Back to School Events

We gather at the start of the year to get to know each other a bit before the year kicks off. At 2nd Street, we start with a Back to School Get Together on the Sunday just before the first day of school. Cooper’s tradition likewise offers a chance to take care of some tasks while socializing with friends.

At these socials, students and their families can come to campus to:

• Visit the used uniform sale (see this Used Uniform Explainer about that annual sale!)
• Purchase uniform patches (sew them on polos or sweaters you purchase from any store instead of buying the uniform already embroidered)
• Purchase a planner (note: all 5th graders get their planners for free on the first day – thanks to the Parent Faculty Association (PFA)
• Bring school supplies to leave in your child’s advisory (especially those general items, like wipes and paper towels)
• Pick up summer assignments, if your child has not yet completed them
• See the advisory lists, if available (not only who your child’s advisor is, but also who else is in that class!)

There are generally also faculty/staff on hand to:

• Answer your MAGIS (afterschool) program questions (see the MAGIS Explainer).
• Answer your bus questions (see the Bus Explainer)
• Take medications your child needs to have on campus (such as allergy medication, EpiPen, etc.)

There are also members of the Parent Faculty Association (PFA) there to meet or reconnect with families! (See the PFA Explainer.)

In addition to the orientation or bridge programs many of our students participate in over the summer, we also host orientations for families at the start of school.

At 2nd Street, this is on the TUESDAY before school begins:

• 5th grade – Tuesday at 8:30 am, MPR
• New-to-Latin 9th grade – Tuesday at 12:00 pm, Diana E. Smith Library

Both orientations are open to students and their parents/guardians. Participants meet the team, students visit their advisory, and parents/guardians get to ask questions.

At Cooper, students have summer orientations, so the back to school calendar just has the socials!

Both the Cooper and 2nd Street Campuses host Advisor-Family conferences before school starts. These conferences are 10-15 minutes with just the new year’s advisor. Students are welcome, but it can also be just the parents/guardians. The conferences offer families the chance to tell the advisor what they need to know about their child. This might be, “She is really into science!” or “He is nervous about the move to a new school,” or whatever you think would be useful information to help this “go-to” adult for your child know more about them.

Registration is generally announced in early August. Watch for details on this website!

Read more about Advisory in the Advisory Explainer!