Fair Funding Meetings for 2024-2025

Our first meeting of the year will be this Thursday at 7pm! Please join to help plan for the rest of the year. As this is our first meeting back for the school year I believe it will be longer than usual so try to block a full hour if you can. As always, the meeting is virtual.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8065492973

BOE Candidates Forum

Did you miss the Board of Education Candidates Forum on Sunday night?

Watch it on YouTube and get to know the community members that are running.

You can also read biographies of the candidates here.

October - Upcoming Dates

 

10/3 - 10/4

School Closed

Week of 10/7

Fire Prevention Week

Week of Respect

10/11

Trunk or Treat Ticket Orders Due

10/19

Trunk or Treat Fall Festival from 3-5pm

Registration Form (Coming Soon)

Tickets (Coming Soon)

10/28

PTA Executive Board Meeting @ 7pm

10/31

Fall Fun Fest @9:30am (Volunteers & Students Only)

Halloween Parade @2:15pm (Parents Welcome)

PTA Meeting - 9/25/24

Hi Everyone,

Please see the AGENDA for the meeting Wednesday, September 25, 2024 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm.

If you have any topics you would like us to discuss, please reach out so it can be added to the agenda.

Your presence is requested so we can reach a quorum. We will be sharing and hope to pass the proposed budget for the 2024-2025 school year.

Join us in person in the J.F. Cooper Elementary School Library or via Zoom. You will find the link to the meeting in the agenda.

Thank you for your attention!!

Shazia Ansari

PTA President

president@jfcooperpta.org

Philly Pretzel Sale - Orders Due 9/24/24

Please send the yellow form back in an envelope or bag with payment by Tuesday, 9/24/24.

Pretzels will be sent home on Friday, 9/27/24.

Mid-September Reminders

FLYERS

 PTA 2024-2025 Welcome Packet (13 pages)

PTA Dates at a Glance

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UPCOMING DATES

Spirit Wear Orders Due

Sat 9/21

BOE Candidates Forum

Sun 9/22 from 7-9pm

PTA General Membership Meeting (Zoom/Library)

Wed 9/25 from 6:30-7:30pm

Volunteer Training (Zoom/Library )

Wed 9/25 from 7:30-8pm

Soft Pretzel Sale - “R” is for Respect

Orders due Wed 9/25

Pretzels Distributed 

Fri 9/27

Fall Mums Pick Up

Fri 9/27

Submit September Yearbook Photos

Mon 9/30

Room Parent Meeting

Tues 10/1 from 9:30-10am

Volunteer Meeting

Tues 10/1 from 10-10:30am

PTA Welcome Packet - Yellow Envelope

Dear Families,

Please be sure to look for our welcome packet this week in your child's hands or their backpack.

In it you will find the following information:

• CHPS Free/Reduced Meal Application Form
• A Note from the PTA Board w/Upcoming Dates
• Cooper Spirit Wear Sale Flyer
• 2024-2025 Board Officers & Communications Info
• CHPS District Calendar
• PTA Membership Form
• Fall Mums Sale Order Form
• Yearbook Pre-Order Form / Hospitality Donation Form
• 2024-2025 Year Round Fundraising Form
• 2024-2025 Yearbook Information
• PTA Volunteer / Room Parent Information
• Fun Book Sale Info
• Food Book Sale Info

Thank you,

The PTA Board & The Front Office

A PTA Welcome for the 2024-2025 School Year

                                       

Dear Parents/Guardians & Staff,

First of all, welcome to all *NEW* families! And welcome back to all families who have been here before! We hope you've had a wonderful summer! School is just around the corner and we have some exciting things planned for the year! You'll find some important information on the posts below.

