We had such a great first full week of classes. Students are getting connected, developing skills, visiting the library and so much more! As well, Volleyball, Football and Cross Country have started practices and will begin competing soon. We are so excited to have all of our students back in school as we continue to work to provide an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for each of our students and staff.

We are so grateful for the out-pouring of support from our CRMS community this past week. Many of you have reached out to me personally or dropped off goodies or donations to our teachers and campus. In particular during these challenging times, I encourage you to continue sharing the positive notes and kindness with all of our educators. Hearing from our families means so much and is so appreciated!

A few updates:

• We have provided more info on our COVID protocols below.

• Did you know we have a 2nd set of bike racks at CRMS?!?! Kudos to all of our Eagles biking to school but our front bike rack is overflowing. Go around the corner & find plenty of space for more bikes at the back corner of the academic building. Photo taken during school so you can see all the space :)

• The track and football field is closed from Friday, 8/20 through Monday, 8/23 to finish the track repairs and striping on the track. If all goes as planned with the weather, it should reopen to the public Monday afternoon. Please remember that bicycles and scooters are not allowed on the track.

• As we start athletic games this 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.

And don’t forget that TOMORROW, Monday (8/23) is our next PTA Spirit night at Chick-fil-A at Four Points. Pick up dinner from 5-8pm and mention Canyon Ridge and they will donate back to CRMS.

Follow us on social media:

Twitter: @Sturdevant_CRMS

Instagram: Canyon_Ridge_MS

Leander ISD updated our Health Response Protocols and on August 17th, elevated to a new Red Stage. Please review and partner with us to keep people healthy and schools open:

• COVID-19 Update: New Health Response Protocols
• August 6th Update to COVID Notifications, Contact Tracing and Dashboard data
• August 17th Update: Mask Requirement for All
• Leander ISD COVID dashboard

Masks

While we are under the Leander ISD mask requirement and in stage Red of the health protocols, each day we will continue to have a staff member at the entrance doors providing masks to those who come in without one on. The current LISD mask mandate is a commitment to trying to keep students and staff safe and our schools open. Even though the opt-out option for some makes it essentially feel like an “optional requirement”, it still conveys our organizational commitment to wearing masks to protect others, not just ourselves. We are grateful that we have seen an increase in masks, and we need this trend to continue, but we must clarify that neither the staff nor I can force a student to wear a mask. We will continue to encourage and highly recommend students follow the mask requirement as much as we can without distracting from instruction and the classroom learning environment. We are aware there are differing opinions in our community, and we will kindly and respectfully work within the district rules to educate our students and continue to have a safe and welcoming environment at CRMS.

Virtual Meetings

Now that Leander ISD has moved to Red Stage, most parent meetings will be virtual on zoom. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding as we navigate the year.

Volunteers

Volunteers will be limited and allowed to come by appointment only (to help/do specific planned activities). In order to be a volunteer, you have to be approved by Leander ISD. Volunteering information can be found on the LISD website.

Contact Tracing/Self-Quarantine/Attendance

Since we’ve had some positive cases on campus, we have had some questions about close contact, contact tracing and quarantines. When we have had a positive case (student or staff) that has been on campus, the case will be reported on the Leander ISD Dashboard for your reference and a notice will be sent out to all of CRMS through Remind. The district office also takes the seating charts and sends contact tracing information to those in close contact. With the number of cases districtwide, limited staff and dependent on the timing of the report of the positive case, it may take a little time to get all the information fully pushed out to those in close contact. As well, the contact tracing information does not necessarily go to the whole class because it is dependent on seating, so if you don’t get a notice, your student may not have been in close contact. Also, I would like to share that I have heard from other families that the information sometimes went to their spam folder (it comes from lisdcontacttracing@leanderisd.org), so you may want to also check your spam folder.

If your student was determined to be in close contact, you should monitor for symptoms and do not send your child to school if they have a fever or symptoms. During that time, if your child has no symptoms, then you as a family have the choice to self-quarantine or not.

Unfortunately, if you do test positive or choose to self-quarantine, there is NO virtual option to switch to. Currently, the state did not fund that for our schools this year. But our teachers are working hard to keep work and resources posted in their google classrooms so if your student is feeling up to it, they can keep up with the work through google classroom. If your child is not feeling well, we want them to focus on getting better and then the teachers will work to support them when they return.

If your student does test positive, you should immediately notify the school nurse, Rachael Kristoff. If you send in the positive test, your student’s absences during required isolation will be excused. If you receive notification of close contact and choose to self-quarantine, you should forward your notice with a note from the parent on the email to crmsattendance@leanderisd.org so that your attendance may be excused.

