Dear Cactus Ranch Family,

Welcome to Cactus Ranch! My name is Christy Zunker and I am honored to be your chil's 3rd grade teacher. I would like to tell you about myself. Professionally, this is my 16th year of teaching and my seventh year teaching 3rd grade at Cactus Ranch. I earned a Bachelor of Arts from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX in 1994. I majored in communication and also obtained my elementary teacher certification. My entire teaching career has been with RRISD (9 years at Double File Trail). Personally, I celebrated my 13th year of marriage to my high school sweetheart, Rusty, this summer. We have two handsome boys. Noah, our oldest son, is 10 years old and will be in 5th grade here at Cactus Ranch. Eli is 7 years old and will be in 2nd grade also here at CRE. We also have two pets--a 12 yeard old Australian cattle dog (aka red heeler) named Sienna and Jeremiah, a frog. I am very proud of my family.

With them I had a wonderful summer. We visited Mr. Zunker's side of the family in New Braunfels. We also drove out to Alpine (where Mr. Zunker and I both grew up) and visited my family. We took my grandparents on day trips to Ft. Davis and Marathon. On our way back to Round Rock, we stopped off in Balmorhea at Solomon Springs. As far as we are concerned, it is better than Barton Springs. If you have never been, you won't be disappointed. It's a magical place. Our big family vacation, though, was a road trip to Denver, CO. We stayed with great friends in Highlands Ranch, CO, a suburb of Denver. On our trip we visited Great Sand Dunes National Park, Denver Museum of Science and Nature, Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, Colorado's Railroad Museum, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, and we even saw the Rockies play the Giants. We had a fabulous time. Nothing beats the memories we make on our road trips. The rest of the summer was filled with tubing, water parks, swimming pool, amusements parks, library time, and hanging out with friends. Summers are wonderful!

Also wonderful is the start of a new year with a new teacher and classmates. I would ike to invite you to "Back to School Howdy" tomorrow night from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. At this time you can drop off school supplies and get to know our room and other classmates before the first day of school. PTA will be selling CRE merchandise and you will able to set up funds in your lunch account with food services. Also, stop the library to sign up for eNews.

I have one task for my new students before you come to school on Tuesday, August 25. Please visit our classroom webpage under surveys. There is a survey I would like you to fill out so that I can get to know you better before school starts.

I love Cactus Ranch and I really love my job! I enjoy building relationships with my students and their parents. Open and constant communication between us is the key to achieving this goal. Please contact me at Christy_Zunker@roundrockisd.org if there is ever a need. My goal is that the relationships we build go beyond 3rd grade. It is our goal at Cactus Ranch Elementary to have happy families taht are satisfied with the job we do. I am committed to the mission of Cactus Ranch and I can't wait to get this school year started. My sincere hope is that you look back at this year as one of the best years your child has ever experienced.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Zunker