Enjoy these quotes heard around The Cooper School Middle School during this past week: 

“What I love about The Cooper School is that we don’t just learn in the classroom, we are like a family, learning life things together.” – Margot Schuetze

“Our school is so inclusive and no one is left out. We all just build each other up.” – Eva McNulty

“It’s good. It’s fun. It’s just a cool place.” – Fin Thompson 

“It’s not like a regular school because we get to be free and express ourselves.” – Zoë Raymer

“Are the students always this amazing? I haven’t enjoyed teaching this much in 20 years!” – Ms. Caroline (French teacher)

Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:

What’s happening in Social Studies:

Sixth Graders finished up their Chemistry study this week! They transitioned back into Social Studies and began their study about the Renaissance era. They discussed, read, and contemplated the importance of a “new era” after the dark medieval period. Sixth Graders considered how this important period of history bridges the gap between the middle ages and modern day civilizations. They also studied how humanism and Gutenburg’s printing press not only impacted communication and education, but the power of the Catholic Church. The final project that Sixth Graders will be working on for this school year…crazy, huh…is a research project about influential artists, explorers, scientists, and philosophers of the Renaissance period.

What’s up in Math?

Students have been exploring percentages with real life applications. On Tuesday, students used different measurement tools and measured different items around the classroom. With their findings, they were able to calculate their percentage of error. We discussed why the percentage of error is more telling than the actual measurement error. We continued to work with application problems using percentages the rest of the week and the students are beginning to firmly grasp when to use a percentage, how to find a percentage, and what a percentage represents. I am excited about getting through the rest of the benchmarks, which will cover positive and negative numbers and plotting points on the coordinate plane! 

What’s happening in ELA?

Students continued revising and editing their “Spread the Word” writings. They are rehearsing the sharing of their selected writing. “Spread the Word” will take place on May 4th, starting at 12:30 PM. We hope friends and families will be able to come and support the middle school students in this event. It will take place at The Cooper School outdoor classroom. 

This week, students have also been working on their fantasy book reports. Feel free to check in with your students on how they are doing on their final book report project which will be due on May 5th. 

Important Dates:

May 4: Spread the Word

May 30: Memorial Day- No School

June 3: Last Day of School/ Field Day