The next few weeks are busy at Cook-Wissahickon. Below is a rundown of what’s coming up and a few important notices:

• 11/6: Election Day – No School
• 11/6: WSC Clean-Up Day: Join the Green Committee from 9:30-12:30 for a clean-up day of weeding, maintenance, and help building a new bench for the children’s play area! Kids welcome! Sign up here!
• 11/7,8,9: Report Card Conferences and 12:24 Dismissals
• 11/8: HSA meeting at 6:30 at Cook-Wissahickon (please note the updated day and location for this month’s meeting!). Join us for our monthly HSA meeting—all are welcome! Check out the agenda here and find past meeting minutes here! Come out for a discussion about fundraising goals, to vote on where the money is going, and more. Questions or comments? Email us.
• 11/12: Veterans Day – No School
• 11/13: Family Fun & Fit Night from 5-6 pm for Grades K-2 in the CW Gym
• 11/14: Family Fun & Fit Night from 5-6 pm for Grades 3-5 in the CW Gym
• 11/15: Family Fun & Fit Night from 5-6 pm for Grades 6-8 in the CW Gym
• 11/15: All City Rehearsal for Elementary & Middle School Choir at Tilden
• 11/17: Give Kids Sight Day
• 11/21: Thanksgiving Day Parade rehearsal at the Art Museum for Choir
• 11/22-23: Thanksgiving Break – No School
• 11/22: Choir performing in Thanksgiving Day Parade
• 11/27: WSC Meeting at 6:30 at Foodery Roxborough or
• 11/28: WSC Meeting at 4:00 at CW
• 11/28: All City Rehearsal for Elementary & Middle School Choir at Tilden

HSA Membership: If you aren’t a member yet, it’s not too late. Join Now! Classes with 90% participation by 11/9 will win a pizza party!

School District Survey: Love or hate the new earlier start (and end) to the school year? Wish Spring Break were still a full week? Now is your chance to share your thoughts—the district is asking for feedback. Take the survey.

Classroom Parent Program: We are in the process of kicking on our 2018-19 Classroom Parent Program! This program helps with so much, from organizing donations for the teachers, volunteering for field trips, and helping to increase parent involvement in our school—but we can’t do it without you!  So far, we have substantial coverage in K, 1st, and 2nd grades, and have leaders identified for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. We still need leaders for Middle School. The CW HSA will be staffing a table this Wednesday & Thursday during the parent-teacher conferences. If you are interested in getting involved with this program in any way or have questions, please stop by. If you have any other questions, ideas, or concerns, please stop by. We’d love to hear from you! You can also always email the HSA or our volunteer coordinator with any questions.

Volunteer Corner: Do you want to volunteer at CW this year? Please make sure you have all your clearances and then sign up for what you can help with! Check out our current needs here.

Parent & Community Advisory Council: The Philadelphia Board of Education is looking for applicants for its newly created Parent & Community Advisory Council. Interested? You can get more information or apply online here. The deadline for applying is November 9. The application should only take about 15 minutes to fill out.

Donate Games to the Afterschool Program: The CW Afterschool program wants to update its supply of games and activities for students. If you have new or gently used games you’d like to donate, please consider giving to the afterschool program. See Ms. Smith for more details or questions! Thanks!

Note of Thanks From the HSA President: A huge thanks goes out to all the volunteers and guests who braved the sudden change in the weather to join us in the schoolyard for our Movie Night featuring Beauty and the Beast. Movie night would not have been as much fun without the great crowd. And the crowd would not have had an event if not for all of the volunteers. It means a lot to me to see everyone enjoying their night together back at the school. It’s super encouraging to see all the families together, meeting each other, and coming out for a good cause. Thanks to PA Rep Pam DeLissio for coming out and talking to our families. Thanks to Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym for sending her support. All told we raised $934.24 for improvements in the Cafetorium to support our Cook-Wiss Theater Department.
Thanks also to all those who came out for and volunteered for the Art Department’s 7th Annual Harvest Festival! It was a great evening!

—Dan McGurk, HSA President

The 7th Annual Harvest Festival Art Fundraiser is coming up on Thursday, October 25 from 4:30-6:30 pm in the CW Cafeteria. If you pre-register, it’s $10 for 50 tickets. Your student can return the form to his or her homeroom teacher or to Ms. Kimmel’s mailbox in the office. Student names, homerooms, and grades must be provided as well as the amount of tickets with correct amount included. You can also purchase tickets at the door for $10 for 40 tickets. Tickets can be used for pumkin painting, light food & refreshments, a card-making craft station, and games & prizes. All money raised will go toward supporting the art department.

Of course, the success of this event depends on volunteers! If you are able, please sign up to help out! We’re so grateful for any time you can volunteer. Signup here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4cabae2ba5fa7-cook

Also, the Wissahickon Sustainability Council (aka CW’s Green Committee) is raffling off an awesome Halloween Lap Quilt – tickets will be available for purchase at the Harvest Festival (and you can see the quilt in person) or you can buy tickets ahead of time via paypal for $5 per ticket or $20 for 5 tickets! Visit paypal.me/cookwisswsc to purchase tickets. Put your contact information in the “special instructions” on Paypal when purchasing and you’ll be emailed a picture of your raffle tickets. They’ll be picking a winner on 10/25 at the end of Harvest Festival – and don’t worry, if you aren’t there at the time of drawing, they’ll contact you to let you know you won! Money raised through this particular fundraiser will go to the WSC to help fund maintenance costs for schoolyard cleanups, tree mulching, and meadow maintenance.

