Thursday, October 30, 2014

Expectations for a Safe and Fun Halloween

Tomorrow is October 31st, and therefore, Halloween is upon us! While we want students to have fun, we also want students to be safe. I want to share some expectations the district and the CR campus administrators have outlined for students regarding costumes and behavior. These expectations are for campus tomorrow and also for the football game at Kelly Reeves Stadium tomorrow night.

  • Costumes must be dress code appropriate;
  • No props are allowed;
  • No masks or anything that covers the face is allowed;
  • If using face paint, the student must still be recognizable.
We are also asking students not to bring anything that creates a mess, such as silly string, poppers, confetti, or colored powder/flour. So bring your Raider spirit, but not things that make a mess! 

The district has informed us that there will be extra officers at the game to ensure the district expectations are followed. Students who are in costumes that do not fit the above expectations will not be allowed to enter the stadium.

I want everyone to enjoy themselves, but it is important to be aware of the expectations before-hand. Yesterday, all students were sent an email via their school gmail account informing them of our expectations. We also made an announcement today during school. 

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. Have a great Halloween!


Building Bridges at the Ridge!

In my walks around the campus this week, I ran across students involved in problem solving and creative expression.

Some of Ms. Howell's art students were working on creative design of animal/human hybrids. They were vibrantly colored and beautifully drawn.

Mr. Mosley's Aquatic Science students were working on Basin River Projects during their study of the watershed. Some students showed me the salt water tanks the class has been preparing. If you look closely, you can see a large sea urchin in the upper corner of one of the tanks.











In Ms. Gabler's Concepts of Engineering class, students are working collaboratively on building bridges. Students used special software to model various possible designs, prior to choosing their final bridge design. Students sketched the chosen design in their notebooks and then started building. The bridges will be tested for strength and stability once they are completed.









Ms. Torres' students were analyzing hair under the microscope in their Forensics class.


Great news for the Cedar Ridge Family! We are so proud of the Cedar Ridge Raider Band and Color Guard, which has been selected to advance to the UIL Texas 6A State Marching Band Contest on Tuesday, November 4th at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Thank you, Mr. Calima, Mr. Brittain, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Carr, and Mr. Barberi, for your dedication to our students and to Cedar Ridge! 

Student, you have an amazing work ethic, along with amazing talent! 

We love you and we are rooting for you! The truth is, in our eyes, you are already #1! 
Good luck next week!

                                             
















Saturday, October 18, 2014

Honor

I am so excited and honored to be named the Principal of Cedar Ridge High School at this past Thursday night's School Board Meeting. Having been an administrator at CR for the past several years, I have a deep understanding of Dr. Presley's original vision for the school and also the areas we need to focus in order to move forward in becoming a world class high school.

There is no place I would rather be! We have such an amazing community and it's such a pleasure to work with the CR students, staff, parents, and extended community. I have been so touched by the overwhelming positive support and response I have received since the appointment Thursday night. Thank you so much! Go Raiders!

We have a great adventure ahead. My goal is for our students to reach their highest potential, not only in the areas of athletics and fine arts, but academically, as well. With a lot of hard work, targeted effort, and strategic planning, we are going to become the "destination" high school of Central Texas.

Just a heads up that the Cedar Ridge PTSA is holding a meeting Tuesday, October 21, at 6:30 pm in the Lecture Hall. The program will include a Freshmen Parent Information Session. I hope to see many of you there. Our counselors will share important information, as well as answer questions.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

2014 Humanities Texas Award for Outstanding Early-Career Teaching Recipient- Holly Griffin

One of our very own Cedar Ridge teachers, Holly Griffin, was the recipient of a 2014 Humanities Texas Award for Outstanding Early-Career Teaching. Humanities Texas presents awards annually to Texas Social Studies and Language Arts teachers who have made exemplary contributions in teaching, curriculum development, and extracurricular programming. Over 500 teachers were nominated for the 2014 awards.

The honor was awarded to Ms. Griffin at our last faculty meeting, October 8.  Humanities Texas was represented by Melissa Huber, Director of Exhibitions & Public Programs and Eric Lupfer, Director of Grants & Education. Congressman John Carter officially presented the award to Ms. Griffin. Ms. Griffin's proud parents, Janet and Allan Griffin came from Houston to be with Ms. Griffin for the award presentation. Ms. Griffin's parents were both in the field of education for many years, so she may have inherited her passion for education from them. She has of course added her own spin on things by working extremely hard, building strong relationships, and by continually searching for what's best for her students.











Above: Congressman John Carter and Holly Griffin














Above, from left to right: Melissa Huber, Janet Griffin, Holly Griffin,
Allan Griffin, and Eric Lupfer.


Congratulations, Ms. Griffin! We are so proud of you for your exceptional teaching and we are thrilled that you were officially recognized for being an exceptional educator!

*A special "thank you" goes out to Bryan Parker, another excellent Cedar Ridge educator and Ms. Griffin's fiance, who generously shared the pictures featured here.


