Tuesday, September 30, 2014

First Marking Period

Just a quick note to remind all of you that Friday, October 3rd, is the end of our first marking period. Please check-in with your child(ren) to be sure they have taken care of business and turned in all of their assignments. Make it a great day!

Monday, September 29, 2014

Collaborating with our feeder pattern schools!

As part of Education Go Get It Week, Ridgeview Middle School hosted Cedar Ridge Day.  Our award winning drum line performed as students arrived for school.  The performance was moved inside the building where the students continued to play for the middle school students and staff.  




Our Cedar Ridge Academy Ambassadors hosted Gattis Elementary 5th graders for a tour of the Cedar Ridge Academies.  The students were escorted around the building and were given the opportunity to visit many academy classrooms.  The ambassadors then went up the road to Blackland Prairie Elementary. BPE hosted the first ever Cedar Ridge Academies Career Fair.  Our CRHS ambassadors spoke to over 140 5th graders! 

We love collaborating with our feeder pattern schools!







Thursday, September 25, 2014

Traffic, Arts Council, and the Colonial Times

This has been a very busy week, and it is flying past. I want to thank you, parents, for the tremendous improvement in the flow of traffic and safe driving in front of the school during drop-off and pick up today. Traffic was so much better and I didn't see any angry drivers, which is great.

I know that safety is your first priority, as well as ours. On that note, I want to remind everyone that use of your cell phone is prohibited in an active school zone, which includes school property while operating a motor vehicle, according to the Texas Traffic code 545.425. If you are parked on campus, you may use the cell phone, however, once the vehicle is in motion, cell phone use is prohibited by law.

Yesterday, Cedar Ridge hosted the first 2014-15 RRISD Council of the Arts meeting on its campus. Our visitors were given an overview of the Visual & Performing Arts (VPA) Academy by Laurie Chamblee, the VPA Administrator. They were then treated to a performance in our cafeteria of our fabulous band. The pictures didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, but I want to share them anyway. The visitors then were treated to tours of the building by our very own student ambassadors.












I also, want to highlight a really wonderful classroom lesson I caught yesterday in Brad Harper's U.S. History class. Students were transported back in time to the Colonial Era. The "Honorable Judge Harper," representing the British King and Parliament, heard various cases presented by the Colonial representatives. The students had time prior to class to work in groups to prepare their arguments, from the perspective of the Colonials, against various "Acts," such as the Sugar Act of 1764, the Quartering Act, and the Currency Act. The students then appeared in the "court of Honorable Judge Harper" to argue their cases against their chosen Acts. It was delightful to watch the engagement, the critical thinking, and the passion, of the students arguing their cases. The "colonials" did a super job sharing and supporting their arguments.

After each case, the Honorable Judge Harper reverted back to the Honorable Teacher Harper to debrief the case with the students by going over the facts and specifics behind that particular Act, During this time, he shared the historical context, the King's point-of-view, and the colonialists' point-of-view. It was a fascinating class to watch and even I learned a lot!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Apologies and Bats

First, please let me correct a terrible oversight on my part. I failed to include Jacob Yehl in my list of the young men of Cedar Ridge KRU. Jacob is a very important member of the group and I apologize to him for leaving his name off of the list. He spent hours helping make the memorial ribbons, helped pass them out at the game, and also made and presented the banner to the "Maverick Family." I am so proud of our young men, including Jacob. I want to be sure to give him the credit he deserves!


We were notified around lunch time that there was a bat on campus, so we quickly followed protocol and notified district animal control specialists. We cordoned off the area and placed "guards" at the appropriate locations to be sure no one came in contact with the bat. The bat was never observed on the ground, but was only seen "napping" on the ceiling of one of our courtyard "porches." The bat was removed within 45 minutes of first being observed. I want to be sure you all are kept informed.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

AP Parent Summit- Many Thanks!

We want to thank everyone who participated in our first annual AP Parent Summit!

We had a great turn-out, considering this was the first year for the event. Mr. Brad Harper, who serves the Cedar Ridge community as the Social Studies Department Chair, an AP U.S. History teacher, and the campus AP Coordinator, planned and coordinated the summit. I want to thank Mr. Harper and all of the AP and PAP teachers who shared information about their courses through the "trade-show" and also all the break-out sessions presenters. A big "thank you"to the college students and parents who served on the student and parent panels, sharing their AP experiences and answering questions.

We received great feedback throughout the summit and are looking forward to utilizing the feedback to help guide the continuous improvement of our AP programs and communication efforts. We are already talking about planning our next event!


To the right: Former students, now in college, share their experiences in AP courses and answer questions.






Above: Ms. Shaw, Ms. Ali, and
Ms. Rollins are ready to share information
about PAP/AP English courses. 

   To the right: Dr. Rowe and Ms.
    D'Augereaux are prepared to         share information about AP
     Science courses.






Above: AP Trade Show participants





To the left: Ms. Deaton,
CRHS Lead Counselor, and
Mr. Brad Harper, coordinator
of the AP Parent Summit prior
to presenting.





                                                           



                                                                                         Above::A UT College Admissions Counselor                                                                                          presents on the impact of AP credits in the
                                                                                         college admissions process.

Inspiring Acts of Kindness

I've never been prouder to be a part of the Raider Nation as I was tonight at the varsity football game against McNeil High School. Our Raiders showed their compassion and class by supporting the Maverick Family, during their time of sorrow over the loss of Ryan and Kylie Murphy, by wearing white. It was a beautiful sight from the field to see a sea of white shirts in the Raiders’ stands. Thanks to all of you who came to the game and wore white!

In addition, our KRU went above and beyond by showing a spirit that absolutely exemplifies R.A.I.N.  Our men of KRU, Devon Baker-Merdan, Phillip Patton, Joseph Rosales, Chris Salas, Elijah Sartin, and Miguel Torres, lead by their sponsor, Eric Salomon,  spent countless hours making green ribbons to hand out at the game in honor of Ryan and Kylie. The men of KRU crossed the football field prior to the game to extend their support through the incredibly generous and touching gesture of going into the Maverick stands to pass out the ribbons to their fans. They also made a banner in memory of Ryan and Kylie which they presented to the Mavericks. The McNeil Interim Principal, Courtney Acosta, later came over to thank the members of KRU and the Raider fans. 

KRU, thank you so much for setting such an excellent example of compassion and caring to our Round Rock community. Your positive leadership is inspiring and greatly appreciated!
















And, last but not least, congratulations to our varsity football team for their big win tonight. They won 42 to 20! Go Raiders!




Friday, September 19, 2014

Friday's stroll through campus

Hello and welcome to the Cedar Ridge Principal's Blog! I'm Lynette Thomas, the Cedar Ridge Interim Principal and I want to highlight some great things that are happening on our campus. We have had an exciting week, to say the least. We have dealt with bad weather and a gas leak from a business park near the school. The students and staff have handled all beautifully! I'm hoping next week is a little less eventful!

While visiting classrooms today, I saw some fantastic things happening. Ms. Rasmussen's Culinary class was working very hard on their first catering job of the school year. Their menu was Baked Ziti, Fettuccine Alfredo, Garlic Crostini, and tossed salad. It smelled amazing in the kitchen! Our Royalty team will be the lucky recipients of this feast. 




In Mr. Burch's art class, students were combining different elements of art with geometry and music. All of the students were engrossed in creating their own personal masterpiece. 














Ms. Pearce's Advanced Biotech students were working on a Collegiate Practicum, getting hands-on experience in the Biotech lab.

Mr. Foster's students in Graphic Design and Illustration were designing their "sketch of the day" assignment. I saw graphic artists in the making!