Volunteer Appreciation 2015

Thank you Cactus Ranch Volunteers for your outstanding dedication to our students and staff!

Celebrating Freedom

Mrs. Derrington's created a WeVideo describing the Preamble and what it means to them.

Exploring the Constitution

Cactus Ranch 4th Graders participate in a web conference to discover the Constitution of the United States of America.

Rock STAARs

The students of Ms. Derrington's class created a music video to encourage Cactus Ranch students to do well on the STAAR tes.

CRE Programming Students Create Digital Clocks

The students of the programming club created digital clocks to be viewed on the school televisions. Valerie M. designed a clock to count down the remaining days of the school year.

Anti-Bullying Stop Animation Movie

4th grader Bronson F created a stop animation video for the PTA reflections contest that addresses the issue of bullying.

Cactus Ranch Digital Learning Day

Jeff Pratt visited with CRE 4th graders to talk about what it's like to work at Google and the innovative products that the company is developing. The rest of the school was able to tune in to the presentation through a Google+ Hangout OnAir.

Energy Conservation in Texas

Ms. James class hosts Mr. Hanson to learn about energy conservation. The other 5 5th grade classes were able to tune in and participate in the presentation through a Google+ On Air Hangout. The 5th grade is learning about energy conservation as part of their PBL project (Project Based Learning).

Joe McDermott and Students Make Music

Musician Joe McDermott worked with 5th grade to create and original song and video.

Students Win in Writing Contest

4th Grade Student, Andrew and Abhinu, won the Austin Family Magazine writing contest. Each student was awarded a Kindle e-reader device.

Skype to Alaska

Ms. Derrington's 3rd grade class connects with Steve Wolf and son in Alaska. Steve Wolf is the owner of Stunt Ranch in Austin. Our 3rd graders visited Stunt Ranch to learn science through stunts and special FX.

Glogs From TAG

TAG students create interactive glogs to promote the annual TAG Luncheon. 

Click here to view the glog.

Cactus Ranch Teacher Participates in Nasa Ladee Launch

Stacy Vernon, a teacher and fan of NASA,  registered and was selected to attend a Nasa Social Event for the launch of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) on September 5th and 6th. She found out she was selected as one of only 50 participants from across the US. Selected participants were taken on exclusive tours of the Nasa Wallops Flight Facility, attended press conferences, and enjoyed taking part in a special introductory briefing broadcast live on Nasa's Educational Channel. Speakers including astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, and Charles Bolden, current administrator of NASA and former NASA astronaut, who visited with the Nasa Social Participants repeatedly and spoke of his appreciation for teachers and the importance of teachers sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for space exploration and science with their students. The Nasa Social group attended a "front row" special rocket launch viewing site for this exciting launch which was a first in many ways. The LADEE mission is the 

*first spacecraft launched into deep space from the NASA Wallops Facility

*first moon launch from Virginia

*first payload to launch on a U.S. Air Force Minataur V rocket integrated by Orbital Sci. Corp.

Currently, Stacy is a kindergarten teacher at Cactus Ranch Elementary. She follows Nasa and many astronauts on Twitter and is active in Social Media. You can follow her on Twitter as @StacyVernon.  She is excited to bring back a variety of space science activities to her students.

Tech Music

Cactus Ranch students grades 3-5 discover music sequencing and looping by creating a composition with Quavermusic.com. Click on the link below to hear a sample.

4th Grade JSRS

2nd Graders Take a Closer Look

Mrs. Fairman and Mrs. Bridge's students learn about the different parts of a plant with the use of the new digital microscopes.

CRE Robotics Club Meets the EV3

Students in the Cactus Ranch Robotics Club got a sneak peek of the new Lego robotics system, EV3. The EV3 project director from National Instruments demonstrated the new software and hardware that will be available for purchase in the fall of 2013.

Food Chain Discoveries

Ms. Avila-Gray, 5th grade teacher, teaches about the food chain by using a webcam and an avatar effect from Logitech software.

Preparing for Battle

Cactus Ranch students prepare for the Battle of the Bluebonnet's with our new Turning Point ResponseCard RF LCD devices.

Photo Fun

Students discover photo editing in Ms. Covington's art class using Photoshop Elements 11.

5th Graders Get a Lesson on Storms

Paul Yura,Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service, gave the 5th graders a presentation about weather and storms.