Reminder - Reflections Contest

 

A friendly reminder that the PTA would like to invite all Cooper students to participate in this year’s National PTA Reflections Contest. 

Does your child enjoy art, music and dance or have an interest in writing, producing films and/or taking photos?

Then let them have fun unleashing their inner artist with PTA Reflections!  

Each year, students across the country in Pre-K through Grade 12 are invited to create and submit original works of art in the areas of:

Explore the theme, “I Belong,” in this article by Ellie Miller:

https://ptaourchildren.org/explore-the-2025-2026-pta-reflections-theme-i-belong/ 

For inspiration, visit the Reflections virtual art gallery and learn more about prizes and scholarships at http://PTA.org/Reflections/Awards.

Note: Students who identify as having a disability and may receive services under IDEA or ADA: Section 504 may enter in the Special Artist Division OR grade division most closely aligned to their functional abilities. Please reach out for more information if this applies to your child.

Here are the National PTA Submission Guidelines on How to Craft an Entry

• Accessible Arts Guidelines (en español)

• Dance Choreography Guidelines (en español)

• Film Production Guidelines (en español)

• Literature Guidelines (en español)

• Music Composition Guidelines (en español)

• Photography Guidelines (en español)

• Visual Arts Guidelines (en español)

The due date will be December 12, 2025

For DANCE, FILM, and MUSIC

1) E-mail files in the appropriate format to reflections@jfcooperpta.org

2) E-mail a scan or photo of the entry form

3) Send in the original signed entry form to school

For LITERATURE

1) E-mail a PDF file or scan of the handwritten literature piece to reflections@jfcooperpta.org

2) E-mail a scan or photo of the entry form

3) Send in the printed or original handwritten version AND the original signed entry form to school

For PHOTOGRAPHY or VISUAL ARTS

1) E-mail the photo or scan of the artwork to reflections@jfcooperpta.org

2) E-mail a scan or photo of the entry form

3) Send in the photo or any physical artwork AND the original signed entry form to school

Entries from Cooper will be submitted to the district level representative. From there, any winning entries will progress to the county, regional, state, and national levels for judging.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Shazia at reflections@jfcooperpta.org.

 

Elementary Enrollment Balancing Meetings

 

When: Nov 20, 2025 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Topic:  Virtual Community Meeting

Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85762330743

Phone one-tap:

+13126266799,,85762330743# US (Chicago)

+16465588656,,85762330743# US (New York)

Join via audio:

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

+1 646 931 3860 US

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 305 224 1968 US

+1 309 205 3325 US

+1 719 359 4580 US

+1 253 205 0468 US

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 360 209 5623 US

+1 386 347 5053 US

+1 507 473 4847 US

+1 564 217 2000 US

+1 669 444 9171 US

+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

+1 689 278 1000 US

Webinar ID: 857 6233 0743

District-Wide Food Drive

Zone PTA Annual Winter Gift Card Drive

 

November & December PTA Dates

 

 

Wed 11/5

Zone PTA Coin & Gift Card Drive Begins

PTA General Membership Meeting  6:30-7:30pm

 

Tues 11/11

Veteran's Day Assembly

Family Visitation Day 

 

Wed 11/12

Dine Out - Bricco’s Coal Fired Pizza 4:30-8pm

 

Virtual Family Tech Talk Night - AI Risks and Benefits 6-7:15pm

 

Wed 11/19

Poinsettia Orders Due

 

Fri 11/21

Cherry Hill Food Pantry Drive Ends

 

Mon 11/24

PTA Board Meeting 7-7:30pm 

 

Tues 11/25

Hospitality - Thanksgiving Treats for Staff

 

Wed 11/26

Zone PTA Gift Card/Coin Drive Ends

  

12/3

Dine Out - Dave’s Hot Chicken 5-8pm

 

12/5

Poinsettia Pickup

 

12/10

Hospitality - Staff Winter Lunch

 

12/12-12/15

Secret Shop

 

12/22

Class Winter Parties

Family Tech Talk: AI Risks and Benefits

 AI Risks and Benefits

This free webinar, presented by an Internet Safety for All expert from Trend Micro, is

intended for parents and guardians with children of any age. AI is changing the way kids

learn, play, and connect — but it also brings new risks for families. In this one-hour and 15-

minute session, parents will discover the real dangers, the surprising benefits, and simple

steps to guide their kids safely through the world of AI.

Audio translation to Spanish will be available for this event.

If you are interested in joining this session, simply click the registration link:

https://trendmicro.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CE7XIQGJQPS6VbjrML9sNQ

You will be sent a ZOOM link afterwards.

