2015-01 Mtn Ridge v.3.Compressed

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A d v e r t i s i n g i n t h i s n e w s l e t t e r d o e s n o t i m p l y

e n d o r s e m e n t b y D o u g l a s C o u n t y S c h o o l D i s t r i c t .

January 2014

Main Office

303-387-1800

Fax

303-387-801

Attendance

303-387-1802

Athletics/Activities 303-387-1812

Bookkeeper

303-387-1808

Registrar

303-387-1820

Transportation

303-387-0415

Weather Hotline

303-387-7669

Twitter

follow@mountainridgems

Online Payments

dcsdk12.revetrak.net

continue on the next page

A note from the principal . . .

As the year continues…

I am reminded about what amazing students, families and staff

members we have at Mountain Ridge. As I look around the

building on a daily basis, I see students working hard to impact

our society. I am in awe of the passion and purpose that our

students are putting into their work. I see every 7th

grader

beginning to tackle iLab projects to make a difference. I have

talked with students who are working on ways to save pandas,

help out devastation in other countries, create sustainable food

options for the hungry, just to name a few. I see students

working together and not being afraid to ask each other hard

questions to push critical thinking and creativity. I see teachers

pushing every student to find an area that they truly believe in toget behind and create real-life solutions. It is absolutely

incredible to see the growth of these 7th

graders since the

beginning of the year. These are now students who believe in

their ability to make change. These are now students who know

that easy is not usually best. These are now students who know

what resiliency and hard work can really do. I am so proud!

http://www.childrenscolorado.org/about/locations/highlands-ranch?utm_source=school&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_content=highlands-ranch&utm_campaign=denver-preference



P A G E 2

Mountain Ridge Middle School

A note from the principal . . .continued

Then I go upstairs and am no less impressed. I see 8th

graders who are

writing business proposals. I see 8th

graders who are looking at the

impact of fossil fuels on our world and proposing ways to manage this.

I see 8th

graders who are giving up their time to work with our SSN

students in Unified Basketball and Make a Child Smile Club. Who says

that middle schoolers only care about themselves? Not THESE middle

schoolers, for sure!

These are just a couple of the amazing ways that Mountain Ridge is

working to help students create passion and make a difference

through their learning. Wish Week is going to be another great

opportunity for this! These are great examples of what is possible

when you lay some groundwork and then let students and teachers

fly. Thank you all for supporting our school as we try some of these

projects that go beyond traditional learning. Thank you for supporting

us as we work to make sure that learning is transcendent, related, and

relevant. Thank you all for trusting us with your students, knowing

that we care about their well-being and success and will do whatever

we can to support them.

I am a proud principal when I see the amazing “stuff” that ishappening throughout this school. Just like everything, we will

evaluate at the end of the year and tweak things to continue to

improve and positively impact students. As always, thank you for

sending us amazing kids that make it easy to do amazing things.

Shannon Clarke, Principal

http://realcolorado.net/camps/camps-info

http://hanleetkd.com/




General Announcements

P A G E 3

Wish Week 2015 – Support Asher

We are excited to join with Mountain Vista and support Wish Week

2015! Vista has “adopted” a four year old, Asher, who has some severe

health issues as well as being blind. Asher wants to go to Disney

World! During the week of February 2-6, we will be participating in

several events to raise money to help make this wish come true. Vista

Student Leadership came to our school to talk with our students about

Wish Week. Below is the communication from Vista that includes the

daily activities that they will be hosting, the link to purchase shirts, and

local restaurants that have agreed to participate in this community

event. More information about the high school events can be found on

the Mountain Vista Website. This is a great way to bring our communitytogether for a great cause!

Wish Week shirts that were ordered will be delivered Monday Feb. 2nd

for MVHS and Thursday Feb. 5th to feeder schools to be worn Friday Feb.

6th.

Monday 2/2

Vista Leadership students will be coming around to cars during afternoon

pick up to collect donations

· Dress-up: White out (support blindness awareness)

· Community Partner for the Day: Chick-fil-a 11am-7 pm

(Vista Wish Week gets 20% back)

· Silent Auction

· Harlem Wizards vs. STAFF Basketball game main gym @ 7:00

$10 Student $12 Adult (click here to buy tickets)

(MRMS Staff will be participating in this game!)


http://mountainvistaonline.org/


http://www.harlemwizards.com/schedules/





http://gridironflag.com/league/highlands-ranch/








General Announcements continued

P A G E 4

Tuesday 2/3

· Dress-up: Tacky Tourist· Community Partner for the Day: Which Wich 4-8 pm


· Silent Auction

· Boys Basketball vs. Castle View (Miracle Minute at the half)

