8

NEWS

Calendar Hall Pass, Escort Required

21

28

Plush
Animal
Lovers Day

King Tut Day

11

Veterans
Day

18

Mickey
Mouse Day

22

National
Nut Day

29

Hermit Day

Gunpowder
Day

12

Chicken
Soup for the
Soul Day

19

Equal
Opportunity
Day

23

National
Mole Day

30

Mischief
Night

Saxophone
Day

13

World
Kindness
Day

20

Absurdity
Day

24

25

United
Nations Day

31

Halloween

National
Men Make
Dinner Day

14

National
Pickle Day

21

World Hello
Day

Frankenstein
Friday

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

KEEP
CURRENT
Babbling
Day

October 2013 | Prowler

National
Authors
Day

X-ray Day

15

America
Recycles
Day

22

Go For a
Ride Day

26/27

Make a
Difference
Day

2/3

Deviled Egg
Day

9/10

Chaos Never
Dies Day

16/17

Button Day

22/23

Fibonacci
Day

Campus
BRAGS & BRIEFS

DISTRICT YOUTUBE CHANNEL: Round Rock ISD Video

Services has launched the districts official YouTube channel.
The channel will feature public service announcements,
district information, event recaps and stories about people.

SUCCESS HIGH SCHOOL: Ground breaking for the new

permanent facility for Success High School building took

place on Sept. 24. Success is an alternative school campus
that serves students in at-risk situations, students who desire
acceleration and students who need evening classes.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS: On October 17, the

district will spotlight after school programs, including

New Horizons. Research indicates that during the hours
immediately following the release of school, students tend to
experiment with risky behaviors the most. New Horizons and
other after school programs give students a safe alternative.

4-H ABSENCES: When attending 4-H events, student

absences will be considered the same the absences for

students participating in school related extracurricular
activities. The school board adopted a resolution that allows
for this attendance rule on Sept. 19, 2013.

THIRD YEAR OF TARDY SWEEPS SHOWS

SWIFT DECLINE FOR FIRST MARKING PERIOD

by staff reporter
Delilah Rivera

The alarming bell to mark a tardy

frustrates some students and doesnt
faze others at all. After the ringing
stops, over 20 teenagers stand in the
mall waiting in multiple lines for a little
slip of paper that officially declare the
students tardies.
Tardy sweeps have continued from
last year, but along with the policy of
getting a tardy slip and being escorted
to class, new rules have been added.
The tiered tardy discipline system
includes lunch detentions, Saturday
detentions, office referrals and loss of
parking privileges.
Because of the regulations, tardies
have steadily decreased.
Theres something about being held
accountable for being tardy, something
psychological, assistant principal Rachel
Naugle said. It helps to train students to

by staff reporter
Julius Alums

Food deliveries and lunch money

for students can no longer be accepted
at the front desk, and students are
no longer able to order food to be
delivered on campus after a new
campus policy was adopted for this
school year.
Not only is food an issue, deliveries
that consists of athletic gear, band,
dance, ROTC or other equipment are
also no longer permitted.
What people may or may not know
is that we stopped doing food deliveries
at the end of last year to get the
students and parents adjusted to whats
to come, senior administrative assistant
Michelle Gamboa said.
In the first day packets a letter was
printed and put in the folders that
explained the reason for the new
procedure. The information was also on
the cover of the folder.
It had become a nuisance when we

Informed

PAID MEALS PRICE INCREASE: New lunch prices

include breakfast for $1.35, student lunches for $2.55 and

adult lunches for $3.15.

ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS: The district and all the

campuses earned an accountability rating of met standard in

the first year of the new accountability system. In the All Tests
Combined level, all student groups received passing rates
higher than the statewide standard.

MEET THE TIGERS: The school-wide celebration of clubs

and sports will be held on Tiger Field from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on

October 17.

BAT SAFETY: Do not pick up bats. Instead contact a school

administrator. People catch rabies from bats more than any
other animal in the U.S.

KNOW | CARE

Arts Center (PAC) has been renamed to the Raymond E.

Hartfield Performing Arts Center. Mr. Hartfield served on the
board of trustees from 1994 to 2008. His leadership was a
major part during the construction of the center.

climate survey of staff, students and parents, the district

strengths include high expectations and high college
aspirations for students. Also families feel welcomed and
respected. Areas to work on include work climate for auxiliary
staff, student treatment of adults and peers and cafeteria

by Noelle Clark
JUST

TH E

After the 2nd tardy,

lunch detention is
assigned. For the
6th and 7th tardy
there is Saturday
detention. The 8th
tardy is an office
referral. Students
with 10+ tardies lose
parking privileges.