Join our CRMS Site-Based Committee!

Sign-up here by September 1st

The input of our parents, staff and community is so critical as we work together to support all of our stakeholders. Please note: as part of the committee, there is no prep or time commitment for you outside of our meeting times. The committee shall meet at least 4 times throughout the school year to serve exclusively in an advisory role such as approve staff development, review campus needs and improvement plan, activities, etc.

Please consider joining the Leander ISD Community Curriculum Advisory Committee for the 2021-22 school year!

The Community Curriculum Advisory Committee (CCAC) is a group of LISD parents, teachers, principals, students, business and community members who gather with the primary function to advise on the written, taught, and tested curriculum, related instructional resources, and potential new programs and courses. We value the input of all stakeholders in our district and would love to have many student voices represented. CCAC meets approximately 5-6 times a year. Click here to fill out the application. The deadline to apply is Monday, August 23rd.

• Crossing Guards - volunteer for particular day(s) of the week or can do a daily paid position

• Substitutes - can be intermittent when you are available or regularly here on our own campus

• The following are paid, full-time positions with benefits:

• Instructional Assistants

• Cafeteria staff

• Bus drivers

For more information on any of these opportunities, please contact Megan Prata at CRMS.

Thanks so much to our PTA who started granting teacher gifts this week like this one to our growing Art department.

This week, they also gifted ALL of our 6th graders with a complimentary CRMS Agenda/Planner for this school year. If any 7th or 8th graders would like to purchase a 2021-2022 Agenda, you can get one on the PTA website.

Many have generously reached out and asked how you can donate or support the teachers/school during this time. If you are wanting to donate and unsure how, we will gladly accept donations on campus of the following:

• bottled water
• masks
• paper towels
• hand sanitizer
• Clorox wipes

Currently, there is no state funding for PPE this year, so donations will be accepted and very appreciated! You can drop off in the school front office at your convenience during school hours.

Sign up today to represent CRMS. We could win a prize if we have more from CRMS to participate on Saturday, September 18 at Vista Ridge High School:

leeftx.org/mudstacle

Just a reminder that CRMS will not be proctoring the PSAT 8/9 for our 8th graders this year. We are partnering with More Than A Teacher to host 2 options for students to take a practice PSAT test either on November 2nd or November 6th. Here is the link to the information (registration link is embedded).

In Leander ISD, students in Grades 7–9 are taught Human Sexuality Curriculum through presentations by LifeGuard, an independent organization. The topics covered in this abstinence-based curriculum the Texas Health TEKS. All content has been reviewed by the Leander ISD School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) and is grade-level specific and developmentally appropriate. This material will be taught in 2-3-day windows at every LISD middle and high school campus from Sept 14 – April 21.

CRMS Student Presentation Dates

• 7th Grade: October 18-20th
• 8th Grade: October 21-22nd, 25th

Opt-In Google Form

**For your child to be able to attend the presentations, you must submit this OPT-IN form:

• 7th Grade Opt-in form

• 8th Grade Opt-in form

Curriculum Preview

If you wish to preview the curriculum, you may do so at your home campus library. Parents/Guardians may stop by or contact their school librarian to schedule an appointment for viewing. You may also request an electronic parent preview via the LifeGuard website.

Parent Workshop Information

We will host virtual parent workshops via Zoom throughout the year; future times are listed below. Parent workshops are designed to give parents helpful tips for communicating with their children (grades 7-9) about human sexuality, allow them to review the district curriculum, explore statistics from health officials, and ask questions of LifeGuard and LISD staff.

To register for a parent workshop and to access additional LifeGuard information, please visit the LISD Human Sexuality Curriculum website.

Parent Workshops Dates

September 2, 2021 6:00 - 7:30 registration link

Leander ISD, in partnership with Community Action, Inc. of Central Texas, offers adult ESL, English and Spanish GED-prep classes, in the evenings at Wiley Middle School, 1526 Raider Way, Leander 78641, Tues./Thurs., 6:00pm – 8:30pm. **Classes will start in-person Tues., Sept. 14 for those adult students who have registered online and attended a virtual orientation via ZOOM. (In-person orientations have been cancelled.) Classes follow the LISD school calendar, ending in May 2022. Please check out our web page to start the online registration form: https://www.leanderisd.org/adulteducation/

In addition, Community Action partners with other organizations in the Cedar Park/Leander area to offer day time and evening ESL, GED, and career-training classes. See link below for information.

https://sites.google.com/communityaction.com/wcadulted/home Questions may be sent to Nancy Powell, Adult Education Coordinator, nancy.powell@leanderisd.org

Principals, please include in your campus newsletters: Full story with Spanish translation.

