Student Lighthouse Leading the Way!

Wow!  Cooper students were inspired first thing this morning by some amazing speeches!  We had 52 students prepare and give students for the Student Lighthouse Team!  Not only were the speeches amazing but the audiences were wonderful as well.  We reviewed how we need to Seek First to Understand when watching others speak.  It takes a lot of bravery to stand up in front of peers and Find Your Voice.

Votes were cast this morning and the counting commenced!  Stay tuned for the announcement of our new Student Lighthouse Leaders!

Welcome Back!

Wow!  We have had a wonderful first two weeks of school!  This has been an extremely smooth start to the year.  That is due to the wonderful children you are sharing with us and the amazing Cooper staff who spent many hours preparing to welcome our Cooper leaders!

We have been working on building community over the last few weeks.  Classrooms have focused on community meetings and classroom and building expectations.  Mrs. Aherne and Mrs. Collyer have been doing classroom walk-throughs and spending time at lunch and recess getting to know all of our students.  We have spent LEAD time on Fridays holding special assemblies to review school rules, discussing leadership opportunities, and pumping our students up for an awesome year!

We truly believe in our mission of

"Everyone Learning,

Everyone Leading, 

Together."

All of us-students, staff, and parents-are learners and leaders at Cooper.  We are excited to begin this journey with you!

Mrs. McGlinch's class community meeting

Mrs. Kincaide gives instructions during gym.

Mr. Armstrong helps at lunch.

Mrs. Aherne and Mrs. Collyer 

Parent Lighthouse Team

In addition to the Cooper Staff Lighthouse Team and the Student Lighthouse Team, we now have a Parent Lighthouse Team! This team of dedicated parents is already hard at work brainstorming ideas on how they can help promote and enhance the Leader In Me model within Cooper and at home. We look forward to implementing many new ideas that strengthen our leadership culture!

Leadership is Everywhere!

Wow!  What a month it has been at Cooper.  We have been busy with so many amazing events and leadership is blossoming!

We had one of our best camps yet!  Spring camp has always been a wonderful experience for making memories and celebrating friendships as students' time at Cooper draws to a close.  However, Fall camp is an opportunity for classes to build community and establish a caring, trusting environment at the beginning of the school year.  Our students represented Cooper well with their attentiveness to the instructors and willingness to take new risks and lead in amazing ways.  This year we built in a teacher time for teachers to do team building activities with their classes.  Staff have been able to build on the team work and leadership established at camp into their classrooms.

The Cooper Walk-a-thon was also a big success.  What a gorgeous day it was to be outside!  Our students were so respectful during both the walk and the assembly.  Cooper leaders surprised us all by surpassing our school goal of $7,000.  Together, we raised $7,636.  This money will be used to support our Leader in Me initiatives at Cooper.  The Student Lighthouse Team will be establishing how to use this money for the school with ideas such as leadership assemblies, Work-a-thons, Leadership Day, Career Day, etc.

The Walk Begins

Having Fun

Winner of the Plymouth Whalers raffle

Franklin cheerleaders show their spirit for Cooper.

After the Walk-a-thon, over 700 members of the Cooper community returned for Cooper Family Fun Night.  The Cooper PTA outdid themselves pulling off an amazing, family focused event.  Thank you to Lori O'Dell and her team for all of their hard work.  

Cooper Costumes

The Wrecking Ball

Cooper Students took the initiative to fundraise for a great cause.

Cooper teachers and administrators got pied!

Finally, a big thank you to Sally Erickson (6th grade teacher) and Annette Garbutt (Informational Technology teacher) who helped collect and vet applications, and interview our students for school-wide leadership positions.  We had almost 270 students apply for and receive a Cooper leadership position.  These positions include advertisers, beautification team, greeters, celebration planners, gardeners, hosts, letter writers, news reporters, photographers, recycling, spirit singers, tour guides, etc.  In addition, Bill Lietz (6th grade teacher) chairs the PTA leaders and Service Squad and currently has approximately 60 student leaders in these positions.  Lastly, Jeremy Cybulski, who runs our Rock Star Savers Program, has just made his selection of 24 students after a rigorous application process.  Wow!  This is just the beginning.  It is our school goal to have 100% of our students serving in a leadership position at Cooper.

Camp is Coming!

This year we are embarking on a new and exciting opportunity.  We will be having 6th grade camp in the October.  There are two reasons for this change.  First, fall camp allows teachers to work on building community and setting the expectations for the year.  Second, state testing and assessment requirements no longer permit us to go to camp in May, as MEAP testing will occur during that time.

Sixth grade camp will take place the week of October 13-October 17.  The week is divided into two groups.