Important Dates

• 10/4: HSA Meeting at 5pm at Cook-Wissahickon. Preview the agenda here! Find minutes from past meetings here.
• 10/5: Half Day with 12:24 Dismissal
• 10/5: Good luck to the CW Robotics League—they’re going to the Philly Robotics Expo at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania.
• 10/6: The CW Choir is performing at the Temple football game (currently scheduled for 12pm)
• 10/12: Movie Night. Watch Beauty and the Beast in the CW Schoolyard at dusk! Get details here or sign up to volunteer here!
• 10/16: Join the Wissahickon Sustainability Council for a meeting at 6:30 at The Foodery in Roxborough or at the school on 10/17 at 4pm.
• 10/19: The CW Choir is performing at University of Pennsylvania at 7pm!
• 10/25: Harvest Festival at CW (4:30-6:30pm). Come out for a fun event to help support the art department. Look for information coming home from school soon about purchasing tickets for fun activities, refreshments, and more! We also need volunteers to make the event a success. If you can, please sign up here!

Reminders:

• HSA Membership: Thanks to everyone who has already joined! If you haven’t yet – it’s not too late. Join Now! We’ve extended the deadline for classes to win a pizza party. Class with most members by 10/1 will win a pizza party. Then, any classes wtih 90% membership by 11/9 will win a pizza party!
• NUT Days: If you missed the pay-ahead deadline earlier this year, you have another chance! If you want to start paying ahead from October on, please download the updated form here.
• Pretzel Order Forms are due 10/3! All students will receive a free pretzel on 10/2! If you have some time on Tuesday mornings, please sign up to help distribute pretzels!
• School selection process opened Friday, Sept. 21 and will be open through Friday, Nov. 2.

Volunteer Needs

Do you want to volunteer at CW this year? Please make sure you have all your clearances and then sign up for what you can help with!

Click on any of the choices to sign up!

• Pretzel Day Volunteer Needs: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4cabae2ba5fa7-pretzel
• Movie Night: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4cabae2ba5fa7-cookwiss1
• Harvest Festival: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4cabae2ba5fa7-cook
• Morning Schoolyard Support: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4cabae2ba5fa7-cook1
• 2018-2019 Classroom Parents Program – We Need You! Our Class Parent Program helps with so much, from organizing donations for the teachers, volunteering for field trips, and helping to increase parent involvement in our school – but we can’t do it without you! If you’re interested in signing up or learning more about the program, please email Ashley Rummelt at Cookwiss2019volunteer@gmail.com. We’re looking for both Head Class Parents to help steer the program, as well as Supporting Class Parents who may have limited time but still would like to contribute. Whatever your capacity, we’d love to have you! Thank you for considering

Thanks to everyone who joined the HSA this year! As of 9/23/18. Close to 20% of families have joined so far and Rooms 106, K2, and 208 are in the lead for the most members. All classrooms with 90% membership by Oct. 1 will win a pizza party. If you haven’t joined yet, fill out the Google Form now or download a membership form here (You can pay dues via cash, check, or PayPal).

NUT Days: On Fridays and half days throughout the year, students can dress down (No Uniform Today) for $1! This year, we started offering a few option so pay ahead—pay for the year, pay 2 times a year, or if you prefer keep paying by the day! If you want to start paying ahead from October on, please download the updated form here.

Pretzel Order Forms were sent home last week. If you didn’t receive it, downoald one here. Orders for 10/9-12/18 are due 10/3. All students will receive a free pretzel on 10/2!

For anyone interested in volunteering at school this year, Cook-Wissahickon is holding a Volunteer Orientation on 9/25. One session will be held from 9:30-10:15am and another from 1:30-2:15pm! Download the Volunteer Orientation Flyer for more information. If you can’t attend in person, visit https://www.philasd.org/face/volunteer and click “Volunteer Orientation.”

The school selection process opened Friday, Sept. 21 and will be open through Friday, Nov. 2. Presenters from various High Schools will be visiting CW to speak to 8th-grade students (families are welcome to attend) this week:

• Monday, 9/24: CARVER at 1:30PM
• Tuesday, 9/25: Parkway NW at 1:30PM
• Wednesday, 9/26: SLA@Beeber at 2:00PM
• Thursday, 9/27: Central at 1:30PM
• Friday, 9/28: Bodine at 1:30PM

• 10/4: HSA Meeting at 5pm at Cook-Wissahickon
• 10/5: Half Day with 12:24 Dismissal
• 10/12: Movie Night showing Beauty and the Beast in the CW Schoolyard at Dusk (Want to volunteer? Sign up here!)
• 10/25: Harvest Festival at CW (4:30-6:30pm) – Look for more information in the coming weeks!

