FEBRUARY 2014

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A note from the principal . . .

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Happy Spring (Almost)!

I am writing this as we await what is supposed to be a huge storm
this weekend. I have a feeling that we are in for a snowy Spring!
That ought to be great for all of you skiers and snowboarders out
there. For the rest of us, Yuck!
I gained my inspiration for this months column while I was sitting
at a Vista basketball game the other night (which they won, by
the way). As I have watched the student section over the season,
it hit me how symbolic it truly is! For those of you who have not
been to an event in Vistas gym, here is the setup: all of the adult
spectators sit on one side, while all of the students own the
opposite stands. Vista students have created a very impressive
fan section that has actually been recognized as the best in the
state! It is fun to watch them with their traditional cheers as well
as new ones for the big games. There is a pecking order to how
the students arrange themselves, however. Seniors get the front
rows, juniors right behind them, and so on. The freshmen know
their place and head straight to the back. At the start of the
season, the freshmen
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Mountain Ridge Middle School

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A note from the principal . . .

continued
wanting to give the upper classmen plenty of space. We often have
middle school students attend these games too. The 7 th grade
students usually sit toward the bottom on the visitor side, often with a
parent. The 8th grade students go to the top of the bleachers but stay
far to the side of the Vista section. Hopefully this gives you a visual of
how things look, at least at the beginning of the season.
I was noticing the other night, however, that the configuration had
begun to shift a little as this was the last home game of the regular
season. The seniors were still upfront with the juniors right behind.
The freshmen, however, have become more comfortable and have
now integrated themselves more into the mix, while still staying in the
back. There were several rows behind them now! The 8th graders in
attendance have gradually moved their way over to the Vista student
section, leaving space, but standing behind the freshmen. The 7 th
graders gradually made their way to the top of the stands where the
8th graders used to be.
What a great symbol for this time of year!!!! Everyone is beginning to
transition into their next phase. Freshmen are now seeing themselves
more as part of the student body, 8th graders are testing the waters of
high school to begin integrating, and 7th graders are trying on the role
of the big kids at MRMS. This is a beautiful and scary thing to watch.
Each and every one of you is going through this transition with your
student as well. It is natural yet terrifying. Give them that room to
begin moving into their new section, but be there to watch and
support when they get scared and intimidated by this.

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Mountain Ridge Middle School

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A note from the principal . . .

continued
I love middle school for this reason! Our kids come to us as
elementary students and we get to watch them turn into high school
students. Amazing! Who would think that so much could be learned
from watching the student section at a basketball game?
Let us know how we can support you and your student as the sections
in the bleachers continue to transition. As always, thank you for
letting us be a part of your amazing students lives day in and day out,
and thank you for your support!
Shannon Clarke, Principal

Mountain Ridge Middle School

PAGE 4

General Announcements

A Gentle Reminder
Parents are welcome to bring their students
lunch from a restaurant, however, we are
unable to accept deliveries for students from
restaurant delivery personnel, including pizza
deliveries. Thank you for helping us minimize
distractions to the learning
environment. Thanks!

Creative Writers
Go Crazy!
Have you ever experienced a
fleeting moment of craziness and
turned it into a piece of
writing? Well, you'll learn how
to do that in this class. Current
unit of study is Story Corps
interviews. Originally run on
NPR, MRMS students are
learning to show that their
stories matter as they interview
each other and publish on
Voicethread.

Mountain Ridge Middle School

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General Announcements

continued

B.I.O.N.I.C.
Believe It Or Not, I Care
Here at MRMS, we are fortunate to be blessed with amazing students
who truly care about each other and about making others feel
comfortable, comforted, and welcomed.
Out of that care and concern came the B.I.O.N.I.C. group, which stands
for Believe It Or Not, I Care. The BIONIC teams are made up of
students who volunteered or who were invited to participate. Teams are
divided up into several areas, welcoming new students, comforting those
who might have experienced a loss, and comforting students who are
facing/have faced longer term illnesses.
Every Thursday, BIONIC students get together to create cards and
messages, and then they deliver those to students. The BIONIC Teams
are one more way we showcase student leadership here at MRMS and
one more way we make our larger community feel welcoming to all.

