Calendar Reminders
Friday, March 7, 2025 - Movie Night at Cooper MS 2:30-4:30PM
Friday, March 28 - End of 3rd Quarter
Monday, March 31 (Eid al-Fitr) - Schools and offices closed
Tuesday, April 1 (Teacher Workday) - No school for students
Friday, April 4, 2025 - Cooper Dance 7:00-9:00PM
April 14 - April 18 (Spring Break) - Schools and offices closed
See the complete school year calendar.
Student Engagement Survey
Our school will participate in the FCPS Student Experience Survey. This survey will gather important feedback from students about their school experiences to help FCPS make meaningful improvements.
All students in grades 6-12, except those who have opted out, received a link to the survey in their FCPS email on February 24. We will administer the survey during the school day during advisory Thursday, February 27th. Any student may take the survey at home, if they are unable to take the survey during the school day.
We believe it's important to hear from our students about what we're doing well and where we can improve. This work also aligns with the five equity commitments in FCPS’ 2023-30 Strategic Plan, which focus on amplifying student voice and experiences as we work toward meeting plan goals.
🥕 Springing Into New Lunch Menu Options
FCPS’ Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) has launched several new delicious items this month, including Asian meatball subs (also available with veggie meatballs), fish tacos with pineapple pepper fruit salsa, alfredo and basil lasagna and tomato soup. These nutritionally balanced menu items are student-tested and student-approved through FNS food shows, focus groups, and surveys.
As FNS Executive Director Shaun Sawko said in a recent video about new menu options, FCPS is “putting students at the center of every single one of our plates.” See what’s on the menu at your child’s school and learn about nutrition standards at FCPS.
✨ Student-driven food choices are just one way FCPS prioritizes student voice through our 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Goal 2: Safe, Supported, Included, and Empowered.
Friendly reminder: Students are not permitted to order from outside meal delivery services. We appreciate parents reminding students that if they wish to purchase lunch, they must purchase from our cafeteria.
Morning Arrival
Thank you for your patience as our back parking lot renovation is completed. Parents, please continue to use our kiss and ride in the back for drop off and pick up. Students should not be dropped off at Door 9, on Dead Run, or on Balls Hill Road.
On-time arrival to school is necessary to set our students up for success. We’ve noticed an improvement with on-time arrivals - thank you for all you do to get your children to school on time. As shared last week, bus riding is encouraged and kiss and ride drop off before 7:20 allows for on-time arrival to school.
Student Fasting Meal Kits for February 28 - March 28, 2025
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has issued a new, first-time waiver allowing students fasting during the school day from February 28 to March 28, 2025, to request take-home breakfast and lunch meal kits. The Office of Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) will provide meal kits reflecting the school menu. Meals will be kept cold and must be heated at home.Students may claim one breakfast and one lunch kit per day. If a student purchases breakfast or lunch at school, they cannot pick up a kit that day. Meal kits must be picked up by students at the end of the school day—adults cannot collect them.Parents or guardians must submit a weekly request form via the FCPS FNS website by the deadlines:
- February 24, 2025, for February 28 and the week of March 3, 2025
- March 3, 2025, for the week of March 10, 2025
- March 10, 2025, for the week of March 17, 2025
- March 17, 2025, for the week of March 24, 2025
Forms must be submitted on time to receive meal kits for the following week.
Kiss n Ride Updates
- Bus Encouragement:
- Please consider having your child use the bus for both morning and afternoon transportation.
- Morning Kiss n Ride:
- To ensure your child arrives to class on time and prepared, please arrive at Cooper by 7:17 AM.
- Cars arriving at or before 7:17 AM have demonstrated successful drop-offs with ample time for students to arrive at their classrooms ready to learn.
- Afternoon Kiss n Ride:
- Please arrive by 2:25 PM for afternoon Kiss n Ride pickup.
- Road Maintenance:
- Design and Construction has scheduled a road sweeper and scrubber to clean the Kiss n Ride area.
Cooper Celebrations!
Congratulations to our Cooper Science Olympiad team finishing in 2nd place overall at the VASO Fairfax Regional on 2/22/25. Both teams had great results! Cooper SO will compete in the VASO Virginia State Tournament on 3/29/25! Let's go Cooper SO!