On Monday, June 21st, Destination Imagination teams submitted their final challenge solution for Global Finals '21. Teams competed from all over the world and results at the Award Ceremony were announced July 22nd:

Canyon Ridge 1 team previously advanced from Regional and State Competition to Globals.

The Slimy Slugs finished 13th overall in the Technical Challenge at Global Finals & 5th Place in the Fast Flex Technical Challenge.

Picture Included (from left to right):

Team Manager Jacob Leffler

• Shreya Poladia

• Siri Krishna

• Dante Leffler

• Derek Reynolds

• Sunaina Dewagan

Please join me in congratulating these hard-working students who competed at the International level this summer!

You may access the STAAR scores by visiting https://texasassessment.gov/. If you do not know your student's unique access code, you can click "Find My Access Code", enter your child's social security number, first name, and date of birth. The Access Code will populate, then you hit the "Go" button, and all of your student's STAAR history will be there. If you have any issues with the online system, please email Cassandra Ricks at cassandra.ricks@leanderisd.org for additional assistance.

Home Access Center (HAC) provides families with an online tool where they can view helpful student information to support and guide their children through the educational process. From home or work, at any time of the day or night, parents can access the web portal to track academic achievement.

Features include:

• Grade notifications,

• Class schedules

• Attendance records.

Visit the Home Access Center page to learn more. Please allow time for our campuses to complete schedule and teacher assignments in the coming days prior to the start of the school year.

Beginning Aug. 5, 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 2021-22 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.

The Transportation Department will continue to use the Remind platform to communicate delay notifications and other important updates. Bus riders and their guardians will be added to a Remind “class” for their assigned bus route.

All students at CRMS must have a working computer/device with a keyboard. If you do not have your own device, that is okay! Click on this link to sign-up/re-enroll and pay the 2021-2022 mLISD non-refundable security deposit so you can get your computer as soon as possible!

Our schools and teachers use Remind to send text messages and emails to our parents. Make sure you log into Remind to set up your notification preferences, see archived messages, and send messages directly to your teachers and school staff. Download the mobile app (Google Play, Apple) for the best user experience.

Click here to learn more about Remind.

As Leander ISD Child Nutrition Services will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch meals to all students for the 2021–22 school year, low-cost meals are not being served at this time. To manage your student’s meal balance for snacks or extras beyond the meal service, please create your Titan Family Connect account (formerly MealTime). Leander ISD school menus, along with complete nutrition information, are available through Nutrislice.

School start and end times for elementary, middle and high school are listed below.

• Elementary School: 7:40 a.m.–2:55 p.m.
• Middle School: 8:10 a.m.–3:25 p.m.
• High School: 8:40 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

90-minute Early Release Schedule for 2021–22 School Year

• Elementary School: 7:40 a.m.–1:25 p.m.
• Middle School: 8:10 a.m.–1:55 p.m.
• High School: 8:40 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

*District Calendar linked below

As Leander ISD Child Nutrition Services will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch meals to all students for the 2021–22 school year, low-cost meals are not being served at this time. It is still a good idea to fill out two of the following forms:

• LISD Socio-Economic form: The Economic Disadvantaged status of each student is determined by the information provided on this form. The form itself is not sent to the Texas Education Agency nor is the income levels indicated for your family reported to the Texas Education Agency, only the status code is reported to the Texas Education Agency.

By completing this form, students may qualify for the following opportunities:

- Fee reductions for AP/IB exam

- Fee waivers for SAT/ACT college entrance exam and unlimited score reports

- Fee waivers for college application fee

- College scholarships based on financial need

- Reduced security deposit for mLISD devices

- Discount on Summer School

- Free backpack with supplies

- Fee waiver for LISD After School Enrichment (ASE) and supplies

- Fee waiver or reduction in fees for Fine Arts

• Free/Reduced Lunch Application: At this time, free/reduced lunch applications are printable and can be submitted to Carolina Arizpe at 1900 Cougar Country Dr, Cedar Park, TX 78641,or you can apply online at https://family.titank12.com/.

More information about Child Nutrition Services can be found at https://www.leanderisd.org/childnutritionservices/

Beginning this 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/

We still have a limited number of yearbooks for sale. Please stop by the school starting July 12th to purchase or pick up your pre-ordered yearbook. If you are purchasing a yearbook, the current cost is $50 and we are only accepting cash. Please reach out to Jared.Lichtenberger@leanderisd.org if you have any questions!

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 is 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!

AP/Counselor by grade-level for 2021-22:

• 6th: Monica Diaz Carle/Sabrina Anderson
• 7th: Cassandra Ricks/Katie Young
• 8th: Mandi Vogel/Staci Cote

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