FREE entry with Wristband

Wednesday 2/4

· Dress-up: Peace, Love, Hippieness (Spread love not hate)

· Community Partner for the Day: Five Guys 11am-9pm(Vista Wish Week gets 15% back)

· Hockey Game (TBD)

· Silent Auction

Thursday 2/5

· Dress-up: Snow Bum

· Community Partner for the Day: Dickey’s BBQ 11am-4pm


· Community Partner for the Day: Lil Ricci’s all day


· Hike-a-thon @ 3-5pm - Info is on the link below

(https://docs.google.com/a/dcsdk12.org/document/d/1Uwv2s4-

ll5gtPRYViUAFGlTtHVf7EKA_xaO1tgzbI2E/edit?usp=sharing)

· Unified Basketball (Vista) Game @ 6-7pm FREE entry, cookies,

cakepops with Wristband

· Silent Auction

· Wrestling in the main gym @ 7

https://docs.google.com/a/dcsdk12.org/document/d/1Uwv2s4-ll5gtPRYViUAFGlTtHVf7EKA_xaO1tgzbI2E/edit?usp=sharing





http://www.midasonbroadway.com/

http://www.happyteethcolorado.com/





P A G E 5

Friday 2/6

· Dress-up: Wish Week Tshirt “Asher Out” · Community Partner for the Day: Lil Ricci’s all day


· Silent Auction

· Spaghetti Dinner 5-7 Commons FREE with Wristband $5 without

· Girls (5:30) and Boys (7) Vista Basketball Games vs. Rock Canyon

Saturday 2/7

· Community Partner for the Day: Lil Ricci’s all day


http://www.warriorsyouthsports.com/






P A G E 6

The MASIV Project strikes again…

Recently Mr. Vincellette, Ms. Myer, Ms. Montague and 7 students from

Mountain Ridge, took two of the panels from the MASIV project to Clare

Bridge Crossings- a that campus provides comfortable, home-like settings

with programs and services designed specifically for individuals with Alz-

heimer’s disease and related dementias.

At Clare Bridge, students interviewed a variety of residents for an hour or

so regarding their thoughts on what was “beautiful.” The conversations

were lively, and steeped in fond memories of family, friends, and impor-

tant events. After the interviews, students wrote down the memories ofthe people interviewed, and posted them on the panels of the MASIV pro-

ject-an incredibly powerful addition to the pieces already there.

On the way home, students were asked, “How have you changed since

you walked out your door this morning?” One student responded, “You

know this really was a life changing event for me. I was thinking my Go-

Pro camera was pretty much the most beautiful think in my life. After

talking to those old people, I realized that not one of them said anything

‘material’ was beautiful. It was all about their families and friends. It

made me think…a lot. I know this sounds hoaky but this really was a lifechanging event for me.”

Enough said.





P A G E 7






P A G E 8





P A G E 9

http://theschoolnewslettercompany.com/districts/douglas-county-school-district/





P A G E 10

A Tony Award winner at Mountain Ridge? Seriously?

Seriously! Let’s come together and put our pens on

the paper and make this happen! Who would be more

qualified for this award than Ms. Laurilea McDaniel?

These are some of the questions on the nomination

form:Tell us why this teacher deserves this award.

Well, let’s see. Some of the most amazing productions she has produced

include: “Beauty and Beast”, where at one point she has 116 students

on stage at the same time. And “Mulan Jr.”-did you check out the

costumes? Or how about “Seussical the Musical” that received an “A”

rating from the Colorado Thespians?

Another question on the nomination form is:

Demonstrate why the nominee has a compelling story, how he/

she has gone above and beyond in the field of theatre education.For example, you might describe how he/she is working to

advance and champion theatre education.

There are one hundred ten students in the Thespian Troupe at

Mountain Ridge which was started and is sponsored by Ms. McDaniel.

Of those one hundred and ten students, fifty have qualified for the

National Junior Thespian Festival and seven have qualified for the

Inter national Thespian Festival. She also brought a community theatre

to Highlands Ranch.

Ms. McDaniel also gives students an additional opportunity to explore

and discover their passions by taking a group to New York City. During

their stay the students attend productions and take classes. It’s a

theatre experience that students never forget.

I challenge anyone to find a candidate more deserving of this award.

Put your pen on the paper (or your cursor on the ) and make it

happen! In order to place your nomination, you will need to include the

headshot above and Laurilea’s address.