BIONIC Team members works

with our Counseling staff to
identify students who need
extra care.

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Mountain Ridge Middle School

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General Announcements

continued

B.I.O.N.I.C. continued

Making cheerful
cards!

BIONIC Team
members enjoy the
camaraderie of their
groups

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General Announcements

continued

Make a WISH!!
Wish Week 2015 was a major success this year! Mountain Vista invited
MRMS to participate, and our students and staff got behind the event
100%.
Activities here at MRMS included NJHS members selling hot chocolate and
donuts and donating the proceeds, Student Council sponsoring Hat Day
and donating the proceeds, RAM classes conducting a mighty penny war,
and our own principal Shannon Clarke and security guard Pete Mazula
playing in the basketball game against the Harlem Wizards on Monday,
February 2. The Wizards generated excitement, laughter and game night
anticipation here at MRMS during an assembly Monday morning on the
day of the game.
The event culminated in a Wish Week Assembly at Vista which we were
able to livestream to classrooms here at Mountain Ridge. There was not a
dry eye in the house as Asher and his family were introduced.
Final totals are in for the Wish Week eventstogether, we raised over
$61,000.00enough to grant EIGHT wishes for the Make A Wish
Foundation. What a great testimonial to the big hearts in our feeder!

Mountain Ridge Middle School

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General Announcements

continued

Morning Traffic??
Cars, Buses, and SUVsoh my!
We need your HELP!
Anyone who has experienced morning traffic here at MRMS knows it is far
from being a picnic. In fact, the traffic issues seem to have multiplied as
the school year has gone on.
The combined efforts of MRMS and MVHS security have resulted in a
traffic loop and drop-off system that really does work efficiently when
everyone is following it. But even the most efficient system cannot
handle the immense volume of traffic we have been experiencing.
As a result, our buses are getting caught in the loop and are held up in the
drop-off process. We are regularly experiencing waves of students
arriving late, sometimes up to a couple of hundred students arriving up to
10 minutes late to the building. Students are missing announcements and
instructional time is being impacted.

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Mountain Ridge Middle School

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General Announcements

continued

Morning Traffic?? continued

WE NEED HELP!!
Please consider the following suggestions to help make the morning a
little easier:

If your student can walk or ride the bus and is not, please have him/
her do that. We understand there are bad weather days or special
projects due that make a car ride easier, but in general, cutting down
on the sheer numbers of cars coming into the parking lot will help.

Consider carpooling. Most of the cars coming into the parking lot
have just one rider. Carpooling is more efficient and the added
benefit is parents dont have to face the drive every day!

Get in line earlier. Cars getting into the loop closer to 7 a.m. seem to
move through more quickly and smoothly. Anyone getting into the
line at 7:15 or later is almost guaranteed a long wait and a late
student!

Do you have a high school student driving to school with a parking

permit in the upper lot? Again, carpooling (if possible) can help.
Students with other permits should use the far west parking entrance.
And, again, getting into line closer to 7 a.m. than 7:30 is strongly
recommended. (Yes, we DO realize we are talking about teenagers)

Avoid the traffic loop altogether and drop your student off in a safe
neighborhood location so he/she can walk the rest of the way up to
the building. (Again, yes, we DO realize we are talking about
teenagers)

If you are driving in and dropping off, thank you for driving as FAR
around the loop as you can before stopping to let students out.
Remind them to exit on the sidewalk side of the car and to be ready to
exit immediately when you are able to come to a safe stop.

Over the years, there have been significant improvements to our traffic
flow and process. The double turn lane into our schools was put in a few
years ago and has been tremendously helpful. Our security guards are
well-versed in moving traffic efficiently. Thank you for recognizing their
effortsthey love your smiles, waves and good humor in the morning!
We appreciate your efforts in helping us run a smooth traffic pattern and
in trying to reduce the volume of vehicles coming in each morning. Our
goal is to get students in safely and quickly and to get our school started
on time!

