At approximately 10:48 am, the fire alarm sounded. This was not a scheduled drill; the building was evacuated. Upon investigation, administrators determined that the alarm was triggered by melting wax during a science lab experiment. At no time were students in any danger.

The evacuation was successfully completed, and students returned to class at approximately 10:51.

 
Principles for Success at Ridgeview Middle School:
Character Education, Accountability, Relationships, Encouraging Pride and Excellence

Panthers!

Time flies when you are having fun! It is November and this is going to be a short six weeks with the Thanksgiving break, mid-term exams and projects. I just counted 27 school days until winter break!
As you know, Ridgeview has been reviewing its Re-teach/Re-do policy. I want to thank the students, teachers and parents for their input. The district is also reviewing the policy and related procedures. At this time, Ridgeview will be making a change for the third six-weeks grading period. The time period for which students have to turn in missing/late work (not due to an absence) for no grade reduction, will be 1 day instead of 1 week. Students will still be able to turn in work for a maximum grade of 70 before the grading deadline, which is the Wednesday before grades are due every three weeks. At this time, we are not changing the policy for tests and exams; but, we predict a change for next semester as the district more clearly defines its procedures.

Success is the ONLY Option!

Holly Galloway Ph.D.
Principal

Re-teach/Re-do Change

Lesson Assignments (Homework/Daily Work/Class work)
Effective November 9, students will have 1 day from the date the assignment was not turned-in, or the day the student learns that they received a failing grade, to make-up/re-do the assignment for full credit. If the assignment is turned-in after the one day period and before the grading deadline (the Wednesday before grades are due each three week grading period) the student can receive a grade of no more than 70%.

Ridgeview Receives Gold Performance Awards

The Texas Education Agency released its 2008-2009 Gold Performance Acknowledgments (GPA). There are 15 indicators available for recognition at the district and campus level. Ridgeview earned recognition for the number of our students scoring at the "commended level" on Reading/ELA and Social Studies tests.

Science Spot

Eighth grade students are starting a new unit, Natural and Human Effects on Earth's Systems. This unit is about understanding how changes in Earth's cycles affect life and the environment by predicting results of changes in cycles, analyzing the effects of human and natural events, and describing how human activities modify soil, air, and water quality. Students should be able to answer the following questions by the end of the unit.

1. How has modifying the nitrogen, carbon, and water cycles affected the environment?

2. How have natural events affected the extinction or endangerment of some species?

3. How have human events affected the extinction or endangerment of some species?
   How have humans modified soil, water, and air quality?
   

Math Teaser - Students can see Dr. Galloway for the answer
Lemonade Lovers

Question:  On Monday, Mia drank half the contents of a pitcher of lemonade, and then her sister Tia drank half of what was left. It takes half a package of lemonade mix to make a pitcher of lemonade. The sisters always make a full pitcher of lemonade.
Mia and Tia plan to drink the same amount of lemonade after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
What is the least number of packages of mix needed to provide enough lemonade for 5 days?
How much lemonade will be left in the pitcher at the end of the week?

Coats for Kids.

Ridgeview is competing with other middle schools in Central Texas in collecting the most gently used and new coats for the Coats for Kids project. This is a campus-wide focus on donating coats to the millions of freezing children around Central Texas. This program has been helping our neighbors for 23 years. Please clean out your closets and donate any coats that may not fit your families any longer. We have a goal to collect 700 coats of all sizes and we need your help! The collection boxes in which you or your student may place the coats will be inside each of our entrances. We will also have people available to collect coats at the Parent Drop-off area on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Erase the R-word Campaign

Ridgeview Middle School students are pledging to erase the R-word. This is a campaign started by Special Olympics. In 2004, Special Olympics changed its terminology from mental retardation to intellectual disabilities in response to a call from the athletes who felt the negative connotations associated with the term retardation. Take the pledge and add your name to the growing list of people who have already made the same pledge online at www.specialolympicstexas.org.

Family Fun Night -CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Children's Health)

On November 17, 2009 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., right here on the Ridgeview Campus, the CATCH program will have a variety of activities and information for parents, students, and staff to enjoy.

6:00-6:15 Welcome/Introductions/Presentation-Ridgeview Cafeteria

6:15-7:15 Vendors/Physical Fitness Activities

• Joanne Johnson: Health Services

• PTA: Doreen Meyer, Stacy Roberts, Emily Rowe: Healthy Lifestyles Committee/Promoting Healthy Living in the Community

• Doreen Meyer: SNAP Fitness

• Sarah Nielsen/Michelle Smith: CATCH Booth

• Katie Lombardi: American Heart Association

While people are roaming and gathering info from vendors, there will be healthy GO snacks available, and all can participate in different fitness activities including:

• Sit-ups and push-ups

• Sit 'n reach/trunk lift

• Knock-out basketball

• Queen of the court volleyball

• Walking and running the track

• Boot camp stations (black top)

At 7:15, everyone will relocate to the gym. At that time, Becky Kohn's dance students will perform.

