The Cardinal Connection

Families,

What a wonderful first week of school we’ve had! Our students kicked off our "Ya Gotta Believe" theme with smiles, excitement, and an eagerness to learn. Classrooms were buzzing as students practiced routines, built strong classroom communities, and focused on positive interactions with one another. It has been inspiring to see the high level of engagement across the building, and we know this is just the beginning. We are truly looking forward to a year of growth, celebration, and many opportunities to BELIEVE in each other!

Mrs. Jacobs & Mrs. Gearheart

Arrival:

· Parents/Guardians should not get out of the car. Our staff will assist your child getting out of the car if they can't open the door.

· Children should exit the car on the passenger side- closest to the sidewalk. Please do not allow your child to exit on the parking lot side.

· Do not drive around other cars to exit. Remain in line.

Dismissal:

· Starting next week, car line will start dismissal at 3:45 PM.

· When you enter the parking lot, a staff member will tell you which lane to move into. DO NOT switch your lane for any reason. We have a system that organizes car numbers and moving lanes without being told to do disrupts the entire car line and students being able to go to the correct location.

· Parents/Guardians should not get out of the car. Our staff will assist your child getting into the car.

· All students must enter their car on the passenger side of the vehicle ONLY.

· If you are at a point in the car line that is not loading, do not call your child over to your vehicle. We have a system that you must follow. We only load cars 1 through 10.

· All students should be picked up by 4:05 PM.

· Please be attentive during car line. We rely on all drivers to move when the line moves.

You must have your 26-27 Car Tag. All old tags must be disposed of. When you do not have your car tag, it slows down our dismissal process. We will be enforcing the use of ONLY 26-27 car tags beginning on Tuesday. BE PREPARED!

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.

Our office staff is fortunate to know and recognize many of our Cooke families. However, even when we know you, District procedures require us to ask all visitors to present a valid photo ID when coming into the building.

We understand that this may seem unnecessary when we already know you, but these procedures are in place to help us maintain a safe and secure environment for all of our students and staff. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we follow these requirements consistently for everyone.

Thank you for helping us keep Cooke Elementary safe! Ya Gotta Believe!

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 emergency information must be updated in order for a child to attend field trips! Take care of this today! Don't delay!

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

Help your child become more independent by teaching them how to open common food packages. This helps ease frustration when students are eating breakfast and lunch here at school.

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.

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!

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!

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.