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 10

General Announcements

continued

Yearbook Closing in on Their Last Deadline

Here we are! It's hard to believe that the storytellers of MRMS are
working toward our last deadline. It takes a lot of communication and
collaboration to cover all of the amazing events hosted here and we're
close!
If you haven't purchased a yearbook, please call our bookkeeper, Margene Greeno and we'll make sure to put you on the list. Cost of each
yearbook is $35
Baby Ad deadline for 8th grade parents to submit is Friday, Feb. 20. All
information is on our main MRMS page.

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 11

General Announcements

continued

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 12

Athletics And Activities

8th grade boys basketball ended
their season February 28, 2015. This
season the boys worked very hard
and grew in their sportsmanship, skill
level and collaboration. Thank you
to all the parents and athletes. In
addition, thanks to Steve Lopez, Mike
Kelly, and Craig Harvey for an
amazing job coaching our athletes!
Our team had a lot of support from
the MRMS student body. They
cheered, chanted, danced and even
raised money for Childrens Hospital.

Our 7th grade boys basketball season started March 2, 2015. Our
coaches, Mike Kelly, Lucas Reeves, and Pete Mazula predict success and
lots of fun! Good luck boys on your upcoming season! The season
ending tournament will be April 11, 2015 at Highlands Ranch High
School.

Track season starts April 13, 2015. The team is coming back from a
district championship last year! This is a great opportunity for 7 th and 8th

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 13

Team 7-1

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 14

Team 7-1

7th Graders at Work at

International Towne

Even the
parents had
fun!

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 15

Team 7-1

A Brief Commentary by
Russell Loucks - Team 71

Insights and thoughts on

Education in
"A Brave New World."

When
the
Coffee
Kicks In

February 20, 2015

Teaching iLab has given me an opportunity to play with learning, both
mine and the students. Ive come to realize that there are certain institutional norms unwritten, but both parties understand the expectations,
and when they are broken, brilliant learning can happen.
Lets start by defining the current paradigm of teaching and learning in,
generally, most middle and high schools across the nation. It goes like
this: student comes in to class with an expectation, which is that
student receives information or knowledge from teacher; teacher delivers information and knowledge; student regurgitates information
back in some acceptable formmultiple choice test, essay, or fill in the
blank.
It is how Ive conducted teaching and learning for far too long. Students,
parents, and teachers believe that the mark of a good teacher or the
rigor of a class depends on this cycle of deliver, receive, regurgitate. As
we all know, that does not create life-long learners or thinkers; it creates
mechanical apathetic students who pray and cheer for snow days.
I hate that.
I mean: I REALLY hate that!

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 16

Team 7-2

Are You Aware?

We are getting close to the last quarter and it will be here before we know it.
Spring Break will be the week of March 22-28 with the Friday before, March 20
being a teacher work day, so the students will not have school that day. Prior to
the end of this quarter, we have our first round of state testing. Testing will
begin on Tuesday, March 10 through Thursday, March 12. During this testing,
the students will be working on performance based assessments and will
continue to have their normal elective classes.
Here is what is going on throughout the POD
Social Studies:
Currently working on different types of governments and will soon be starting a
new unit of different types of religions. They even played a review game using
Kahoot which tested their knowledge of the types of government and "who has
the power".
iLab:
Students have been becoming experts on their chosen "Deep Dive" topics and
have created infographics to display their knowledge. They will soon be moving
on to the creation of their Capstones.
Health:
Students are finishing up working on body image and eating disorders and they
made a poster that displayed their understanding of how the media affects our
views of body image. They will be moving on to diseases next.
Math:
7th grade math students are working on applying proportions to linear
equations, mark ups and interests. Algebra students are working on solving
inequalities.
Science:
Students are wrapping up genetics and heredity and will soon be moving on to
geology. The students have been studying DNA and how genes are passed on
from one generation to the next
Language Arts:
Students in advanced language arts have been creating a Utopian society where
they choose a government and philosophy, and create a map and flag to go with
it.
Students in 7th grade LA are reading the novel The Outsiders

