When school began at Cooper Elementary in August, there were a lot of new faces in the halls. More than 150 students were added to the school, along with five new classroom teachers and several aides and paraprofessionals.
The school, part of the Bentonville District, opened in 2007, and four new classrooms were added in 2013. But the building hasn't been filled to capacity the last few years, Principal Chad Mims said. Because of the rate of growth in the district, school zones were drawn so that all the elementary schools had some extra space for students new to the district. In Bella Vista, that meant that students who lived inside Bella Vista but on the west side of the highway took a bus to Thomas Jefferson Elementary.
With a new elementary school opening this year, the district rezoned again, and this time about 130 Thomas Jefferson students were moved to Cooper Elementary. Cooper, Mims explained, isn't growing as quickly as the schools on the south end of the district so the reserved space was not needed.
Along with the new students, five classroom teachers moved in, along with four aides and three paraprofessionals.
But the new numbers didn't cause any disruptions to the school schedule, Mims said. Some extra classrooms were added to the "specials" rotation. Specials classes include art, music, computers, library and ESTEAM (economics, science, technology, engineering, art and math).
Since Cooper is part of the PE4Life program, students have physical education every day, but there are three teachers so that three classes can have PE at the same time. The classes can meet in the gym, outside or in a classroom that houses an interactive video game system.
Every teacher in the school has a room, Mims said, and the entire school, along with visiting parents can fit into the cafeteria for school-wide assemblies.
"It's snug," he said, "but it works."
Traffic is always a challenge around Cooper, Mims agreed, adding that the families who must cross 71B each morning make it even more challenging. The building opens early so some parents can drop off at 7 a.m. and be on their way to work. At 7 a.m., students can go to the library or to the cafeteria, which serves breakfast. There's also a walking club that meets in the gym before classes begin.
The car line when parents pick up after school is also a challenge, he said. Once the vehicles get on school property, there's a wait but it's orderly. This year, some of the cars get backed up onto Blowing Springs Road. At some point, the road may need to be widened, Mims said, but that would not be a school decision.
Mims did use the school newsletter to encourage parents to make use of school buses. Cooper is unique, Mims said. When the buses load Cooper kids, they don't stop at any other schools, so parents don't have to worry about their younger students riding a bus with much older children.
General News on 09/18/2019