Oct 13-15 Camp for Martin, Spence, Daraskavich, McGlinch, Cohan, Backiel, Hiser, and Gates

Oct 15-17 Camp for Lietz, Erickson, Kopacko, Mansour, Kimball, and Webster

There is a Parent Informational Meeting this Thursday, September 11 at 6:30 in the Cooper Cafe.  This will be an opportunity for you to learn about Howell Nature Camp and have any questions answered.  There will be no babysitting available.  Sixth grade students will have their own informational sessions at school during the day but are welcome to attend the Parent Informational Meeting as well.

In addition, all camp paperwork is due Friday, September 12.  Additional camp paperwork can be found on the Cooper website at lpscooper.ss5.sharpschool.com/parents/6th_grade_camp.

Finally, if you are interested in chaperoning 6th Grade Camp, please send in your paperwork, along with your child's by this Friday, September 12.  There is a Mandatory Chaperone Meeting on October 8th at 6:30.

Happy First Day of School Cooper Families!

We had a wonderful first day of school as our Cooper Leaders met their teachers, reunited with old friends, made new friends, explored the “new” Cooper, and learned their expectations as a student in a Leader in Me school.

On behalf of the Cooper staff, thank you so much for all of your flexibility, patience, and understanding as we underwent a major building renovation this summer. Cooper is the oldest building in the district and required extensive renovation. The first day Cooper staff were allowed in the building was the evening of Wednesday, August 27. Cooper teachers only had one workday to set up their classrooms. When they came in last Thursday, there were a number of electricians, painters, movers, and custodial staff still working in the building. Teachers tried to set up classrooms around hanging wires and freshly painted walls. Many of the teachers came in over the holiday weekend to complete their final preparations. We have the best staff in the district and commend all of the hard work our wonderful Cooper teachers have put in for the arrival of our students.

Bond workers will continue to finish up work throughout the month of September. Due to the continued work, Cooper’s Open House and Curriculum Nights will be held in October. We will welcome fifth grade families on Monday, October 13th and sixth grade families on Monday, October 20th. We always welcome parent questions and visitors, however, it is best to set up visits with teachers prior to your arrival. Please stop in at the office to sign in and receive a visitor pass. Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Aherne are available for questions, tours, etc. and can be reached by phone or email.

We look forward to a great year of Learning & Leading together!

Our New Entrance

Cooper Staff 2014-2015 

Mrs. Kimball leads her 6th graders to their new classroom!

Mrs. Bubar leads her 5th graders to their new classroom!

Ms. Gates and Mrs. Licata lead 5th graders to their rooms!

Team Cooper Updates

Well, it’s hard to believe it’s the end of another terrific school year!   This summer Cooper will be undergoing a major make-over as part of the Phase 1 schools bond renovation.  Cooper will look completely different in the fall.  Here are some of the renovations taking place this summer:

·       All new double pane insulated windows

·       All outside doors replaced

·       New foyer with entrance through the main office

·       New entrance way with signage, columns, and benches

·       New ceiling tiles

·       New floor tiles

·       New painting

·       Redoing the bathrooms

·       New lighting

·       New lockers

·       Vertical unit ventilators

·       New white boards

·       Upgrade to WiFi capability

·       New PA’s, phones, bells and alarms, clocks, exit signs

Due to the renovations, the building will not be open this summer.  All staff must be out of the building as of Friday, June 13 at 3:30.  The District is asking that students, staff, and the community please stay off Cooper property during the renovations as it will be very unsafe.  As of right now, we are being told that the first day we may have access to Cooper is Thursday, August 28.  This means that teachers will only have one day in their classrooms before students arrive on Tuesday, September 2.  The rooms and building will not look as good as usual but we will do our best to have it ready to welcome our students on the first day of school!

Packet pick-up for 5^th and 6^th grade students will be held at Hayes Elementary School, 30600 Louise Westland, MI, on August 22.  Students will receive their packet which contains school information and their classroom teacher assignment.  We will not hold our usual Parent Orientation Night in August due to the lack of access to the building.  Parent Informational Nights for incoming students were held June 5 and June 9.  Due to the renovations, Cooper Curriculum Night and Open House will be held much later than usual.  Cooper’s Curriculum Night and Open House for 5^th grade students will be held October 13, 2014 and for 6^th grade students on October 20, 2014. 

Just another reminder that Livonia Public Schools has  two millage renewals on the ballot in August.  Again, these are renewals of two millages that have been in place for the last 20 years.  The first is a tax on business only and the state expects that all districts will pass this millage. It is essential to our operation, as it raises in the neighborhood of $20 million annually. The second is our sinking fund renewal, which generates money each year for projects outside the scope of the bond issue, such as emergency repairs, roofs, parking lots, etc.   This is also key to maintaining our schools.  The total request is the lowest amount in the past 20 years. There is information on our website: www.livoniapublicschools.org/millages.  Cooper will not be a voting precinct this summer due to the renovations.  Our precincts will be moved to Hayes Elementary for the August election.

We hope you have a wonderful summer sharpening the saw!  Thank you for sharing your children with us.  We look forward to seeing everyone in the fall!