The Cardinal Connection

We are excited to invite parents & guardians to our upcoming Open House event, which is a wonderful opportunity for you to visit your child’s classroom, meet their teacher, and see firsthand the learning environment we are cultivating. At this event, we aim to strengthen the partnership between home and school, which is key to your child's success. By attending, you will gain valuable insights into their daily routines and experiences. This connection fosters a positive and supportive learning community for everyone.

During the Open House, we will also provide an overview of the curriculum your child will be engaging with throughout the year. Understanding the curriculum is essential, as it outlines the key learning goals, skills, and concepts your child will be working on. It will also help you better support their academic growth at home. Your presence at this event is crucial, as it provides an opportunity to ask questions and ensure that we are working together to create the best possible learning environment for your child.

We look forward to seeing you there and building a strong partnership for a successful school year!

Mrs. Jacobs & Mrs. Gearheart

*Please note that Open House is intended for Parents & Guardians.

We do our best to alleviate traffic on Graves Road and our car lines in the AM and PM have systems in place for safety and efficiency.

Morning Drop Off:

• Doors open at 8:45 AM.
• Please have your child ready to exit the car from the passenger side only.
• Do not exit your vehicle to get your child out of the car.
• Please pull all the way up behind the car in front of you for drop off.

PM Pick Up:

• Dismissal car line starts at 3:45 PM. Please arrive for the start of our car line.
• Arriving too early causes traffic back ups on Graves Road.
• Do not leave gaps between your car and the car in front of you. We need to get as many cars off of Graves Road as possible.
• Once car line starts at 3:45, we are able to smoothly get all cars in and out in a quick and efficient manner.
• Please do not get out of your car to get your child into your car. Our staff will load children into cars.
• If you need to buckle your child in their car seat, you must move all the way up to the gate & pull over to do that.

Drivers: Please be attentive. When the line moves, please move your car up.

Please do not arrive before 4:05 to pick up your child/children from after care. The gates to the back of the school are opened once all of our buses have left our lot. This is typically around 4:05-4:10. Thank you!

Our lost and found continues to grow every day! Please label your child's clothing, especially jackets and sweatshirts! Please note that unclaimed items from the lost and found are donated at increments throughout the year.

We ask that parents ensure that students are at school on time each day and limit early dismissals! Please only pick up your child if there is an emergency. Our schedules are packed with instruction from 9:05 AM until 3:45 PM! Every minute counts!

Please use the Red Clay calendar to plan vacation time. It is essential that students are present every day!

As part of our safety plan, we conduct different types of drills during the school year. We have our first lockdown drill scheduled for next week. School safety is a priority and practicing drills helps with our preparedness. We are informing you so that you can discuss this with your child and/or answer any questions they may have. The teachers will review the procedures with the students. The school will send a message to families after the completion of the drill.

The Cooke Choir ‘25-’26 season is starting soon! Choir is an extracurricular activity available to our 4th and 5th grade students this year. Rehearsals are scheduled for Wednesday mornings at 8:00 AM. If your child is interested in joining choir this year, you may find the link to the registration form below. We are offering admission on a first-come-first-served basis, so do not delay to register! Registration closes on September 19th at 8:00PM.

All of our rehearsal dates are included on the first page of the registration form. Please make sure to mark these dates on your calendar. Our first rehearsal of the season will be on Wednesday, September 24th.

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.

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

Please turn in all of the documents at one time to your child's homeroom teacher.

Documents must be received in the office BEFORE the date of the volunteer opportunity/field trip.

Volunteer approval is good for ONE calendar year. So, if you completed this last October, you are cleared through October 2025. 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.

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!

Our staff use the REMIND application to communicate with families. If you are having trouble with receiving messages, please click the link below to troubleshoot. Communication is essential to our success as a partnership!

If you are having trouble logging into the Infinite Campus Parent Portal, please click Forgot Password? Forgot Username? below the login area. Please do not call the school to ask for your login information. The school does not have access to this.

Besides the Cardinal Connection, Cooke uses social media to communicate school happenings! If you haven't followed us, do so today! We are on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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 the routines, procedures and expectations at our school!

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.