2004 Bellavista Street Castle Rock, Colorado 80109 303-884-5301

Link

https://tonys.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/login/2?returnUrl=http://tonys.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/home/2








P A G E 11

Exploring World Cultures

Twelve former students enrolled in Exploring World Cultures, welcomed

incoming 6th

grade parents to Mountain Ridge Middle School on Tuesday,

January 13, 2015. They were there to promote and answer questions in

regarding our exciting new class that helps to “…shape the way you see

the world, others and yourself.”

This week, students have been working with the prompt, “Your deeds

are your monuments.” Who are you? How do you act? How do you

care or not care for others? Those things are what we will be

remembered for.

Conversations like these, and others, have given these students an

opportunity to discover who they are in the world, in our community and

in our school in addition to the role they play at home. I hope that you

have an opportunity to come in contact with these kids.




Counseling Corner

P A G E 12

January Parent Corner

Measuring Up….

I love the way our school calendars are

structured! Unlike those who follow

other calendars, twice a year, we get the

chance to start off fresh. We begin in

August with the opening of school, and then again in January we get a

new start.

It’s a brand new year, a brand new semester, a brand new chance to

apply those skills of resiliency we have been working so hard to cultivate.Unlike August, when we are all new to the year, the teachers, the team

and the routine, January gives us a chance to begin again, only smarter.

We already know the expectations and the process, now we are working

to refine what we started.

It’s important to take some time to reflect and think about where we are

in relation to where we want or need to be. It’s also important to think

about measuring our performances against a standard. This

measurement allows us to take stock of our status, to review our areas

of strength, and to refine our goals as we move forward.

So what does all this have to do with our recurring topic, resiliency and

grit? Well, measuring ourselves against a standard, reviewing our

current status, and setting or refining a goal based on that reflection

takes hard work. Without grit, we can tend to dwell on the “I didn’t

measure up” instead of the “this is the progress I’ve made so far, let’s

build on that.” Students, especially, can fall into the trap of thinking they

are not measuring up so why keep trying?

As we work with students, we need to keep reminding them that

measuring ourselves against a standard gives us important information

about progress that is needed for growth. We also need to keep

modeling this for them by being lifelong learners. Our students will

certainly be faced with those situations as they go through life, from

standardized testing to drivers’ licenses to college boards.

Teaching them to be as prepared as possible, to do their best on each

assessment and to learn from their experiences is a key lesson in the

successful transition from adolescence to young adulthood.



P A G E 13


Athletics And Activities

The highlight for the month of January was celebrating 7 amazing young

ladies at the Douglas County School District, Girls and Women in Sports Luncheon. MRMS honored 8th

graders: Julia Chambers, Katherine

Jacobsen, Quinn Kamberos, Amanda Marlow, Lauren Repella, Zoe

Simmons, and Emilee Sloan. The luncheon was hosted at Chaparral

High School and celebrated the athletic and academic accomplishments

of 5 high school girls and 8 eighth grade girls from each school in

Douglas County.

The 7th

grade girls’ basketball team ended

their undefeated season by taking first place

at the District Tournament, January 23, 2015.

It was also a very successful season for the B

and C teams. The girls and coaches had lots

of fun. They all worked very hard, laughed a

lot, and exemplified sportsmanship the

whole season.

Eighth grade boys started their basketball

season January 26th

, 2015. Their tournament

will be February 28, 2015. The 7th

grade

boy’s basketball season will start March 2,

2015.



P A G E 14


7-1ders Gear Up for International Towne

In social studies Mr. DiGiorgio is

preparing students for International

Towne. It is a one-of-a-kind

educational program offered to 6th, 7th

and 8th grade teachers to help teach

students about global economics

through fun, hands-on, experiential

learning. Teachers use a specific

curriculum to teach concepts in the

classroom, which in turn preparesstudents for the most crucial (and fun)

part of the program – a day running

International Towne. International

Towne is a life-like simulation of a

global marketplace where students

physically apply concepts they’ve

learned as they step into roles as world

citizens. All this takes place on-site at

Young Americans Center in a 5,000

square foot space architected to be a

16-country mini-world.

Team 7-1



P A G E 15


Team 7-2 Are You Aware?

It is amazing to realize that your child/ children are over halfway through

7th grade. Before you know it, they will be transitioning to 8th grade.However, prior to that happening, there is so much more to do and learn

as 7th graders. International Towne is one of those amazing and exciting

opportunities that is coming up. The first week of February is the actual

field trip, but they have been preparing throughout their classes. As

preparation, the students have been working very hard on creating

resumes, cover letters, and learning interview skills in Language Arts.

Social Studies has focused on economics and supply/ demand to help

prepare for IT. In addition to all of the other work, Math has incorporated

currency exchange, interest rates, and the value of money in the

real-world.

