Ridge Relay: Back to School Edition

Hello Eagle Families!

We were so excited to welcome back our teachers and staff this week and are now eagerly awaiting the 1st day of school this Thursday, August 13th! Our teachers and staff cannot wait to see your students virtually and engage them through Virtual Empowered Learning.

Please note times & details below for information on our drive-thru service this week on Tuesday (8/11/20: 6th graders) and Wednesday (8/12/20: 7th & 8th graders) for students to pick up school supplies, laptops, SCHEDULES, etc. For the drive-thru service, please put a paper with student's name and ID number in the window. When students pick up all these items, they will receive an individualized 1st day of school packet that will include information on where to log-in and what to do on Thursday. We have worked with all of our teachers and staff and our goal is to streamline processes for the 1st day so students can successfully kick off the school year!

Also, please make sure you have reviewed/completed 2 important items:

1. Does your student currently have a school laptop or need a school laptop? We need to make sure every student has a device to start the school year 100% virtually, so please make sure to review the mLISD procedures below for laptop devices.

2. Every returning student needs their registration verified for the 2020-21 school year. This enrollment component (step-by-step directions below) is vital as we prepare for the school year and to make sure we have updated contact information.

Thank you to all of you who submitted your student selection for in-person or virtual after September 7th. As of Thursday 8/6, the statistics for CRMS are: 50% in-person and 50% virtual. We are currently using that student information to balance classes and complete student schedules. Our goal is to do our best to provide consistency for students and maintain the same schedule for students if they choose to return to in-person or remain on virtual after our school building reopens for students while maintaining relationships and social distancing protocols. If we did not receive your selection by the deadline, we will be reaching out to you early this week to confirm your choice.

Please note that the focus of this Ridge Relay is the start of school this week. We know there are still questions about the in-person logistics for after September 7th. We will have another Webinar with campus Q&A session as we get closer to the in-person start date. We are excited for students to start school this week, but we also know that we will all have a year of unique circumstances ahead of us, so we continue to urge you to reach out to our Administrators or Counselors with questions and concerns as they arise.

Mrs. Wendy Sturdevant

Instagram: Canyon_Ridge_MS

Twitter: @Sturdevant_CRMS

CRMS families,

We are SO excited to kick off this 2020/2021 school year. A few notes about schedules:

• Home Access Center should reflect your child’s schedule beginning August 13th.
• If you chose the “virtual” option for September 8th and on, and your child is signed up to take student aide or PE PAL, please reach out to your grade level counselor to adjust courses. Student aide is not a course that can be taken virtually, so your child will need to choose something else in place of it.
• If you chose the “virtual” option for September 8th and on, and your child is signed up to take Dyami, Cheer, or Athletics, more info will be coming regarding those courses as a virtual student.
• We are doing our very best to get all schedules accurate and set for day one of school. However, if a schedule change is needed for your child once the year gets going, we will contact you. We hope this is very minimal!

See times and additional information in the flyer below or by clicking here.

For the drive-thru service, please put a paper with student's name and ID number in the window. When students pick up all these items, they will receive an individualized 1st day of school packet that will include information on where to log-in and what to do on Thursday.

August 11: 6th grade virtual "Open House", AND drive-thru campus to pick-up laptops, SCHEDULES, school supplies, drop off Chromebooks from elementary campuses

• 9-10 AM : Last name A- F
• 10-11 AM : Last name G-L
• 4-5 PM : Last name M-S
• 5-6 PM : Last name T-Z
• 6-7 PM : Make up time

August 12: 7th Grade drive-thru campus to pick-up yearbooks, SCHEDULES, school supplies, etc.

• 9-10 AM : Last Name A-H
• 10-11 AM : Last Name I-Q
• 11-12 PM : Last Name R-Z

August 12: 8th Grade drive-thru campus to pick-up yearbooks, SCHEDULES, school supplies, etc.

• 3-4 PM : Last Name A-H
• 5-6 PM : Last Name I-Q
• 6-7 PM : Last Name R-Z

August 13: First day of classes begin online through Virtual Empowered Learning

• 10-12:00 : Make-up time for schedule & back-to-school item pick-up

August 18: 7th & 8th grade virtual "Open House"

We have a few yearbooks left, so if you missed purchasing a yearbook online, you may bring $50 cash (exact change only will be accepted), we can provide you a yearbook during the drive-thru services. The 2019-2020 CRMS Yearbook is full of activities, sports, clubs and stories about our students. You can see some of those examples in this sneak peek video. What a great memento of this past unforgettable year!