We hope to see lots of new and familiar faces at Back-to-School Night on Thursday, September 13 from 5:30 to 7:30pm!

Hopefully your student brought home several forms in his or her weekly Wednesday folder this week, but in case something was missing or never made its way into your student’s hands, here are links to paperwork we want to make sure you have:

• Join the HSA: You can download a form here or fill out the Google Form to join. All are welcome to join and attend HSA Meetings, but only dues-paying members can vote at meetings. Dues are $5 per family. And good news, we now accept cash, check, or payment via PayPal! Check out the form or link for details.
• NUT Days: On Fridays and half days throughout the year, students can dress down (No Uniform Today) for $1! It’s a great fundraiser for the HSA and helps pay for lots of field trip buses and more. And more great news, if you prefer to pay in advance instead of trying to remember and searching for $1 bills on Friday mornings, you can pay ahead—pay for the year, pay 2 times a year, or if you prefer keep paying by the day! All the details and the form can be found here!
• Uniforms: Embroidered uniform options will now be ordered quarterly. The next order will be placed 9/21 with orders expected back for distribution on 10/10. Download the order form here.
• How to Get Involved with the CW HSA: Check out some ways you might be able to help out here! We’re looking forward to a great year.

Thanks for your continued support! If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas, please let us know. Email cookwisshsa@gmail.com!

The Cook-Wissahickon HSA needs you! We invite Cook-Wissahickon families to join or renew their membership wih the HSA! We are parents and guardians of students in Cook-Wissahickon Elementary School committed to working together to strengthen our school community and enrich our children’s education. Together with our school’s teachers, staff, and other community partners, we can play a large role in the success of our school. Everyone is welcome to join and participate in monthly HSA meetings, but only dues-paying members can vote. (Dues are $5.00 per family, per year. Additional donations are welcome and appreciated. All money raised goes to supporting CW and our students.) You can also check off volunteering oportunties you might be interested in on the membership form. If you have an idea for the HSA, please reach out. You can email cookwisshsa@gmail.com anytime with any questions, concerns, ideas, etc!

You can fill out the Google form online or you can download the 2018-19 HSA Membership Form and print it and have your student return it to his/her homeroom teacher in an envelope marked HSA Membership. Payments can be sent to school via cash or check (checks made payable to Cook-Wissahickon HSA). You can also pay via Paypal https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QBK2GHUY3QZ78 – just mark your child(ren)’s name, grade/teacher, and Membership Dues in the space for special instructions. If you have a question about PayPal or any issues, please email cookwissahickontreasurer@gmail.com.

Thanks for your continued support! Our goal is 100% involement. All homerooms that have 90% membership sign-up by Oct. 1 will receive a PIZZA PARTY!

September is a busy month at school – here are some dates, events, and news you should know about:

• September 6: HSA Meeting at Hilltown Tavern at 6:30 (see attached PDF for meeting dates for the year or visit https://cookwissahickonhsa.com/2018/09/04/2018-2019-hsa-meetings/)

• September 6 or 7: Mandatory Choir Parent Meeting. Attend either on 9/6 at 3:30pm or 9/7 at 5pm in the school library

• September 10: Rosh Hashanah – Schools Closed and Administrative Offices Closed

• September 13: Back-to-School Night

• September 15: WSC’s Green Your Home and Community Event (11-2pm)

  • Get more details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2508976255794794/

  • Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050f45a8a72bab9-green

• September 19: Yom Kippur – Schools Closed and Administrative Offices Closed

• September 21: 2019-2020 School Selection Process Begins

• September 25: Volunteer Meeting at the school 9:30am and 1:30pm (look for more information to come home from the school soo

• Ongoing: NUT Days (No Uniform Today: Students can dress down for $1 on Fridays and half days)

• Cook-Wissahickon now has a full-service cafeteria. Breakfast and Lunch are available to all students free of charge daily! Visit https://www.philasd.org/foodservices/about/menu/ to check out the menus for September!

• Looking for info about the before and aftercare programs. Visit: https://cookwissahickonhsa.com/2018/09/03/morning-and-aftercare-begins-9-4/

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• Robotics Club: Fourth and Fifth Grade Families: Interested in learning about CW’s first Lego League Team? All interested families MUST register at: https://tinyurl.com/y8lfs3xx Questions? Contact Mrs. Brown (FLL Coach) rbrown@philasd.org

*Times are subject to change

• September 6: Hilltown 6:30pm
• October 4: Cook-Wissahickon 5:00pm
• November 8: Cook-Wissahickon 6:30pm *PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE/LOCATION
  
• December 13: Cook-Wissahickon 5:00pm
• January 10: Scanlon’s Saloon 6:30pm
• February 7: Cook-Wissahickon 5:00pm
• March 7: The Foodery 6:30pm
• April 4: Cook-Wissahickon 5:00pm
  
• May 9: Wissahickon Brewery 6:30pm

Please visit the HSA website for important dates https://cookwissahickonhsa.com/calendar/

Morning and aftercare is available starting on Tuesday, 9/4. Just make sure all paperwork is filled out. If you didn’t send in last week, it can be filled out and brought to school on 9/4 and your student can start that day!