Many things will be coming up in

the next couple of months. This

school year brings a new state test

to each school. TCAP will no longer

be the state test, as PARCC

(Partnership for Assessment and

Readiness for College and Careers)

is now replacing it. PARCC is a test

that is used in 14 states and is

aligned to the Common CoreStandards. March 10-12 and again May 4-5 will be the testing dates for

team 72. The tests are completely online and the students have the

opportunity to access practice tests from home. Since the format is so

different than what we have used previously, the practice tests allow the

students time to become familiar with and understand the different tools

that are available during testing. If your child would like to practice at

home, they may go to the following website:

http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/ .

April 15 will also be state testing days for Social Studies. This test is calledCMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success). It is also computer

based and last year the current 8th graders took a pilot (example) test.

Please understand that the new tests will take a couple of years to

provide reliable data and have all of the kinks worked out. You will be

hearing more about testing soon.

http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/





P A G E 16


Team 7-4

One of the top 6 teams at Mountain Ridge Middle School!

Congratulations to Kara Lucyk

Change Agent of the Month for January

We are honored to have Kara as our Change Agent for January. She is a

quiet leader who approaches every situation with grace and confidence.

Kara is giving and empathetic. She welcomes learning with enthusiasm

and a desire to better herself and others around her. She goes above and

beyond in any experience she is in and couldn’t be more pleased she is

Team 74’s Change Agent for January.

We’ve had a great start to the second Semester. Our focus this semester,

as a team, will be on active listening, self advocacy, collaboration, and fol-

lowing directions. We will be starting a new “No Talk Friday” activity next

week. Stay tuned for details.

We look forward to the second semester and seeing the growth within

our pod.

Dates to remember:

February 12th- SLC- Student led conferences - 4:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.

February 13th- PLC day- No students/No school

February 16th- President’s Day- No school




P A G E 17


Team 8-1

Starting the second week in January the students got their first real taste

of high school. As you already know, the students had to register for high

school and pick their classes. This is an exciting time and many studentsalso felt some anxiety. They are just figuring out middle school and now

they have to start thinking about how to be a high schooler! Some of the

teachers feel some anxiety also as they prepare the students for transition

to high school.

All classes on Team 81 are preparing students not only for high school,

but more importantly, for life as a responsible, resilient, critically and

creatively thinking member of the world community. It is very easy to see

what students are doing by going to the MRMS website and following the

links to each teacher’s website. The Parent Portal is a great resource but

it is reactionary. The grades are not real time as it takes time to grade and

log all the assignments into Infinite Campus. Try asking your child, “What

was the most interesting thing you learned today?”, or “What question

didn’t get answered today?” These questions might get you more than,

“fine” and “nothing.”

The teachers on 81 are dedicated to creating opportunities for students to

think critically and creatively, and work collaboratively to communicate

what they have learned. I hope your child talked to you about the Poop

to Power field trip to the Denver Zoo last month. This was an amazing

opportunity for them to learn about sustainability and conservation. The

students ran their own experiment and created syngas. There was also

plenty of time to walk around and visit the animals. Thank you to all the

parents who braved the cold to make the fieldtrip such a success. In

STEM the students are delving

into the engineering world by

utilizing the engineering

process to create, critically

think, problem solve, and

overcome frustration. STEM is

preparing them for life as a

thinker and learner. In Science the students are exploring waves! Theywill soon take a field trip to Hawaii’s North Shore and tow in to some big

surf….Just seeing if anyone really reads this. Actually, students are

exploring light and sound waves, and conducting experiments to learn

about them. Soon students will start to discover how weather works

using the physical and chemical science concepts that explain this

complex system



P A G E 18


Team 8-1 continued

In Math, students designed their own assessments to show their learning.

They did everything from game shows to human graph, to books, to

videos...it was awesome! In Health students are learning about anextremely important subject, violence prevention. In January and

February students will learn about sexual harassment, dating violence,

bullying, and signs of suicide. In PE, students collaborate to stay fit! Mr.

Lopez has the students working and playing hard to develop their critical

thinking strategy skills. In Social Studies the students are studying the

complex issues that led to the Civil War. This is an amazing opportunity

for kids to explore different perspectives and critically think about

government, economy, and civil rights. In Language Arts, students just

finished their book project and presentations. It is so important for our

students to be readers and writerswho can synthesize information

and use it to communicate

creative thinking. In Language

Arts, students will continue to

grapple with material that will

push their thinking and prepare

them for the challenges of high

school and beyond.

