The Cardinal Connection

Once the school year begins, The Cardinal Connection, our family newsletter, will resume its regular schedule. The Cardinal Connection is sent Fridays at 4:00 PM, unless it is a shortened week.

We are looking forward to welcoming all families this Thursday, 8/27, for our Family Walkthrough Event.

Student homeroom assignments will be distributed at our event. There will be a staff member in each location with your child's card which will identify the homeroom they will be in this year. Stop by the following locations to pick up your child's homeroom card:

Kindergarten and 1st Grade: Yellow Hallway

2nd and 3rd Grade: Green Hallway

4th and 5th Grade: Blue Hallway

The Nutrition Department will be providing a FREE dinner for all students who attend our Walkthrough event as well as a sample portion for all adults. Stop by the cafeteria and experience the wonderful offerings that our Nutrition staff offers our students!

It is very important to read through our Cooke Family Handbook! It is full of information about our school and may answer questions that you have about routines, procedures and expectations at our school. We are going paperless with our Family Handbook this year!

IT’S TIME FOR YOUR ANNUAL UPDATE!

A successful school year starts with staying connected! Families can now complete the 2026–2027 Annual Student Information Update through the Infinite Campus Family Portal.

Take a few minutes to make sure we have the most current information for your student, including:

Parent/guardian contact information

Mailing address

Emergency contacts

Student health information

Preferred language for family communications

Already have an Infinite Campus account? Simply log in and select Annual Update / New Student Registration to get started.

Need an account? Check your email from August 17 for an activation message from Red Clay. An automated email will be shared every Monday until you create an account.

PLEASE DON’T SKIP THIS IMPORTANT STEP!

Accurate information helps us stay connected with your family and ensures we can best support your student throughout the school year.

Get instructions and complete details here.

*Please note that while homeroom assignments are visible, these are still a work in progress and may change. Class lists will be finalized on 8/27 and the final homeroom will be available at our Family Walkthrough event.

Let’s start the year connected and ready to move Forward Together!

There’s still time to enroll, and we’re excited to welcome our newest learners into safe, caring, and engaging kindergarten classrooms. At Red Clay, children build confidence, make new friends, and develop the skills they need for a lifetime of learning and success.

What Families Need to Register

• 📋 Photo ID
• 🏠 Proof of Residency
• 👶 Birth Certificate
• 💉 Immunization Records

Children must be 5 years old by August 31, 2026.

Families can register online or in person at any Red Clay elementary school.

Get the Best Start at Red Clay

Whether you're a parent, guardian, grandparent, neighbor, or friend, you can help a child begin their educational journey in a place where they are known, supported, and inspired to thrive.

Learn more and enroll today:RedClaySchools.com/kindergarten

All car rider families and new to Cooke students (including all Kindergarten families) will be issued new 2026-2027 car tags. These must be picked up between now and the first day of school. They will be available for pick up on our Cooke Walkthrough Night on 8/27. For families with more than one child, the car tags will be located in the youngest child's homeroom.

Please do not use old car tags. Your family will be issued two new tags for use this year. Please discard old car tags.

We do request that your child's form of transportation remains consistent. If there is an emergency and you must change your child to car rider for the day, please send in a note and/or email to inform the teacher AND the front office.

Main office contacts:

Secretary: Desiree Nabors: Desiree.Nabors@redclay.k12.de.us

Clerk: Rebecca Johnson: Rebecca.Johnson@redclay.k12.de.us

This ensures that if your child's teacher is absent, someone in the main office also receives this communication.

*If your child's form of transportation has changed from last year, you must contact the main office as soon as possible!

As the school year gets underway we ask that families are understanding that there may be delays with buses. We do our best to dismiss on time, however, we will take extra precautions in the first weeks of the year to ensure that everyone is placed on the correct bus.

In addition, buses may encounter traffic or other delays and may arrive later than expected at Cooke. We do our best to send text messages to the families of those delayed buses. We usually send a text that the bus is running late and then another text to alert families that the buses have arrived, loaded and left Cooke as well as the time they depart.

We encourage you to use the Where's The Bus app on your phone or call Transportation at 302-322-0251 with concerns. Our priority in these situations is to keep our students safe while waiting and being in communication with Transportation. We ask that you limit calls to the main office and do not come to the school to pick up your child unless it is an emergency.

The Board of Education of the Red Clay Consolidated School District is making available a group Voluntary Student Accident Insurance Plan administered by the Philadelphia Insurance Companies. There is no obligation to purchase this insurance.

Many of you have reached out looking for ways you can support our school. We would love to have donations for our MTSS School Store. Students visit this store once per month and use their Cardinal Credits they've earned for being respectful, responsible, and ready. We put together an Amazon Wish List. If you choose to donate, the items will be shipped directly to Cooke Elementary School. As always, thank you for your support!

If you plan to volunteer at Cooke (chaperone a field trip, help in the classroom, help at a school event such as the Book Fair or Holiday Shop, etc.) you must complete the State of Delaware process to become an approved volunteer.

New This Year!

If you have completed a Delaware Child Protection Registry (CPR) clearance through another agency with the past year, we can now accept those results. You will not need to complete a new CPR registration as long as your clearance is current within the calendar year.

There are three documents you need to turn in:

1. Confidentiality Agreement

2. TB Risk Assessment

3. RECEIPT for the $14 online fee for the Child Protection Registry OR Results from another agency.

These can be turned in to the office now and once school begins, to the homeroom teacher.

Documents must be received in the office BEFORE the date of the volunteer opportunity/field trip. We cannot accept paperwork the day of, without the confirmation of clearance from the District Office.

Volunteer approval is good for ONE calendar year. So, if you completed this last October, you are cleared through October 2026. Then you must resubmit the three documents. If you are unsure when you expire, you can call the main office at 302-235-6600.

Some parents have expressed trouble with the Child Protection Registry site. We do not have tech support for this. We have learned that it is best to do this on a computer versus a phone. That seems to be more successful. We also have directions to use for assistance (see below).

Some clubs such as Science Olympiad who supervise students without a Red Clay staff member present, you must also complete a Criminal Background Check (fingerprinting). Please contact the school office for direction on additional requirements.

We have a translate feature! Simply click "translate newsletter" and you can pick from many different languages!

¡Tenemos un botón de traducción! Simplemente haga clic donde dice "translate newsletter" y podrá elegir entre muchos idiomas diferentes.

The Red Clay Consolidated School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, handicap, veteran status, domicile, genetic information, or any legally protected characteristic. Inquiries should be directed to Human Resources at 302-552-3783.