Ridgeview Recycles Day

The PTA Go Green Committee presents our first Ridgeview America Recycles Day event.

• Sunday, November 15

• 1:00-3:00pm

• Ridgeview parking lot

Bring your paper, cardboard, fiberboard, plastics #1 and #2, tin, steel and aluminum and we will take it to the recycling center. FREE magnets for the first 100 people!!

8th Grade Day is November 24, 2009

T-shirts are being ordered for all RMS 8th graders for this event. (If your family is experiencing financial hardships at this time, please contact your child's advisory teacher.) We want all students who want an 8th Grade Day t-shirt to have one. T-shirts are $7 from Nov 2 - Nov 20 and $10 from Nov 23-24. (Please note that our 8th grade Positive Rewards Committee would like for all 8th graders to wear the Great Gobbler Games t-shirt on the end of the year reward trip, so it will be helpful to have the t-shirt for that event as well.) There is a Parent Info Night on Nov 11 at 5:30pm, in the RMS lecture hall. Supplies needed: Wheel Barrows, Coolers, Baked/Dried Pumpkin Seeds, Tennis Balls, Baseball Bats, Tricycles, Dried Corn Cobs or Dried Corn on the Cob (250-ish; please send them in as you collect them), Tarps, Orange Cones, Soccer Balls, Bags of Ice, Large Buckets, Cabana Tents, and Sidewalk Chalk. Monetary Donations are accepted (mark donations with your name). Please contact Chrissy Sphar (chrissy_sphar@roundrockisd.org ) or Val Williams (val_williams@roundrockisd.org) with questions or for more information.

Open Nominations for Talented and Gifted

Open nominations for Talented and Gifted Program services begin November 16, 2009. Nomination packets will be available in the counseling office or on-line on the RRISD website beginning November 16th at 8 a.m. Directions for accessing the packets on-line are included on our Ridgeview Counselor website under 'informational flyers'. Completed referral paperwork and permission to test must be received by 4pm on Friday, December 4th. Nominations may be completed by teachers, parents or by the student, but parent permission must be obtained for the evaluation process.

Panthers!

Red Ribbon week was a great success. Thank you PTA for your help. Students enjoyed the dress-up days and learned from the video lessons shown during advisory this week. Mr. B'Smith has started meeting with 6^th grade teams during advisory to be proactive in preventing bullying. Our message for students is to Speak UP!, Reach Out!, and Be a Friend! Please contact Mr. B'Smith or Mr. Damron for more information.

RRISD and Ridgeview will also be participating in "Project-Alert" an evidence-based program that gives students insight, understanding, and actual skills for resisting substance use. Project ALERT successfully addresses tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalants, the substances teens are most likely to use. The lesson will be taught to 6^th grade students and more information will be sent home regarding the lesson schedule and content. Please visit www.projectalert.com for more information.

Happy Halloween!

Success is the ONLY Option!

Holly Galloway Ph.D.
Principal

Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend; do not forget to set your clocks back 1 hour Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 a.m.

Eighth grade students are finished with their unit on Forces that shape the earth. Challenge them with this brain teaser!

"One of the volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands just erupted and sent all kinds of rock and ash into the air! I just saw it on the news!" Fred spouted, running into the room. Everyone paid close attention to the television set as they changed it to the news channel. Liz, knowing that isn't true, said, "Hawaii? I think not". How did Liz know the eruption never happened?

Hint

Hawaii has eruptions everyday. The way Fred explained it, is what is wrong.　

Answer

The type of volcano on Hawaii is a "Shield" volcano, and the volcano Fred explained is a "Composite" volcano. A shield volcano has slowly flowing lava with no ash spouting out. Every volcano on Hawaii is this way. On the other hand, a composite volcano shoots out rock and ash, with a small amount of lava. A good example would be Mt. St. Helen's. If a composite volcano were to erupt, it would not be on Hawaii.

Philo, a Greek merchant, is traveling across a vast desert. Suddenly, he is attacked by a group of bandits who steal his bundles of silk and ride off into the wilderness. Badly shaken, Philo sits down in the meager shade of a lone, scraggly palm tree to plan what to do next. He decides to search for the thieves, following their tracks.

A few weeks later, Philo arrives at a city and spies the bandits, who promptly flee into the desert. Philo attempts to follow them, but he quickly loses sight of the culprits. However, he knows from overhearing their plans that they will visit seven other cities to sell the silk they have stolen and then return to the city where he is now.

In order to recover all his silk, Philo wants to visit the cities in the same order as they do, but he does not know what that order will be. How many different routes could the bandits take?