PTA & School Calendar

• The school staff and the PTA have a great year planned for students and families! Stay aware of what’s happening each month. The Cooper School Calendar has important school dates and PTA events listed.
• Add the Cooper Family Calendar directly to your Google Calendar using this link.
• 2024-2024 School District Calendar

Save the Dates

• Our Back to School Water Ice Night is Friday, 9/6 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm at school! All K-5 families are invited.
• Join us at our first PTA meeting on 9/25/24 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm in-person and over Zoom. Agenda and meeting information will be posted on our website. Meet fellow parents and learn more about what's happening at school.
• We have a soft pretzel sale coming up this month. Order forms will be given to students on 9/18 and will be due on 9/25. Delivery will be 9/27 to students at the end of the day.
• Save the Date: Take a cooking break on our first Dine Out Day of the school year at Norma's Mediterranean Restaurant on 10/22/24. Our school will receive 10% back in proceeds. 

Membership & Volunteering

• Don’t forget to sign up for PTA Membership. You don’t have to be a volunteer - but we need everyone’s support! We are looking for 100% membership from families and staff members. All volunteers must be PTA members.
• We are creating our volunteer list for the new school year! Please fill the 2024-2025 Volunteer Form out if you're interested in helping in any way. Not sure what each volunteer does? See a list of volunteer descriptions.

Yearbook

• We’d love your back to school photos for this year’s yearbook. Upload them to TreeRing or e-mail them to yearbook@jfcooperpta.org

• Our yearbooks are designed for all K-5 students. Pre-order the 2024-2025 yearbook for 10% off on the TreeRing website throughout the month of September. If you do not have a TreeRing account, go to https://tr5.treering.com/validate and use passcode: 1014806030344299

Fundraisers & Sales

• We are having our annual Fall Mums Sale. In order to receive your mums in time, orders are due on 9/11. Orders can be made in our PTA Store. See our flyer here.
• Spirit wear orders are due on 9/21/24.
• Food Books and Fun Books are on sale for $10 in the PTA Store.
• You can easily support us without donating any extra money by purchasing gift cards using the RaiseRight app. Read more about RaiseRight here. 
• You can also help us raise funds by earning Box Tops while you shop for groceries and by donating clothes and shoes in the recycling bin in the parking lot at school.

Donations

• Donate used clothes and shoes in the parking lot. Items are collected every Tuesday. Please don't leave anything outside of the bin. If it's full, come back after Tuesday.
• We also collect books you are ready to pass on to students in need in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area in our beautiful Book Smiles bin located in the foyer at school. Send books in anytime.
• The PTA takes donations year round to help fund assemblies, classroom grants, and field trips.

Our Website

Please bookmark this page - http://jfcooperpta.blogspot.com to stay in the know. This site is updated weekly or bi-weekly depending on how many PTA things are happening. 

We seek to provide you with important information from our PTA as well as Cherry Hill Zone PTA. 

On a desktop, you will see our info tabs at the top of the page. On your mobile device, you will see a highlighted blue bar that says "Home" and a triangle pointing downwards. If you touch this on your phone's screen, a menu will appear to scroll through the tabs. 

Social Media

For those of you who are on FaceBook, visit: https://www.facebook.com/jamesfcooperpta 

We cannot guarantee our posts will appear in your feed, but information and reminders will be posted here regularly.

We have also launched on Instagram @jamesfcooperpta.

Bond Updates

Visit https://www.cherryhilltomorrow.com/ for more information about bond funded projects happening throughout the district. This information is important for all Cherry Hill families and community members. See photos of how things are going here!

Thank you to all of our Cooper families and friends for making last year so fantastic through their support. We love our fabulous volunteers for helping the PTA and school whenever needed. We hope for another amazing year ahead!

If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to reach out! 

Thank you for your attention! The PTA board wishes you a happy first week of school!!!

Sincerely,

Shazia Ansari

president@jfcooperpta.org

Spirit Wear Orders - Due 9/21/24

What's for sale?

T-shirts, winter hats, sweatshirts, and jackets in a variety of colors for both kids and adults.

Please place your orders online in our Spirit Wear Store at this link:

https://stores.inksoft.com/cooper_jaguars/shop

Happy Shopping!

Water Ice Night 9/6/24

 All families of current K-5 students are invited!

Mums Sale - Orders Due 9/11/24

 

Our annual back to school mums sale is back! 

