Ridge Relay

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!

Go Eagles!

Mrs. Wendy Sturdevant

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.

CRMS Athletic Booster Club has launched a new website! Please bookmark this site and register on the home page to receive all booster communications this year!

https://crmsboosterclub.memberhub.com

ALL BOOSTER SPIRIT WEAR IS PRE-ORDER! Form will be open August 12-25. If you are a fan or your child plays a winter or spring sport only, please order now. We will order very minimal inventory only to accommodate future family sponsorships, but THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! Represent the Eagles in style this school year.

Football, volleyball, and cross country booster registration forms will open August 12. Here is the link that will become active on 8/12. More information to come home from football equipment day and during all parent meetings that will be held after the start of school. Sign up for our newsletter on our website to stay in the loop!

Place your order and Dream Dinners will donate 10% of all sales from the event to Canyon Ridge MS PTA!

Order by September 5th at 5pm.

Pick up orders on Thursday, September 7th, 5-6pm at CRMS.

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 some of the over $1200 that has already been gifted to classes so far this year.

• Ms. Jillian Baaklini came to CRMS from Elgin Middle School in Elgin ISD just east of Austin. Ms. Baaklini has 14 years of experience mainly in the fine arts as a band director, but the last 2 years she has had experience as a school counselor at the elementary and high school levels. She will be the 7th grade counselor this year! “I am very excited to be joining the CRMS counseling team this year! I’m looking forward to collaborating with the CRMS community to help continue the tradition of excellence!” - Jillian Baaklini
  
• Ms. Kimberly Mills came to CRMS from Lake Travis ISD where she was the 6th & 7th grade school counselor at LTMS . Prior to her time at LTMS, Ms. Mills taught middle school science for 5 years in both Manor ISD and Leander ISD. Ms. Mills will be the 6th grade counselor this year! I am thrilled to be back at Leander ISD and to have the opportunity to serve as the 6th grade counselor this year at CRMS! - Kimberly Mills
  

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.

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.

Forms due to Mrs. Seema George by October 2nd

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.

Join us on our CRMS Campus-based Site Committee

Sign-up Here for more information.

The input of our parents, staff and community is so critical as we work together to support all of our stakeholders. We will meet quarterly on Thursday at 4:30pm. Meetings are held on Zoom so you can join from anywhere. 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.

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

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.

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

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