spectators per student limitation. However, we are now currently under a 50% capacity rule for the CRMS Stadium. Our CRMS Administrators will monitor the capacity in the stadium. All spectators are required to wear a mask and practice social distancing. Please be willing to leave the stadium after your student is done competing to allow other parents to attend.
To ensure you have the most accurate and up to date information on our sports schedules, please visit the Athletics Website.
Here is the Leander ISD General Spectator information for all Leander ISD athletic events.
Everyone entering the stadium/gyms will be required to wear a face mask the entire time they are at the school event.
You will be asked health screener questions when you arrive and must be completed by each person attending. If you have symptoms, please do not attend.
Stadium and gyms will have reduced, limited capacity and we will not be able to allow anyone to enter when at capacity.
Seating will be marked off on bleachers for social distancing. Please do NOT sit on the blue tape.
We ask that when your child’s game is over, please leave the stadium/gym, so that we can let in more families for the following games.
MS game tickets will be sold at the gate of each event. No presale tickets for MS events.
Limited passes will be accepted.
No student athlete passes will be allowed.
Concession stands will be open with prepackaged food items and drinks for sale.
Hand sanitizer stations will be provided and restrooms will be open. Water fountains will not be available.
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:
Returning to in-person for the 1st time this year? Here is some CRMS info to assist in your transition.
Deadline - March 26 for 6th 6-weeks beginning April 12
Health Screener App - required NOW!
**Please note that we will no longer be using the Student Google Form due to a district-wide switch to this new screener app.**
Leander ISD has licensed a NEW Frontline Health Portal to provide you with a convenient way to complete your child’s COVID-19 self-screen prior to arriving at school every day. You may download the Frontline App, or use the attached QR Code to register and login to your portal.
- Please review the directions below for setting up your portal to register and create a Frontline account. You may do this through the Frontline Health Portal app or through the web address, Click Here.
(It is recommended you use a desktop computer to register, once registered the Frontline Health App and QR code will work with ease)
Use the primary email that you provided to the district and confirm the Portal Terms of Use.
You will receive an email with a temporary password and a link to confirm your account.
You will need your child’s Student ID # to add your child to the account
Important Note: All children in a family can be added to the same exact account. As well as families that have multiple homes, both parents can create an account for their child with their own email.
If you are having technical difficulties, there are two ways to receive technical support: 1) Call the Help Desk or 2) Enter a Technology Help Ticket:
1. How do I contact the Help Desk?
Call: 512-570-0566
Help Desk Hours: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F
2. Technology Help Ticket: http://servicemanager.leanderisd.org/
Thank you for your assistance with the required daily screener!
***DO NOT REGISTER IF YOUR CHILD IS STILL VIRTUAL, THIS IS ONLY FOR IN-PERSON STUDENTS***
Maintain the social distancing, wear your mask, wash your hands & sanitize!
If anyone in your household tests positive for COVID, please notify Mrs. Sturdevant or our school nurse, Rachael Kristoff, immediately. Also, since we are in between holiday breaks, if your child is in-person & was with someone over the holiday break that has now tested positive for COVID, you must notify the nurse of the exposure. We are doing our best to properly contact trace & keep all of our students & staff safe.
We encourage our families and staff to do their part to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
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, 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.
@AusPublicHealth is offering risk guidance for gatherings to help keep #1LISD healthy & safe. With the recent surge in COVID cases in central Texas, we're especially mindful of how the pandemic continues to affect our community and potentially our schools. Our most important goal is keeping our campuses open so that our students can learn and our families can thrive. We can't do it alone. Please do your part to celebrate safely during the holidays so that we can support and safeguard our teachers, students and students.
To minimize the spread of COVID-19 and ensure everyone has a safe and healthy holiday season, Austin Public Health is offering risk guidance for gatherings. En Espanol
Looking to Donate Items?
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.
Please note: there are COVID EPA requirements on certain products so please check those before purchasing. As long as the item meets the those requirements, is sealed and brand new, we can accept deliveries of donations during office hours on campus.
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