Orders can be placed in the PTA store. 

We will also accept order forms at school until 9/11/24.

Fall 2024 Mum Sale Flyer

2024-2025 Volunteer Form

Interested in volunteering at J.F. Cooper Elementary School this year?

Fill out the 2024-2025 Volunteer form and we will reach out to you as needed. 

You can find a list of role descriptions here.

Please note: All volunteers for PTA organized events/activities/sign-ups must be a PTA member for the 2024-2025 school year.

You can sign up for membership in our PTA store, or send in the paper membership form and dues after school starts.

Save the Dates

9/25 General PTA Meeting from 6:30pm-7:30pm

9/25 Volunteer Training from 7:30pm-8pm

10/1 Room Parent Orientation from 9:30am-10am

10/1 Volunteer Training from 10am-10:30am (for those that cannot make it on 9/25)

*You may attend any of these meetings in-person or over Zoom.

We look forward to volunteering with you this year!

NJ PTA Leadership Training Opportunities (Sept/Oct)

In the Spring of 2025, we will be having our annual elections.

We will be looking for members who would be interested in taking on a larger role within the PTA by becoming a part of the executive board.

NJ PTA is offering leadership training to current and aspiring volunteers.

Learn more about what we do behind the scenes to make our PTA school year successful.

You do not need to be a current officer to attend training.

Presentation topics will include:

Positional training – President/Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary

Advocacy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Membership

Bylaws and Standing Rules

Review of the Standards of Affiliation

National PTA Programs

Question and Answer Session

Current In – Person Training Opportunities

Saturday, August 17th, 9am-1pm

American legion post #170, 33 W Passaic St., Rochelle park NJ (Bergen County)

Saturday, August 24th, 9am-1pm

Barnegat High School, 180 Bengal Blvd, Barnegat (Ocean County)

Monday, August 26th, 6pm-9pm

Old Bridge High School, 4207 Route 516, Matawan, NJ 07747 (Middlesex County)

Wednesday, September 11th, 6pm-9pm

South Mountain Elementary School, 444 West South Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ 07079 (Essex County)

Thursday, October 10th, 6pm-9:30pm

Grice Middle School, 901 Whitehorse Hamilton Square Rd, Hamilton, NJ (Mercer County)

Registration for all In Person sessions is $10.00/person. Sessions will include light breakfast (morning sessions) or light dinner (evening sessions).

Register Here

More opportunities will be available throughout the year.

We do have funds available to sponsor your training. If you are interested in attending, please reach out to shazia.ansari@jfcooperpta.org.

2024 - 2025 PTA Membership

Dear Cooper Families, Staff Members & Friends,

We hope you've had a wonderful summer thus far. We’d like to thank you so much for your support of our PTA during the last school year. We could not have accomplished everything without your support. We had a fantastic year again and we hope to have another wonderful year ahead.

As we start gearing up for the next school year, we invite you to support our PTA again by becoming a member for the 2024-2025 school year. We need your support because together we can achieve more.

You can renew your membership at our online PTA Store website at: https://jfcooperpta.memberhub.com/store

Yearly membership dues are $10 per person.

$4 of this goes towards the NJ State PTA and the National PTA, who advocate for our children within our state, nationwide, and in Washington D.C.

$6 of your dues remain in our PTA and will be used to help fund assemblies, field trips, classroom grants, and student events.

You do not need to be an active volunteer in order to be a PTA Member. Parents, grandparents, neighbors, and community members are all invited to become a part of our PTA and show their support for our children!

You do need to be a PTA member to volunteer.

The PTA board hopes to continue to help create connections within our community and make each child’s potential a reality. Thank you again for your loyalty and support!

If you have any questions about membership, please reach out to our secretary at ramona.hamill@jfcooperpta.org.

Sincerely,

Shazia Ansari

J.F. Cooper Elementary School PTA

1960 Greentree Rd

Cherry Hill, NJ 08003

president@jfcooperpta.org

http://facebook.com/jamesfcooperpta

June PTA Newsletter

Dear Cooper Families,

Please see our JUNE PTA NEWSLETTER for a recap of the last few months and some gratitude for our volunteers!