• Students are required to attend all synchronous learning opportunities. Attendance will be taken during the first 10 minutes of the period. If a student is not in attendance during live instruction, the student will be counted absent for the class period.
• For Advisory period, students are REQUIRED to attend a brief check-in during Virtual Empowered Learning with their teacher for attendance. Advisory is required so that we may distribute necessary updates and students are assigned on their schedule to one of their teachers for attendance during Advisory class period.
• During Virtual Empowered Learning, Homeroom time on the bell-schedule has no required attendance. Students may request tutoring, work on assignments, take a longer lunch break, etc.
• If your child has technical/internet difficulties during the synchronous class time, please contact the teacher that day so he or she can assist your child.
• If your child is ill or unable to attend synchronous instruction for the class period/day, please submit a parent note/doctor note within 2 days of the absence through email to crmsattendance@leanderisd.org.

Required information:
Student’s First & Last Name
ID Number & Grade
Reason for Absence
Parent Signature & Phone Number
Current Date

New mLISD Students

Our goal is to provide students with increased access to digital content, resources and devices to support learning anytime, anywhere. The mLISD program has been specifically created to make the best use of our resources in order to support student engagement in learning.

A fee of $70 is required to participate in this program for the 2020-21 school year. The fee for students on free and reduced lunch is $35. You can sign up and pay for your student’s mLISD maintenance fee by clicking here. All newly participating students including incoming sixth-grade students who pay for their fee will be issued their device at the drive-thru material pick up for their grade level. We will distribute laptops for 6th graders on August 11th and for 7th/8th graders on August 12th (see events schedule above). To ensure that your device is prepared for distribution, please pay your participation fee by August 5th. If you missed this deadline and still need a device, please reach out to your AP for assistance.

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

• The student’s name

• Campus

• Student ID number

• Parent phone number

Current Participating Students

If your student currently has a laptop in their possession that was issued during the 2019-2020 school year, they will need to pay the participate fee to keep their device for the upcoming school year. Incoming ninth-grade students, who choose to participate, will receive a new laptop at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. If the maintenance fee is not paid or a scholarship applied for by August 10th the device will need to be returned to the campus.

To ensure essential updates are received providing proper performance and functionality for the coming school year, devices must be powered on and used at least one time each week. The laptop should be powered on for approximately two to three hours during this time. For additional information regarding the mLISD program click here.

For more information on mLISD please click HERE.

Parents, please make sure you have logged in to the HAC and "registered' your student, so your student's information is up-to-date. It is required that all students have completed Returning Student Registration process. The "Guardian 1" contact for each student should have received an email last week with instructions on how to complete this task.

We want to thank our parents who have logged in to register a returning student. We understand families might be experiencing some challenges, which has led to an influx of ticket submissions. Please know we are trying our best to provide you the technical support you need. You can help us out by taking note of the following to ensure we can address your needs in the timeliest manner.

How do I get started?
Log onto Home Access Center.

1. Click on the Registration Icon

2. Click on the Update Enrollment Tab

3. Click on Start

4. You will need to complete the registration for each student on your HAC account

Visit http://www.leanderisd.org/registration to access a guide that includes these steps.

Using the Chrome browser provides the best experience.

• Do I have to answer all the questions?

Required fields are marked as "Required".

• What if I make a mistake?

If you would like to make a change, click on the underlined field or click “Previous” to return to a previous page.

• I’ve completed the form, now what?

When you have finished entering your information, click “Submit.” This will send all of the information you’ve entered to the school. If you cannot click on this button, you will need to make sure that you have answered all required questions.

• What if I have more than one student at Leander Independent School District?

Do I need to do this for each child? Yes, because you’ll need to provide information that is specific for each child. We recommend that you submit one Returning Student Registration and then start another. The system will recognize that you have already completed the registration for one of your children and will allow you to “snap over” shared family information, which will save you time.

• I don’t know what a question is asking.

You can contact Leander Independent School District at registration@leanderisd.org to ask any general questions about the form or the Returning Student Registration process.

• Help! I’m having technical difficulties.

For technical support, visit our PowerSchool Community help center or click “Help” or “Contact Us” from any form page. If you just need to reset your password, you can call the campus at 512-570-3500 instead of submitting the help ticket.

Please join us in subscribing to the Canyon Ridge Middle School PTA for the 2020-2021 school year. To be a voting member, you must renew your membership each year.

6th Graders and New Students,

If you missed Eagle Camp this past week, here is the recorded webinar and the presentation slides for your reference.

We are thrilled to have you join CRMS this year!

Regular Bell Schedule 2020-21

for Virtual Empowered Learning and In-Person

1st/5th period 8:10 - 9:40

2nd/6th period 9:45-11:15

3rd/7th period 11:20-1:50 (*includes 6 lunches for in-person instruction)

4th/8th period 1:55-3:25

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.

• COVID-19 Health Response

• Teaching and Learning Guide

• Special Programs Guide

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.

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