Cooper Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me why there are constant daily fights, bullying, sexual harassment, vaping… at Cooper Middle School and the administration is not taking control of it? It’s been going on all year and nothing has improved. The perpetrators are allowed to do what they want without real consequences.

Did things get better by the end of the year?

I’m not aware of this (I have a rising 8th grader). Cooper has been great for all three of my kids.

Can you share what has made it great? What activities are they involved in? Do they have good friends? Do they like their teachers?

They liked all their teachers, and they were very well-prepared for high school. Their teachers were engaging, and I believed they (the teachers) really liked teaching middle schoolers, which is a tough age. For girls, the social scene can be a challenge, but that is not unique to Cooper — it’s simply puberty. My DD was involved in theater and chorus, and my current MSer will be in cross country and track. The entire staff has been terrific with my youngest, who has anxiety, and I feel like they have really gone above and beyond to shepherd him through middle school. There are after school activities to get involved in. I think when people suggest there is no “community” at Cooper, they are forgetting that at this age, many kids play travel/club sports and are simply too busy to get involved. There is a strong PTO.

+1 That was our experience at Cooper. Socially middle school is a mess, but that's the age, not the school. My oldest just graduated from HS and when he was at Cooper there were kids making awful choices then too (drinking, etc.). The vaping thing is a newer issue and so pervasive amongst the teens in this area.

I had one kid just finish Cooper and another child who started 7th at Cooper this week. In this area, most activities seem to be outside of school, sports specifically. Kids play rec sports in elementary. The better athletes are all in travel and AAU teams. Talented musicians all have lessons outside of school and play in competitive orchestras. Cooper’s band played at the White House last year. I know band also went to Disney.

I don’t know if it is Cooper or this area but you don’t just walk on and try something. It feels like everyone has mastered activity or sport outside of school. My older child just started Langley and from speaking to other parents, everything is competitive. It is hard to get on the girls volleyball or the soccer team. The tennis and golf teams are really good. When I was in middle school, I was able to try a lot of different clubs and sports. You have to start everything outside of school here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me why there are constant daily fights, bullying, sexual harassment, vaping… at Cooper Middle School and the administration is not taking control of it? It’s been going on all year and nothing has improved. The perpetrators are allowed to do what they want without real consequences.

Did things get better by the end of the year?

I’m not aware of this (I have a rising 8th grader). Cooper has been great for all three of my kids.

Can you share what has made it great? What activities are they involved in? Do they have good friends? Do they like their teachers?

They liked all their teachers, and they were very well-prepared for high school. Their teachers were engaging, and I believed they (the teachers) really liked teaching middle schoolers, which is a tough age. For girls, the social scene can be a challenge, but that is not unique to Cooper — it’s simply puberty. My DD was involved in theater and chorus, and my current MSer will be in cross country and track. The entire staff has been terrific with my youngest, who has anxiety, and I feel like they have really gone above and beyond to shepherd him through middle school. There are after school activities to get involved in. I think when people suggest there is no “community” at Cooper, they are forgetting that at this age, many kids play travel/club sports and are simply too busy to get involved. There is a strong PTO.

+1 That was our experience at Cooper. Socially middle school is a mess, but that's the age, not the school. My oldest just graduated from HS and when he was at Cooper there were kids making awful choices then too (drinking, etc.). The vaping thing is a newer issue and so pervasive amongst the teens in this area.

I had one kid just finish Cooper and another child who started 7th at Cooper this week. In this area, most activities seem to be outside of school, sports specifically. Kids play rec sports in elementary. The better athletes are all in travel and AAU teams. Talented musicians all have lessons outside of school and play in competitive orchestras. Cooper’s band played at the White House last year. I know band also went to Disney.

I don’t know if it is Cooper or this area but you don’t just walk on and try something. It feels like everyone has mastered activity or sport outside of school. My older child just started Langley and from speaking to other parents, everything is competitive. It is hard to get on the girls volleyball or the soccer team. The tennis and golf teams are really good. When I was in middle school, I was able to try a lot of different clubs and sports. You have to start everything outside of school here.

THis is really sad and depressing to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me why there are constant daily fights, bullying, sexual harassment, vaping… at Cooper Middle School and the administration is not taking control of it? It’s been going on all year and nothing has improved. The perpetrators are allowed to do what they want without real consequences.

Did things get better by the end of the year?

I’m not aware of this (I have a rising 8th grader). Cooper has been great for all three of my kids.

Can you share what has made it great? What activities are they involved in? Do they have good friends? Do they like their teachers?

