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The Cooper PAWS
Please "PAWS" with us for an update from Cooper School
April 25, 2024
Student & Staff Wellness
END-OF-YEAR ACTIVITIES
We have had to make adjustments to a few of our End of Year activities in order to squeeze in all the fun! Specifically, we had to move Field Day back to its original date on June 5th. Please see the important dates/times below which have also been added to the Cooper Family Google Calendar.
5/28: Daytime Student & Staff Concert
5/28: Evening of the Arts (6:30pm)
6/5: Field Day & Kickball Tournament (5th Grade vs. Staff)
6/6: Rain Date for Field Day
6/7: Moving Up Ceremony (1:30pm)
6/11: Middle School Graduations
6/12: Classroom/Grade-Level End of Year Parties (10:30am)
6/13: High School Clap Out (10:30am)
6/14: High School Graduations and Last Day for Students
NIGHT OF CULTURES
Our 6th Annual Night of Cultures will take place on Thursday, May 16, 2024. All Cooper Students are invited to showcase their family's culture and traditions. Flyers and permission forms will be sent home with your child. Parents/guardians can send the permission form or complete the Google Registration linked here. We look forward to celebrating everyone's culture and heritage!
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS FOR THE COMMUNITY
CHPS has partnered with Care Solace to provide free Mental Health Supports to our students, staff, and families. The Care Solace team can quickly connect you to verified providers in our community. Click Here to connect with a care provider or contact your school counselor for more information.
Purpose & Passion
TECHNOLOGY CHECK ON APRIL 26TH
On Friday April 26, 2024, the technology team will be visiting Cooper Elementary School to complete our Technology Check. During the visit the Technology Team will check each student's device. It is very important that all students have their devices with them in school on April 26th.
SUMMER ENRICHMENT & ACCELERATION CLASSES
This summer, CHPS is offering an in-person enrichment and acceleration program at no cost to families. The program will be offered to enrolled students entering grades 1st through 5th for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. Students will have the opportunity to read stories, participate in activities centered around social and emotional learning, engage in STEAM activities, and be introduced to a variety of grade-level topics.
This program will be housed at James F. Cooper Elementary School and will run Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays July 8th through July 31st from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. No transportation will be provided. Since limited seats are available, students will be selected based on a first-come, first-serve basis. Acceptance into the program will be communicated via your registered parent/guardian email.
To request that your child attend the program, please submit the “Parent Summer ES Acceleration and Enrichment Program" form, found in your Genesis Parent Access Portal (http://parents.chclc.org) under the "Forms" tab, by April 30, 2024.
ATTENTION FAMILIES OF INCOMING KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS
We are so excited to welcome our incoming kindergarten students, and we have several events planned to support students and families during the transition to elementary school!
To begin gathering important information about our newest Jaguars, Mrs. Mirmina, our Literacy Teacher Coach, will be reaching out to families to schedule kindergarten screening.
On June 3, 2024 we will host our annual parent information night for families of incoming kindergarten students. Parents and guardians are invited to meet in the Cooper All-Purpose Room at 6:00pm on June 3rd to meet staff members and learn about our full day kindergarten program.
ATTENTION FAMILIES OF RISING 6TH GRADERS!
The middle school letter to parents about students' World Language selection for grade 6 went out this week. The portal for selection will close April 28. A copy of the letter can be found at this link.
ST MATH SCHOOL-WIDE CHALLENGE
Friday, April 26th is JiJi Day!
At Cooper we will celebrate by dressing like JiJi. Students are encouraged to wear black, white, and orange. Also, each student will receive a special JiJi surprise!
Our Average Journey Progress in ST Math continues to increase. Thank you for encouraging your child to work on ST Math Puzzles for 10-15 minutes EVERYDAY! This has helped to our students to achieve an average of 39% toward their grade-level journey since the end of October. Our new School-Wide Journey Progress Goal is 45%. Please continue to encourage your child to work toward reaching this new goal by completing puzzles for 10-15min. each night.
Connecting Beyond the Classroom
COOPER PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION ~ PTA
TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY ~ April 25th
In New Jersey, this is an excused absence for students who wish to go with their parents/guardians to visit their workplace and learn about their careers and responsibilities. If you have not already done so, please send a note to the main office upon your child's return to school, so we can record the excused absence in our Genesis system.
BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL PROFESSIONALS WEEK
This week we recognize and celebrate all of our amazing SACC Leaders and Staff Members who provide our students and families with high quality care before the school day begins and after the school day ends. Thank you Mrs. Conklin, Mrs. Gilbert, Mrs. Root, Mrs. Balanca, Mrs. Berrios, Mrs. Chau, Ms. Dickinson, Mrs. Hunter, Ms. Marinelli, Ms. Markart, Ms. Otto, and Ms. Perez for taking such good care of our Cooper Jaguars.
District & Community Information
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT:
All families should be receiving the broadcast messages including CHPS Weekly and CHPS Postcard. If you are not receiving the district emails from the sender, Public Information, please check your spam/junk folder and add this email to your Safe Senders List.