Today's Trunk or Treat

 

  

Our Trunk or Treat event is today Saturday, 10/25 from 4-6pm.

**ONSITE Admission Tickets & Concession Payments**

Cash is preferred. If you absolutely do not have any cash, you can pay online here. 

https://jfcooperpta.givebacks.com/shop

This link will only be open from 3:45 to 6:15pm 

Volunteer Sign Up 

We need PTA volunteers to help with concessions, bounce houses, check in, etc. Please see the Sign Up Genius and mark your name down if you can help us out. 

If you pre-ordered tickets:

★ Go to the PRE-ORDER Check-In Table when you arrive. You can check in
faster at this table. This is where you will pick up your wristbands and raffle
tickets (if you ordered them) and door prize raffle tickets!

★ All children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Feel free to bring a
beach towel or chairs!

★ Parents are responsible for children using bounce houses. Please keep an eye
on your child.
 

DOOR PRIZES

 
The PTA is thrilled to be giving away prizes sponsored by Wegman’s in Cherry Hill!
We will be calling winning ticket numbers at 5:30pm.

CONCESSIONS (CASH PREFERRED) 

★ Soft Pretzels, Water, Juice, Gatorade $1-2

★ Slices of Pizza, Popcorn $3 

★ Cotton Candy $5

IF YOU PRE-ORDERED PIZZA OR SOFT PRETZELS…
Pick up your pre-ordered food at the Concessions Table after you check-in!
See the next page for more information…
 

PHOTOS
If you’d like to share photos from the event for our yearbook, send them to
yearbook@jfcooperpta.org or upload them to the TreeRing app.

IF YOU ARE HOSTING A TRUNK…

 
★ Please have your car in the big parking lot no later than 3:30pm. After
everyone is in, we will block off the area so no other cars can come into the
Trunk or Treat area.
★ You will be directed where to park and which direction to face when you arrive.
We will be leaving space between cars. Please do not park in the front lot by
the entrances.
★ Your trunk should be supervised at all times. The PTA or school is not
responsible for any items lost or stolen if you leave your car unattended.
★ Optional: Each host family can mark a child’s admission ticket with initials or a
stamp when they visit your trunk so that you know you have already treated
them.

QUESTIONS?
kristin.podolsky@jfcooperpta.org

Reminder - Fun Pasta Fundraiser

 

Our Fun Pasta Fundraiser will be wrapping up by next week.

We'd love to have all paper orders by Friday, October 17th. If you need a little extra time, we can accept late orders by Monday, October 20th.

Online orders will be accepted until Wednesday, October 23rd.

If you haven't set up an online storefront for your child to collect orders from long distance friends and relatives, you can set up their personal page via the QR code on the brochure or by going to the following website: 

https://www.funpastafundraising.com/signup/FZXP

You will be given your own personal link to share with neighbors, friends, and co-workers.

If you do not wish to create an account, but wish to order some shapes and specialty items not listed on the brochure, please use this PTA link to place your order:

https://funpastafundraising.com/2025-fall-j.f-cooper-elementary-school/j.f.-cooper-pta

Every sale helps support our school and gets us closer to our fundraising goals for the year. 

35-50% of purchases directly support our fundraising efforts!

Thank you in advance for your support! We appreciate you!

If you have any questions feel free to read out to michelle.pacitti@jfcooperpta.org.

Fair Funding Meeting - Thurs 10/23 @7pm

 Hi Everyone,

We need a parent representative from our school community to attend the virtual Fair Funding Committee Meeting on Thursday, 10/23 at 7pm.

Please let me know if you will be able to attend.

HERE IS THE ZOOM LINK

Thank you,

Shazia

Italian Heritage Celebration 10/24/25 6-9pm

 

CHEA Trunk or Treat Invitation

An invitation from Cherry Hill Education Association

 

 

Save the Date - Trunk or Treat 10/25/25

  

Our annual Trunk or Treat event is coming up on Saturday, 10/25 from 4-6pm.

Admission Tickets & Pre-Orders

https://jfcooperpta.givebacks.com/shop

Host Trunk Registration

Trunk registration is now open! If your family would like to host a trunk, see more info and register here.

Trunk or Treat Volunteer Sign Up 

We need PTA volunteers to help with concessions, bounce houses, check in, etc. Please see the Sign Up Genius and mark your name down if you can help us out. If we do not have enough volunteers, we will need to scale back.

Trunk or Treat Flyer - 2025 

The flyer with admission ticket order forms is going to come home on Monday, October 6th. Please click here for the electronic version. 

Thank you in advance for your help. We are looking forward to a fun and successful event!