Hint

How many different routes could the bandits take if they visited one other city? Two other cities? Three other cities? Four other cities? Do you see a pattern?

Answer

On the first leg, the bandits could go to any one of seven cities, so there are seven possible routes. They have six cities left for the next stage, then five, four, and so on. Altogether, they could follow any one of 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1, or 5,040, different routes before returning to their starting point. So, by randomly picking a route, Philo has a 1 in 5,040 (or 0.019 percent) chance of finding the right one.

8^th Grade Leadership class is coordinating a campus-wide project focusing on donating coats to the millions of children without coats around central Texas. This program has been active for 23 years, and last year alone, distributed 30,200 coats. Ridgeview Middle School is participating in this project to donate as many coats as we can and hope to exceed our goal of 700 coats!

Starting November 9, 2009 you will be able donate your coats to the various bins located around the school campus. A schedule for picking up at Parent Drop-off in the mornings and at other school activities is below. The school can only receive your gently used coat donations until Friday, November 20, 2009.

November 5: Coats for Kids Collections at 7th Grade Volleyball Game (at Ridgeview)

November 3: Coats for Kids Collections at 8th Grade Football Game (at Dragon Stadium)

November 10, 12, 17, and 19: Coats for Kids Collections at Parent Drop-off 7:00am - 8:00am

Please clean out your closets and be ready to donate! For more information, visit: http://www.coats-for-kids.org/

Students can create an original work in one or more of the following categories. The theme this year is 'Beauty is.'. Entries are due to the library by Wednesday, November 4, 2009.

• Photography

• Visual Arts (drawings, paintings, sculptures, etc.)

• Dance

• Film Production

• Literature (poems, stories etc.)

• Music

Ridgeview Middle School students are pledging to erase the R-word. This is a campaign started by Special Olympics. In 2004, Special Olympics changed its terminology from mental retardation to intellectual disabilities in response to a call from the athletes who felt the negative connotations associated with the term retardation. Take the pledge and add your name to the growing list of people who have already made the same pledge online at www.specialolympicstexas.org.

As many of us know, the American Heart Association also associates with the CATCH program. After all, having a healthy lifestyle will reduce the risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity! In February, "Heart Month" we will be doing activities on campus that will help raise money for the Heart Foundation and incorporating CATCH ideas as well!

In continuing with career and college exploration, 8th graders will have the opportunity to explore the Princeton Review Future Finder program during the week of November 2-6, 2009. This program allows students to view information about hundreds of universities around the country. There are also scholarship information and interest inventories that they can explore. As freshmen next year, they will be able to communicate with their counselor and exchange their college search information via the future finder program.

Due to inclement weather, the Round Rock ISD Festival of Bands was postponed. The 10th Annual Festival of Bands has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. at the RRISD Athletic Complex on Parmer Lane. This annual event is designed to showcase the musical accomplishments of the RRISD band programs across the district, with proceeds used for festival expenses, transportation, and professional development for all Fine Arts teachers K-12 across RRISD. Tickets are $6 each for adults and $5 for students (pre-school aged students are free) and can be purchased from any RRISD band student or at the gate on the evening of the Festival. However, the adult public is encouraged to purchase a special donation ticket for $7, which will earmark $1 to help provide partial scholarships for private music lessons for students who need financial aid.

Round Rock ISD Health Services will be holding a seasonal FluMist Clinic on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. at the RRISD Performing Arts Center, 5800 McNeil Dr. in Austin. The district received approximately 500 doses of FluMist and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The Clinic will close once all doses have been administered. The FluMist can only be administered to children ages 2 to 18 who do not have asthma or reactive airway disease and are not allergic to eggs, gentamicin or gelatin. Parents must accompany students who are receiving the vaccine. This vaccine is for the seasonal flu, not the H1N1 flu.

The PTA Go Green Committee presents our first Ridgeview America Recycles Day event.

• Sunday, November 15

• 1:00-3:00pm

• Ridgeview parking lot

Bring your paper, cardboard, fiberboard, plastics #1 and #2, tin, steel and aluminum and we will take it to the recycling center. FREE magnets for the first 100 people!!

RMS E-News 10/16/2009
Posted Date: 10/19/2009

Panthers!

Parents, do your students tell you what is happening at school? Here is a tip for learning more about their experiences at school. When it comes to communicating with your middle school students, sometimes what you hear is more important than what you say. When parents take the time to listen, students get the message that what they have to say is important. In turn, this makes them more likely to listen to your thoughts on the subject. If your child starts a conversation, try to make time for it right then. Children are more likely to open up when they pick the time and topic. Also, resist the temptation to jump in or ask your child lots of questions. As soon as you begin to ask questions, they are likely to stop talking

Success is the ONLY Option!

Holly Galloway Ph.D.
Principal

Tuesday October 20, 2009 is early release. Classes release at 1:30 p.m.