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 17

Team 8-1
Interview with Team 81 Spirit Unit: Bryn Smith, AJ Stevens, Zack Hoff, Eric
Kimmell, and Rafe Kinder. These awesome students took it upon
themselves to organize and cheer on our boys basketball team. They are
also trying raise money for Childrens Hospital. Thank you for your
positive leadership, Spirit Unit!
What is the best thing about being on Team 81?
There are great teachers that give us freedom to explore our interests.
They give us time to learn things that interest us. The atmosphere is good
and you are welcome everyday. Everyone is enthusiastic and encourages
our learning. They allow us to take risks and go to great length to advance
our learning. Our teachers participate in spirit days and have fun with us.
They balance work and fun and dont overload us. Our teachers make it
easier on us to succeed by making sure we can manage our time.
How has the learning prepared you for life beyond MRMS?
They intrigue us so we are eager to learn. In science we learn about real
life stuff that we talk to our parents about. Mrs. Earl makes sure that we
understand how our learning is important for high school and life. The
teachers challenge us so that we have to think harder and they push us to
become better learners.
What motivates you to succeed on Team 81?
My teachers and friends create a team atmosphere that raises us up on
bad days and keeps us motivated to do our best.
What do you want others to know about Team 81?
We are the best! We have a competitive spirit that drives us to have fun
and be successful. We are fun loving. We are positive. We love to learn
and we love how all our teachers have different ways to teach us. We
take care of business and get things done because we care about our
education and one another.

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 18

Team 8-1

continued

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 19

Team 8-3
Hi team 83 community. We are getting close to the last quarter and it will
be here before we know it. Spring Break will be the week of March 22-28
with the Friday before, March 20 being a teacher work day, so the
students will not have school that day. Prior to the end of this quarter, we
have our first round of state testing. Testing will begin on Tuesday, March
10 through Thursday, March 12. During this testing, the students will be
working on performance based assessments and will continue to have
their normal elective classes.
Fourth quarter is when our team kicks everything into gear and we focus
on the transition to high school. So many things will be happening over
the last few months. This includes our second part of the Cherokee Ranch
field trip during May. We will be communicating more about the trip as it
gets closer. Also, we will spend time before the end of the year visiting
Mountain Vista to help with the transition for next year.
Dont forget, March 6 is the final due date for all STEM projects. Language
arts is deep in the trenches with poetry. Social studies is focused on the
different political parties. Astronomy is the core of science class right
now. As for math, the different classes are all working on their own thing.
Math 8 just finished a unit on linear equations, while Algebra is breathing
a sigh of relief with inequalities after finishing up quadratics. Geometry,
on the other hand, will soon be entering into some trigonometry. Healthy
choices is the topic in health right now.

Mountain Ridge Middle School

P A G E 20

Team 8-4 News

All The News Thats Swagworthy!
Interview with team 84: Chris Manwarring, Neha Ankam, Madison
Schall, Nick Englhard, Cody King (member of the Spirit Unit).
What is the best thing about being on team 84?
Everything we learn is for a purpose and they make connections between
classes. We have very cool teachers and very nice friends. The way they
teach is awesome. It is not just lecture, it is hands on interactive learning.
We love that we do a lot of projects and collaborate with our classmates.
The teachers are really cool and we have a strong sense of community.
We will see teachers observe other teachers to make sure they are
connected. We really like how we present our learning in unique ways.
How has the learning prepared you for life beyond MRMS?
We get taught and graded on 21st century skills. Those are the skills that
will transfer to life. We get a lot of real world examples in our classes. In
health, we learn things that will apply to us and help us live healthy. The
reading and writing and things we do in language arts are going to
prepare us for school and life. Before, we would get scripted answers on
why this is relevant. Now our teacher are able to give us great examples
and specifics. Our teachers are like counselors-preparing us for high
school and beyond.
What motivates you to succeed on Team 84?
Being ready for high school. Our parents motivate us. We are also selfmotivated and that started with our teachers helping us and preparing
us. We have fun on the team and it doesnt just feel like work so we are
motivated to work hard.
What do you want others to know about Team 84?
Even though we work hard we still have fun! We are all really nice and
support each other. We help each other out. We feel connected to our
teachers and this makes our team a very special place. Everyone is
treated fairly. Our teachers make every effort to support us. We just like
coming to school. We feel safe to participate and take risks.