Questions: kristin.podolsky@jfcooperpta.org

October PTA Dates

Upcoming PTA Dates

9/29

Fun Pasta Fundraiser Begins

 

10/3

Room Parent Orientation @9:30am

Volunteer Orientation @10am

 

10/8

Dine Out: Federal Donuts & Chicken 5-8pm

 

10/10

PTA Sponsored BMX Assembly

 

10/17

Trunk or Treat Forms Due

Fun Pasta Orders Due

 

10/25

Trunk or Treat 4-6pm

 

10/31

Fall Fun Fest @ 9:45am 

Halloween Parade @ 2:15pm

Fun Pasta Fundraiser

Our Fun Pasta Fundraiser is here! The attached letter was sent home with your child with a pasta brochure.

You can set up your or your child’s personal page via the QR code on the brochure or by going to the following website: 

https://www.funpastafundraising.com/signup/FZXP

After setting up your page for Cooper, you will be given your own personal link to share with neighbors, friends, and co-workers. 

Every sale helps support our school and gets us closer to our fundraising goals for the year. 

35-50% of purchases directly support our fundraising efforts! 

Thank you in advance for your support!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A DOOR TO DOOR FUNDRAISER. 

Dine & Donate - 10/8/25

 

Community Info

 

PTA Meeting Date Change - 9/29/25 6:30-7:30pm

 

Hi Everyone,

Please note that we have rescheduled our PTA meeting from 9/25 to 9/29 as Beck Middle School has 7th and 8th grade Back to School Night that evening.

Please see the AGENDA for our first PTA meeting of the school year. All are welcome as always.

**Remember, children are allowed to come in person to the library if you do not have childcare.**

We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you for your time and attention!

Shazia Ansari

shazia.ansari@jfcooperpta.org

P.S. Thrive Market has generously donated snacks for our upcoming PTA meeting for attendees to enjoy!

PTA Welcome Packet 2025-2026

Dear Families,

Last week, your child received the PTA welcome packet.

It contains the following information:

• A Note from the PTA Board w/upcoming Dates
• 2025-2026 Board Officers & Communications Info
• PTA Membership Form
• Fall Mums Sale Order Form
• 2025-2026 Year Round Fundraising Form
• 2025-2026 Yearbook Information
• PTA Volunteer / Room Parent Information
• Cooper Spirit Wear Sale Info
• Upcoming Dine Out and Pretzel Sale Info 
• Yearbook Pre-Order Form / Hospitality Donation Form 

Please do read through it to make sure you don't miss something!

Thank you! 

Welcome Back to School - 2025

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 Cooper Elementary School Calendar has important school events and PTA events listed. Stay aware of what’s happening each month.
• Add the Cooper Family Google Calendar directly to your Google Calendar.
• Double check the latest version of the 2025-2026 School Year District Calendar

Save the Dates

• Our annual Back to School Water Ice Night is Friday, 9/5 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm at school! All K-5 families are invited. Siblings are welcome.
• We have a Philly Soft Pretzel Sale coming up this month. Order forms will be given to students on 9/11 and will be due on Tuesday 9/16. Delivery will be Friday 9/19 to students at the end of the day.
• **RESCHEDULED** Join us at our first PTA meeting on **Monday, 9/29/25** Thursday 9/25/25 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.
• Take a cooking break on our first Dine Out Day of the school year at Federal Donuts & Chicken on 10/8 from 5-8pm. Our school will receive 20% 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 out the 2025-2026 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

• If you do not have a TreeRing account, go to https://tr5.treering.com/validate and use passcode: 1014806030344299
• We’d love your back to school photos for this year’s yearbook. Upload them to TreeRing using the app or e-mail them to yearbook@jfcooperpta.org

• Pre-order the 2025-2026 yearbook for 10% off on the TreeRing website throughout the months of August and September for $25.00 $22.50 (softcover) or $30.70 $27.63 (hardcover) online or $22.50 and $27.50 via the welcome packet paper form. 

Fundraisers & Sales

• We are having our annual Fall Mums Sale. In order to receive your mums in time, orders are due on 9/10/25. Orders can be made in our PTA Store. See our flyer here.
• Spirit wear orders are due on Friday 9/19. 
• 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 regularly.  

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 as well.

We have also launched on Instagram @jamesfcooperpta. If you are interested in helping us with our social media pages, please fill out the volunteer form. 

Bond Updates

Visit this page for more information about bond funded projects happening throughout the district. This information is important for all Cherry Hill families and community members. We were thrilled to see some of the updates that happened at Cooper over the summer as a result of the the bond referendum passing in 2022.

 

Thank you to all of our Cooper families and friends for making last year successful through their support. We love our dedicated 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