Sunday, October 12, 2014

What's up at Cedar Ridge this week? October 13-17, 2014

We have a busy week ahead. Monday, Oct. 13 is Columbus Day and is a student holiday. The staff, however, will be at Cedar Ridge “working on the work” and improving our craft.

Wednesday, Oct. 15th will be PSAT testing for all district sophomores and juniors. As always, we expect students to attend school that day unless they are sick and we ask that they arrive on time. 

We have planned the following relevant activities for the students who are not involved in PSAT testing:

  •         Freshmen will be taking a practice English Language Arts (ELA) End-of-Course (EOC) assessment. This will allow ELA teachers to gather more data about their students’ strengths and weaknesses in reading and writing, which can then be used to guide and focus instruction.


  •         Seniors will have a College Prep Day, planned by our awesome counseling team. Seniors should have signed up for one of the following options in their Economics or Government class. I have also sent the Senior Option Survey to the seniors via their school email just in case they have not signed up yet for some reason. The following are the activities from which seniors may choose, with descriptions they were given:


o   Option 1: ASVAB- Have no idea what you want to do after high school? Taking the ASVAB assessment will give you insight into your potential success in different jobs and careers.

o   Option 2: SAT Practice Test: How will you score? Find out by taking a full-length practice SAT given under the same testing conditions as the actual exam. You’ll learn about the endurance and skills needed to score well on the SAT. You will get a personalized score report that will show your strengths and areas that need improvement. This is limited to the first 250 students who sign up.

o   Option 3: Academic and Post Secondary Information Sessions- sessions will include college essay writing, Apply Texas application, academic tutorials, and more.

We will be in testing mode from 9:10 am-12:40 pm. After that, students will attend their 3rd and 4th periods on a slightly delayed and shortened schedule.

Thanks so much and make it a great week!




Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Walking the Walls and Scholars

During my walk on campus over the last couple of days, I've been noticing some great support resources some teachers have created for their students.
My favorite is the “Mind Set” bulletin board in Ms. Peg Clark’s room. Our staff has discussed and want to explore further the principles behind fixed and growth mindsets and how to help our students understand the amazing power of having a growth mindset. Research has shown that students who have a growth mindset are much more likely to be successful. If you are interested in reading more about this, I recommend Carol S. Dweck’s book- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.



"Change your words- Change your mind-set"


I am also highlighting the focus on building academic vocabulary in many of the math classes by using word walls.
 



Ms. Overman has a very organized and creative way to show the students their learning objectives for the day.


And, who said mathematicians don’t have a sense of humor! Ms. Correro has a special place for math humor in her room.



I also came across some women physicists learning about the relationship between the angle of projection and the range, by using a marble launcher.


 











Here are some of our outstanding scholars identified by College Board based upon their SAT performance.  These students will be introduced at a pre-game recognition ceremony before the football game with Pflugerville Thursday evening at Kelly Reeves Stadium.  The ceremony will take place around 6:35 pm. Congratulations to all of them! 


                 Silly Side :)                                                                                  More Serious Side












And finally, I want to highlight a recent visit from our fabulous superintendent, Dr. Flores, and our fabulous Chief of Schools and Innovation, Dr. Presley. They had a nice visit with our English as a Second Language experts/leaders.


From Left to Right: Ms. Colenda, Ms.Wiggins, Ms. Munoz, Ms. Martinez, Dr. Flores, Dr. Presley, and Ms. McIntosh

Friday, October 3, 2014

Friday, Oct. 3- Highlights

Here are a few of the interesting things I found today in my walk about the school:

Mr. Molisky's  Principles' of Business Class learning about "Process" through a bagel making lesson.


Mr. Cudjo's World History classroom is full of  amazing cultural artifacts and pieces. It's thought- provoking and beautiful!




The counselors are presenting to all Sophomores ELA classes. They are sharing great information about a variety of things, including credits, class rank, and grade point average.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Eureka! DECA stands for....

Ms. Parriott shared the following to answer my quest for what DECA stands for:


"Thanks for highlighting DECA. It used to stand for Distributive Education Clubs of America but now it is just DECA. Kind of like FFA used to be Future Farmers of America but then they changed to just FFA because they are more than just farming. Interesting fact for you! " 

Thanks for sharing, Ms. Parriott! Keep up the excellent work!

DECA Highlight

As I wandered down the halls before school this morning, I was delighted to see a bunch of future business majors attending this morning's DECA meeting! There was standing room only!

Ms. Parriott is the sponsor for DECA and she gave me a few facts to share with you about the DECA program.-



DECA members meet every other Thursday morning.  
They will compete at district, state and international levels.  
They covered competitive events today.
Their website is: http://crhsdeca.wix.com/home
Membership drive is currently going with a deadline of October 14.













I looked on the official DECA website so I could tell you what the letters stand for, but I couldn't find it. I am sharing their website in case anyone wants to learn more about this wonderful organization. 
http://www.deca.org/about/