To all staff and families – thank you, as always, for your support. The PTA board wishes all of you a happy and healthy summer!

Forgot to Order a Yearbook?

 https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1014806030344299

Order your softcover or hardcover yearbook and have it shipped home!

You can also order previous yearbooks at the same time!

Scholastic BOGO Book Fair 6/3 & 6/4

Book Fair Information & Class Schedule 

Scholastic Book Fair Flyer

Set up E-Wallet here: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/jfcooperbookfair

Book Fair Family Night is Monday, June 3 from 6-7:30pm.

We need some PTA volunteers - Sign up here!

Can't make it to Family Night?

Shop online at the link above from June 3rd - June 16th!

May - Upcoming Dates

 

Staff Appreciation Week

Monday 5/6 - Friday 5/10

Night of Cultures

Thursday 5/16

K-5 Yearbook Orders Due

Friday 5/17

Spring Family Photo Mini Sessions (5th Grade Fundraiser)

Saturday 5/18 and Sunday 5/19

PTA General Membership Meeting & Elections

Wednesday 5/22 @ 6:30pm Zoom & Library

Evening of the Arts

Tuesday 5/28

Scholastic BOGO Book Fair

Monday 6/3 - Wednesday 6/5

Staff Appreciation Week Schedule

 

Staff Appreciation Week Printables

Click here for printable resources!

Courtesy of: https://www.balboaparents.org/teacher-appreciation-week.html

Staff Appreciation Week Donation Sign Up Link & Staff Favorites

 

Cooper School would be a CIRCUS without our Teachers & Staff! :)

Dear Cooper Families & Students,

We are planning a fun-filled week for the teachers and staff members at Cooper the week of May 6 - May 10. We would also like to recognize our bus drivers.

If any students would like to create posters with drawings or thank you messages & inspirational quotes that we can hang up around the school, that would be wonderful! Please send to school by Monday, May 6th if possible. Posters can include messages like: 

“It’s true! It’s true! School would be a CIRCUS without you!”

“Thank you for all you do!”

“Cooper Staff are the GREATEST on Earth!”

Feel free to be creative!

Apart from using our PTA hospitality funds, we are requesting some items and donations to help make this week more special. If you are interested in helping out, please sign up below.

DONATION SIGN UP

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F48ACAC23ABFAC16-49152445-teacherstaff#/

DECORATIONS

We need to decorate the foyer and the staff lounge. If you would like to help with decorations in line with our theme, please reach out to hospitality@jfcooperpta.org. Think posters with inspirational quotes and anything in line with a circus theme.

If you have another way you'd like to participate or if would like to provide a monetary donation for us to purchase something from the list for you, please reach out to hospitality@jfcooperpta.org.

Some Ideas for Kids to Show Appreciation to Teachers and Staff Members

• Send in a poster to hang in the hallways 

• Send a short thank you video or write a thank you note or card

• Send in a drawing or illustration

• Write a rhyming poem or an acrostic poem about them

• Write a small essay or paragraph about them

• Send in a small treat or gift

• Be creative! There are lots of ways to say thank you!

Thank you for your support!

Hospitality & Staff Appreciation Week Team

P.S. For those who would like to give a little something directly to a staff member, here are some staff favorites!

We have over 80 people at Cooper that help our school function!

Curious to know what Cooper staff love? Click on the links!

Staff Favorites - 2023-2024 - Last Names A-N

Staff Favorites - 2023-2024 - Last Names O-Z

Can't find someone?

Find a staff member's list of favorites from a previous school year.

Staff Favorites - 2022-2023 - Last Names A-F

Staff Favorites - 2022-2023 - Last Names G-T

Staff Favorites - 2021-2022 - Last Names A-Z

Still can't find someone? They may not have filled a sheet out.

Send an e-mail to president@jfcooperpta.org so the PTA can make a request!

Yearbook Orders - Due 5/18/24