There is a lot of hard work happening on Team 84. The gift of struggle is

given with the intent of teaching our students how to be resilient andamazing!



P A G E 19


Team 8-3

Welcome back! Wow, the first half of the year sure flew by. Can you

believe that your child/children are closer to the end of 8th grade than

the beginning? Obviously we have been working on high schoolregistration the last couple of weeks. The students are so excited and are

really getting into the high school mode. Our goal is to remind them that

we still have a few months left of 8th grade.

Many things will be coming up in the next couple of months. This school

year brings a new state test to each school. TCAP will no longer be the

state test, as PARCC (Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for

College and Careers) is now replacing it. PARCC is a test that is used in 14

states and is aligned to the Common Core Standards. March 10-12 and

again May 4-5 will be the testing dates for team 83. The tests arecompletely online and the students were given a chance to practice

during Math a few weeks ago. Since the format is so different than what

we have used previously, the goal is to allow the students time to practice

and understand the different tools that are available during the test. If

your child would like to practice at home, they may go to the following

website: http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/ .

April 15 will also be state testing days for Science. This test is called CMAS

(Colorado Measures of Academic Success). It is also computer based and

last year the students took a pilot (example) test. Please understand thatthe new tests will take a couple of years to provide reliable data and have

all of the kinks worked out.

Here is what you should hear about from our classes. LA is working on

literature circles and are working with fiction texts. Social Studies just

finished law school and are

venturing into Supreme

Court cases. Chemistry is

the focus in Science, while

Math and Algebra classes

are working on algebraic

patterns and functions.

Linear functions are the key

to this quarter in Math 8

and quadratic functions are

our focus in Algebra. Geometry is moving into transformations very soon.

STEM is wrapping up round 1 of level 2, while PE is beginning a new

project. Make sure to ask them about our classes and what new things

they are venturing into lately.







P A G E 20


Team 8-4 News

All The News That’s Swagworthy!

Starting the second week in January the students got their first real tasteof high school. As you already know, the students had to register for

high school and pick their classes. This is an exciting time and many

students also feel some anxiety. They are just figuring out middle school

and now they have start thinking about how to be a high schooler! Some

of the teachers feel some anxiety also as they prepare the students for

transition to high school.

All the classes on Team 84 are preparing your student(s) not only for high

school, but more importantly, for life as a responsible, resilient, critically

and creatively thinking member of the world community. It is very easy

to see what your student is doing by going to the MRMS website andfollowing the links to each teacher’s website. The Parent Portal is a great

resource but it is reactionary. The grades are not real time as it takes

time to grade and log all the assignments into Infinite Campus. Try

asking your child, “What was the most interesting thing you learned

today?”, or “What question didn’t get answered today?” These

questions might get you more than, “fine” and “nothing.”

The teachers on 84 are dedicated to creating opportunities for students

to think critically and creatively, and work collaboratively to

communicate what they have learned. They also strive to connect

learning to the real world and incorporate 21st century skills like problemsolving, resiliency, systems thinking, and global awareness. Students in

STEM are creating battle bots and logos for 2020. These students are

delving into the engineering world by utilizing the engineering process to

create, critically think, problem solve, and overcome frustration. STEM is

preparing them for life as a thinker and

learner. Science has been an uplifting

experience for the students. They

have to demonstrate their

understanding of density, buoyancy,

chemical reactions, weather, andkinetic particle theory by designing a

hot air balloon. This is an engaging

way to teach students so many

valuable scientific concepts and ensure that they are collaborating and

critically thinking. The students are very excited to launch their balloons!

In Health, students are exploring the complex issues of violence

prevention, bullying, sexual harassment, and suicide. Please check in

with your student, as these are difficult and extremely important

discussions.



P A G E 21


Team 8-4 News continued

In Language Arts students are reading Nothing But the Truth. It is about

honesty, character, misperceptions, lies and the consequences, good and

bad, of choices. Students are always learning life skills and having

relevant conversations in Language Arts. There is additional critical

thinking going on in Social Studies. Students have been looking at the

function of government, civil and individual rights, and the Constitution.

They have dissected Supreme Court Cases and used their knowledge of

the Bill of Rights to formulate their own judgments. The class holds court

and the students defend their conclusions. Watch out, they might tell

you it violates their rights to clean their room! In Math the students are

engaged in the critically important work around patterns. Not only are

they using patterns to understand math, but also students are able to

explain how this knowledge helps them understand patterns is scienceand technology.

There is a lot of hard work happening on Team 84. The gift of struggle is

given with the intent of teaching our students how to be resilient and

amazing!

2015-01 Mtn Ridge v.3.Compressed

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