Important Dates:
• September 26-27: School Closed (Rosh Hashanah)
• September 30: Noon dismissal (All Divisions)
• October 1: Family Social at 1713 Madison Avenue
• October 3: Back-to-School Night (Grades K-8)
• October 5: School Closed (Yom Kippur)
• October 6: Back-to-School Night (Grades 9-12)
• October 6: Back-to-School Night (Transitions)
Visit Cooke’s Parent page and stay up to date by subscribing to school calendars using your phone or computer. Go to: cookeschool.org/parent
Kicking off Afterschool Programming
During last May’s virtual benefit, we asked the Cooke community to support more afterschool programming. We asked, and you generously responded! Thanks to you, we are excited to announce that FREE afterschool programming will be available to all Cooke students!
Our offerings (some of which begin next month) include: Drama, Karaoke & Dance, Basketball, Digital Skills, Cooking and Baking, Fitness, Workshops on Supported Decision-Making New York (SDMNY), Bowling, Vocational Readiness, Photography and more!
With 70% of Cooke families relying on tuition assistance, the ability to attend free afterschool programming is so important that we are including it in our Annual Giving Campaign.
Cooke’s Annual Giving Campaign is designed to support critical programming needs. In recent years, it helped defray increasing therapeutic program costs and student health/wellness initiatives. We now add free afterschool programming to the list. Our Annual Giving Campaign is one of the important ways that Cooke families, family foundations and individual donors who care about children and young adults with disabilities, support our students and families.
Coming together, under one roof at 1713 Madison Avenue, allows K-12 students to utilize some incredible learning spaces. Please help us fill our new school with new afterschool offerings!
Yoga at Cooke
Cooke’s therapeutic yoga program exposes our students to this ancient practice by teaching them how their awareness, breath and movement work together, to help them care for their whole body.
The yoga practice is broken down into three categories:
- Gross body: (physical level)
- Subtle body: (vital energy level)
- Subtlest body: (Mental level)
This year, yoga class will focus on five different techniques to help bring all parts of the body into balance:
- Breathing
- Sound healing
- Physical poses
- Eye movement
- Deep relaxation with guided meditation
Together with our accomplished and dedicated therapeutic yoga staff, our students can expect the following benefits: the release of fear, anxiety, worry, depression and even trauma. Improved outcomes include clearing and calming the mind, balancing the nervous system, focusing, grounding and centering. The ultimate goal is for students to achieve strength and peace of body and mind.
In the Community
As part of our mission to help our students to be included as “valued members of their communities,” we facilitate opportunities for them to participate in various community-based activities. These experiences expose them to new perspectives, help broaden their view of the world around them, teach them new skills, and challenge their social skills in a manner that prepares them for life outside of the classroom.
- Two cohorts have already returned to St John’s University with full days of sessions taught by SJU professors. They are focusing on self-advocacy, humanities and technology.
- Three cohorts go to the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music for an interactive therapeutic experience. This partnership continues to provide a creative outlet for expression.
- Two cohorts are going to Zumba and two cohorts are going to a cooking class
- One cohort is taking a CrossFit class, while another cohort is taking a drama course with the CO/LAB Theater Group.
- Our Alumni Association is kicking off a partnership with the Special Olympics, trying out floor hockey!
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