Campus No Longer Accepts Front Office Deliveries

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: The districts Performing

DISTRICT CLIMATE SURVEY: According to the district

be an advocate for themselves.

According to Naugle, while students
complain about having to walk a long
ways to go get a pass, the sweeps
compel them to be on time just to avoid
the hassle.
And for some students, this is true.
You have to go all the way up there
Teacher John Churchill prints tardy slips.
and they have to bring you all the way
to class, freshman Tragen Roach said.
the period, productivity increases.
You miss the first part of class. Id rather
Its great to see the halls empty, to
be on time than have to deal with that.
actually start class when class should
Though the policy does encourage
start instead of waiting, Thomas said.
some students to be on time, there
After years of perfecting, for the
are others who go through the whole
administration team there are only a
process so they can miss some of class.
couple of changes left to help the tardy
I dont think most students like tardy sweep process.
sweeps, AP world history teacher Jeff
There are two systems now: kids
Thomas said. I think students that do
who sign in at the mall and kids whose
like it are the ones who come to class on teachers let them in any ways and just
time. Those students who dont like it,
mark as tardy, Thomas said. Things
enjoy showing up late.
need to be tightened, but overall the
With students in class at the start of
policy has massive effect.

had a lot of incoming calls or people

coming in the office and we had to put
them on hold because we had to deliver
or find the class of the kid that had
Sonic sent too him, Gamboa said. It
was just making our service look poor.
As the stress of the office built up, the
administrators worked to find a better
system. They went to other schools in
the district to see how they handled the
same situations.
We checked with schools like Cedar
Ridge to see how they dealt with
deliveries and they said that they dont
handle deliveries, Gamboa said. We
discovered that we were the only one
doing it.
Seeing that other schools dont allow
deliveries, it seemed like the best choice
for Stony Point was to follow the same
protocol.
Now that we have stopped deliveries
the responses from parents have
also been positive saying, Oh, finally,
because I am tired of always bringing

LOCAL

STATE

WHAT
YOU
SHOULD
KNOW:
Take
caution.
Since
2011, in
the Round
Jens Sigersted
Rock area,
motorcycle theft has been on
the rise. Most, this year, have
been taken from apartment
complexes.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
Transportation property may
be stolen if the necessary
precautions are not taken. To
prevent becoming a victim of
motorcycle theft, be sure to
set the alarm and turn off the
ignition before leaving the
vehicle exposed.

WHAT
YOU
SHOULD
KNOW:
The Texas
school
board is
deciding
on new
Textbook
science
textbooks that will be used
through 2022 and how they
should teach evolution and
climate change.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
Currently in Texas, high
school textbooks teach
evolution and climate change
alongside creationism. By
teaching these theories
in this way, students are
encouraged to be skeptical of
their validity.

Education Board Debates

Motorcycle Thefts
on the Rise Over Evolution in Textbooks

my kid something. Maybe theyll finally

remember and start bringing things
themselves.
Administrators say they hope that
the new rule will teach students the
importance of responsibility, but the
office does understand that accidents
happen and students may forget an
important item.
Now, if there is a delivery, what we
do is send the parent to the students
principal, and they will send the item to
the student, Gamboa said. This gives
the parent and the principal a chance
to meet.
Students may also pre-arrange to
meet their parents during their lunch
time or between classes in order to
receive an item.
In no way are we doing this to hurt
or harm the students, and we dont
want them to think that this is a bad
thing, Gamboa said. We are doing this
to make the system easier and to make
sure everything operates correctly.

JUST

TH E

WHO: Front
office staff
WHAT: No

longer accept
any deliveries
for students,
including food,
homework and
supplies for
activities

WHY: No other

high school in the

district accepts
deliveries, and
doing so causes
stress for the
office staff

NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL

Abortions Clinics Shut Down

because of New Laws

Clash Over Possible

Intervention in Syria

WHAT
YOU
SHOULD
KNOW:
Starting
in 2010,
more
than 54
abortion
James Alan
clinics all
over the nation have been
shut down due to restrictive
laws and cuts to family
planning funding.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
Currently, there are less
than 1,000 clinics that offer
abortion in the U.S. This is
a concern for women who
want to terminate unwanted
pregnancies. Future antiabortions laws could result in
even fewer clinics.

WHAT
YOU
SHOULD
KNOW:
Syrias
President
Bashar alAssad is
accused
of using CIA World Factbook
chemical weapons against his
own people. World leaders
are debating over whether or
not they should intervene.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
Attacking Syria could lead the
U.S. to becoming involved
in another war. On the
other hand, the president
argues that the U.S. has the
responsibility to protect
innocent lives and prevent
the use of chemical weapons.