They liked all their teachers, and they were very well-prepared for high school. Their teachers were engaging, and I believed they (the teachers) really liked teaching middle schoolers, which is a tough age. For girls, the social scene can be a challenge, but that is not unique to Cooper — it’s simply puberty. My DD was involved in theater and chorus, and my current MSer will be in cross country and track. The entire staff has been terrific with my youngest, who has anxiety, and I feel like they have really gone above and beyond to shepherd him through middle school. There are after school activities to get involved in. I think when people suggest there is no “community” at Cooper, they are forgetting that at this age, many kids play travel/club sports and are simply too busy to get involved. There is a strong PTO.

+1 That was our experience at Cooper. Socially middle school is a mess, but that's the age, not the school. My oldest just graduated from HS and when he was at Cooper there were kids making awful choices then too (drinking, etc.). The vaping thing is a newer issue and so pervasive amongst the teens in this area.

I had one kid just finish Cooper and another child who started 7th at Cooper this week. In this area, most activities seem to be outside of school, sports specifically. Kids play rec sports in elementary. The better athletes are all in travel and AAU teams. Talented musicians all have lessons outside of school and play in competitive orchestras. Cooper’s band played at the White House last year. I know band also went to Disney.

I don’t know if it is Cooper or this area but you don’t just walk on and try something. It feels like everyone has mastered activity or sport outside of school. My older child just started Langley and from speaking to other parents, everything is competitive. It is hard to get on the girls volleyball or the soccer team. The tennis and golf teams are really good. When I was in middle school, I was able to try a lot of different clubs and sports. You have to start everything outside of school here.

It’s the area — not just the school pyramid. Everything is competitive. We were overseas for most of my kids’ elementary years and did not play the sports they have here; my son was basically out of luck getting on a baseball team in the 6th grade — everyone was practically pro (I kid, but everyone was already playing travel sports by then, and the team he got on was mostly 4th graders). My DD started gymnastics, but then quit after they said would not teach her anything more advanced because they would rather she join the team (which we could not afford, nor deal with the commute).

[Anonymous]

I grew up in this area and it was not like this 25 years ago. I walked on the track team as a freshman. I was a cheerleader for a few seasons. I played basketball one winter, softball one spring. I never stuck with anything but it was fun trying so many different activities. I wish my children could have the same experience. It's a huge negative to living in this area and it has made me want to move more than a few times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in this area and it was not like this 25 years ago. I walked on the track team as a freshman. I was a cheerleader for a few seasons. I played basketball one winter, softball one spring. I never stuck with anything but it was fun trying so many different activities. I wish my children could have the same experience. It's a huge negative to living in this area and it has made me want to move more than a few times.

Define "this area." It's more of an issue in certain pyramids than others - especially Langley, where the parents can pay for anything and everything, and Madison, where parents are heavily into sports.

In other pyramids like Annandale, Falls Church, Justice, Lewis, and Mount Vernon, it's still easier for kids to try different activities or make teams without loads of travel team experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in this area and it was not like this 25 years ago. I walked on the track team as a freshman. I was a cheerleader for a few seasons. I played basketball one winter, softball one spring. I never stuck with anything but it was fun trying so many different activities. I wish my children could have the same experience. It's a huge negative to living in this area and it has made me want to move more than a few times.

Define "this area." It's more of an issue in certain pyramids than others - especially Langley, where the parents can pay for anything and everything, and Madison, where parents are heavily into sports.

In other pyramids like Annandale, Falls Church, Justice, Lewis, and Mount Vernon, it's still easier for kids to try different activities or make teams without loads of travel team experience.

I recently listened to a podcast about college admissions and how recruited athletes are also the rich kids. The kids who are excellent athletes started young and require money and time. These kids can’t just drive themselves to practice in elementary. I’m sure there are some super talented kids who don’t have parent support but if you are a superior athlete, you likely had a parent who was also some sort of athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in this area and it was not like this 25 years ago. I walked on the track team as a freshman. I was a cheerleader for a few seasons. I played basketball one winter, softball one spring. I never stuck with anything but it was fun trying so many different activities. I wish my children could have the same experience. It's a huge negative to living in this area and it has made me want to move more than a few times.

Define "this area." It's more of an issue in certain pyramids than others - especially Langley, where the parents can pay for anything and everything, and Madison, where parents are heavily into sports.

In other pyramids like Annandale, Falls Church, Justice, Lewis, and Mount Vernon, it's still easier for kids to try different activities or make teams without loads of travel team experience.

I think track is the one sport that everyone can try and walk on the team.

If you are really good at one sport, it may be easier for you to switch and walk on another sport. My son played soccer for many years. He was really good but didn’t love it. Now he plays tennis and basketball. He is pretty good at his new sports even though these sports are newer to him. He is just an athletic kid.