Cooper Team Radar - 2nd place
Anatomy & Phys: Caroline G & Sophie L - 1st place
Codebusters: Andrew D, Caroline G & Landon Y - 1st place
Disease Detectives: Caroline G & Jerry Z - 2nd place
Dynamic Planet: Andrew D & Landon Y - 1st place
Ecology: Diane L & Yanai W - 3rd place
Entomology: Eric S & Bryan T - 3rd place
Experimental Design: Aarik K, Sophie L & Cheney Z - 2nd place
Fossils: Bryan T & Chelsea Z - 3rd place
Helicopter: Landon Y & Oliver Y - 2nd place
Metric Mastery: Eric S. & Cheney Z - 1st place
Optics: Oliver L & Jerry Z - 2nd place
Potions & Poisons: Yanai W & Chelsea Z - 5th placeReach for the Stars: Christopher K & Chelsea Z - 1st place
Tower: Christopher K & Oliver L - 1st place
Wind Power: Oliver Y & Jerry Z - 1st place
Cooper Team Sonar - 5th place
Codebusters: Charlie G, Aaron W & Katrina Z - 6th place
Disease Detectives: Emmy H & Katrina Z - 4th place
Dynamic Planet: Sophia S & Katrina Z - 5th place
Ecology: Thomas G & Cindy H - 6th place
Entomology: Sophia S & Ronin M - 1st place
Fossils: Aditri D & Aaron W - 6th place
Potions & Poisons: Charlie G & Aarav J - 3rd place
Reach for the Stars: Rahula A & Ronin M - 2nd place
Scrambler: Rahula A & Sean K - 5th place
Wind Power: Aditri D & Aarav J - 4th place
Track and Field Registration
Track and Field Registration is Live. Anyone interested in joining Cooper’s Track and Field team this spring must first register with the county using this link. Practices will begin in March and will be held twice a week after school at Cooper. We will participate in 5 meets (4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/31).
College Partnership Program - CPP
Do you have a student between grades 8 through 11 who wants to go to college? If so, they should consider applying to the College Partnership Program (CPP), which offers support from exploration to application! The deadline to apply is February 28, 2025.
CPP offers programming to help prepare students and families from 9th grade all the way through applying to and enrolling in college, including:
- Academic counseling
- College visits
- Help with completing college and scholarship applications
- Monthly meetings
- A summer overnight experience on a college campus
- News and information related to colleges and careers via Schoology
All students are eligible and encouraged to apply to this program, and are expected to meet the following requirements:
- Maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher in core classes
- Attend monthly CPP meetings
- Are willing to pursue advanced coursework
- Demonstrate leadership in school or community activities
The goal of the program is to systematically mitigate the impact of barriers to access and opportunity, and support students who are from populations that are historically underrepresented on college campuses. This includes students who are the first in their family to attend college in the U.S., Multilingual learners, students who are economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities.
Application Link for Students: https://tinyurl.com/u2e3hme3
*The application is only open to students using their FCPS G-Suite account. Students can access this link on the Cooper Corner Schoology page.
*All applications will be submitted ONLINE ONLY.
Community Events/News
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TJ TWIST Presents Techstravaganza 2025
Tomorrow’s Women in Science and Technology (TWIST), a student organization at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) is hosting Techstravaganza 2025. Techstravaganza is an annual STEM activity fair for students of ALL AGES. Admission is free, food will be for sale, and we hope that you can spread the word in your school. Here is our registration link: https://tinyurl.com/techstrav25
Saturday, May 17, 2025
10:00am - 4:00pm
TJHSST
6560 Braddock Rd.
Alexandria, VA 22312
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Movie Night at Cooper MS!
Date: March 7, 2025
Time: 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Location: The Lecture School
Featured Film: Wonka
Entry Fee: $4
Click on following link to purchase your tickets
MSB link for Movie Night.
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Cooper Dance
Midnight in Paris!
Date: April 4, 2025
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Doors Open at 6:45pm
Location: Gym 1
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Community Updates from our Family Liaison
Webinars
The Family Resource Center offers a variety of free webinars to help children and families succeed. Speakers are invited from academic fields and from within FCPS experts. Check out the link for sign up and more details. Recorded meetings can be sent to registered participants. https://www.fcps.edu/services/families-and-caregivers/family-resource-center/free-webinars-and-family-events
| Tuesday, March 4th |
Part 3: Violence Prevention: Responding to Threats of Harm to Others
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| Friday, March 7th |
Anxiety in the Context of Autism: What Parents Need to Know
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| Friday, March 14th |
Understand Executive Function Milestones, Challenges, & Implement Effective Strategies at Home for Children in Middle School
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| Wednesday, March 19 |
Supporting Mental Health: Recognizing and Addressing Anxiety and Depression in Teens
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| Tuesday, March 25 |
Calming the Chaos: Teaching Emotional Regulation to Twice – Exceptional (2e) Students
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- Family Academy is a great resource for additional support in your child’s school journey! https://www.fcps.edu/family-academy
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Cooper wear Donations with Ms. Bailey (ongoing) – There is a box in the front office for Cooper wear donations to pass on to new families and rising 7th graders. If you no longer need yours, have your student bring it by!
Please contact our Family Liaison, Ms. Amy Bailey (msbailey@fcps.edu) with any questions.
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Save the Date!
Values in Prevention Camp
July 1 - 31, 2025
Applications and More Information Coming Soon!
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Request for Photos
Attention Parents! We need photos of your students and their Cooper friends for the yearbook. We are specifically looking for photos from last summer, sports, weekends, holidays, first day of school, and students with their families. Please email any photos you would want to see in the yearbook to Cooperyearbook@gmail.com ASAP. THANK YOU!
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