Click Here for the latest message from our Superintendent, Dr. Kwame Morton
SCHOOL-AGE CHILD CARE (SACC)
Wondering what's up with School Age Child Care (SACC) registration? 2024-2025 SACC registration for the 2024-2025 school year will be available on the School Age Child Care and STEP page of the District website on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 4 pm (date and time subject to change). Full information on the SACC program is available on the School Age Child Care and STEP page as well.
SUMMER ENRICHMENT COURSES
The Cherry Hill Public School District is offering a variety of summer enrichment opportunities at High School EAST for students entering 6th grade up to and including current 10th graders. These classes are designed for fun and enriching a student’s knowledge and skills in a particular area. All classes are taught by Cherry Hill Public Schools teachers.
- Program Week 1: July 15-18: Monday-Thursday
- 2 Sessions: AM Session 9-12 PM; PM Session 1-4 PM
- Program Week 2: July 22-25: Monday-Thursday
- 2 Sessions: AM Session 9-12 PM; PM Session 1-4 PM
Please see the brochure and registration link here
Each course costs $150.00. This is the same as last year! All payments must be completed online and there is NO fee for this service. Payments are refundable up to June 23rd or if a course does not run due to enrollment. For questions regarding the program or payments, contact Yolanda McClain (vmcclain@chclc.org) or CJ Davis (cdavis@chclc.org). Register as soon as possible since many courses will fill up!!
HIGH SCHOOL WEST MENTOR DAY
West Track and Field boys and girls teams are hosting a Mentor Day again this year as a fundraiser and way to give kids an opportunity to try out or get more experience with the sport by working with our high school athletes and coaches. We’d love to have CH elementary and middle school students here at West for this event! Please see the event flyer linked here for more information.
COMMUNITY RESOURCE - GRIEF SUPPORT
Greetings from the Samaritan Center for Grief Support,
Please share information about our upcoming Healing Hearts Grief Support Group for Families and Children with families in need of this support. Our next offering is a 6-week support group on Monday evenings from 6-7:30 PM starting May 6 at our Mount Laurel office. The group includes a pizza dinner and age-appropriate support groups for kids, teens, and parents/guardians. Registration is required by May 2nd and space is limited.
Here is a link to a flyer for the group. Healing Hearts Flyer May June 2024.pdf
Please contact the Center for Grief Support with any questions at cfgcounseling@samaritannj.org or 856-596-8550.
Best thoughts,
Joan Ordille
Joan Ordille, DSW, LCSW
Bereavement Program Supervisor
Samaritan
Center for Grief Support
3906 Church Road
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
856-596-8550
“ Compassion is a verb.” Thich Nhat Hanh
Informational Items
STUDENT PLACEMENTS FOR 2024-2025
Please take a moment to review this optional survey which provides families an opportunity to share feedback which may assist us in creating our tentative class rosters for the upcoming school year. Click here to complete the survey.
NJ STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT CALENDAR (NJSLA)
The district spring testing calendar has been finalized and added to our school calendars. Keep in mind that health sleep and work habits make students feel more comfortable and perform better on assessments. These habits take time to develop.
This is a great time of year to consider the following questions:
- Is my child sleep getting 9-12 hours of sleep every night, including weekends?
- Is screen time (including TV, iPad, phone, etc.) limited to 2 hours per day?
- Is my child encouraged to eat plenty of fruits and veggies?
The district NJSLA letter was sent to families through our Blackboard messaging system. Linked here is a copy of the letter.
SUMMER MEAL ASSISTANCE
The State of NJ-Department of Agriculture will be implementing a permanent Summer EBT (S-EBT) Program beginning this summer that seeks to address food insecurity by providing grocery-buying benefits during the summer months for families with school-aged children who have qualified for free or reduced school meals via the 2023-24 Federal meal application.
Additional information will be forthcoming from the State, however, we need to ensure that our District families are aware of this new, permanent program and have applied, if they have not already done so. S- EBT information is currently on the district website, this information was also shared in Friday’s district e-newsletter.
Paper copies will be available in the Cooper Main Office if needed.
Applications will be accepted until June 14th.
LOST AND FOUND
Important Dates
Link to the full Cooper Family Calendar
April
Autism Acceptance Month
Arab American Heritage Month
Month of the Military Child
4/25: Take Your Child to Work Day
4/26: PTA Plant Sale Pick-Up
4/29: Arbor Day
May
Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Month
Jewish American Heritage Month
5/3: HS East Music & Mime Assembly for Students and Staff
5/4: PTA Photo Shoot Fundraiser
5/6-5/20: Regular Administration of NJSLA
5/6-5/10: Staff Appreciation Week
5/10: S.T.A.R. Games (at HS West)
5/16: Night of Cultures (6:30pm)
5/17: Grade 1 Field Trip
5/22: PTA General Membership Meeting (6:30pm)
5/24: Grade 2 Field Trip
5/27: School Closed- Memorial Day
5/28: Evening of the Arts - (Concert and Art Show - 6:30pm)
5/31: Field Day
5/21-5/31: NJSLA Make-Up Testing
James Fenimore Cooper School
Email: ebartolome@chclc.org
Website: cooper.chclc.org
Location: 1960 Greentree Road, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA
Phone: (856) 424-4554
Facebook: facebook.com/JFCooperES
X(Twitter): @JFCooperES