Email from Cooke School and Institute

Dear Cooke Students, Families, and Friends,

After the whirlwind of off-site learning adventures, engaging academics, and rooftop water play that was Cooke Summer Academy 2024 (CSA), faculty and staff are now in full preparation mode, eagerly anticipating the school year. CSA students enjoyed experiences that they will remember for a lifetime and the feedback we received from parents on the curriculum was overwhelmingly positive. Assistant Head of School Jessie Gardner and her team (including a certain Tiger!) deserve congratulations for a program that continues to excel. With this momentum, we're poised to forge ahead into an extraordinary 2024-25 school year.

The enthusiasm of a new school year can sometimes get sidetracked by less favorable issues in the world. Violence, uncertainty, and a divisive election complicate our educators’ ability to navigate world events. However, our focus is always on our student body. We cannot offer easy answers or perfect messages for every development in current events. We can ensure the safety and well-being of all members of our community by seizing these moments to reaffirm the following values:

We are unwavering in our commitment to inclusion. While the dignity and respect for people of all identities in our workplace remains non-negotiable, we recognize that we don't have to share the same worldview on all topics to have a productive experience. Similarly, we respect that we do not all share the same perspective on topics nor bring the same intensity to every issue on which we may fundamentally agree. In moments of crisis, we recommit to seeking out the good in the world and in people and invite others to do the same.

We constructively embrace difficulty. We believe that feelings are valid and have a place in our workplace because our organization is composed of humans. We acknowledge that it is challenging to detach our personal feelings from our work experiences, but the safety, stability, and well-being of our students and effectively educating them every day remain our top priorities. Let's strive to express our feelings in a respectful, constructive, productive manner and in the appropriate forum.

We assert responsible public positions. We recognize the importance of acknowledging events outside our workplace that adversely impact those within it. Beyond that, our organization will take public stances on current events where subject-matter expertise and experience most empower us to do so, specifically on topics related to the education and empowerment of people with disabilities and primary education overall.

In my presentation to new faculty and staff last week, I shared that our 2024-25 school leadership team is the smartest group I have had the privilege of working with in my 20 years in education. Cooke School & Institute has a storied history of innovation and purpose in our field, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together this year.

I am always happy to share the news of our staff’s outstanding accomplishments. Congratulations to our Associate Head of School, Dr. Mary Clancy, for completing her doctorate in education at Johns Hopkins! Dr. Clancy’s program, Mind, Brain, Teaching, focuses on the ways research from the cognitive sciences can inform educational practice. Her dissertation addresses assessment practices for students with low-incidence disabilities. The research resulted in an applied project working with a group of Cooke faculty across age groups and disciplines to identify key areas of change in our assessment tools to help better inform their work with our student population.

I start the new school year with these values to ensure we all remain focused on our mission with enthusiasm. I hope we can return to these values if we feel confused or concerned about things outside of our control.

Here’s to a happy and peaceful new year!

Dr. Francis Tabone

Cooke Head of School

Transitions Tennis

A group of Transitions students hit the Central Park Tennis Center courts this summer thanks to the initiative and connections of Cooke Recreational Therapist Sammy Majekodunmi. Students received instruction from multiple tennis pros at the Center and engaged in practice time on the courts in a six-week pilot program. Because Wilson partially sponsored the program, students were provided with complimentary tennis racquets if they did not own one.

“When [Associate Head of School Nefertari McKenzie-Davy] put the call out for us to consider our community relationships in cultivating potential partnerships for the school, I immediately thought of the Central Park Tennis Club. I am close with the family who owns the Club and was a camp counselor there in 2019,” says Sammy. "My only concern was the facility’s location. I worried it was too far from our campus in SoHo, but Nefertari told me we would make it work.”

Off-site educational opportunities are a core tenet of a Cooke education, and Nefertari strongly believes in supporting solid ideas and proposals from her faculty and staff.

“We encourage our staff to be as creative as possible in envisioning what opportunities would benefit our students and expand curriculum choice,” says Nefertari. “While we have a blueprint for staff to follow in terms of programming, we also hand them a somewhat blank slate to be as creative as possible, within reason. Some people may find this challenge a little intimidating but we have been blessed with staff who are excited by the possibilities.”

Due to the pilot program's success with students, Transitions plans to implement tennis as a regular season offering. Sammy had another idea for an opportunity in the fall! He and Nefertari are meeting with a Tai Chi instructor about building a program at Transitions. Stay tuned for more details to come!

Do you know a family who would be a great fit for Cooke School? The Admissions Office will begin hosting Open Tours for the 2025-26 school year at the end of September. Space on tours is limited and requires a reservation. For up-to-date information, please check our website here for date announcements and to RSVP.

The 2024-25 school year marks Muna Belbase’s 23rd year teaching yoga at Cooke School. She is the mother of Cooke School alumnus, Srijan Belbase,’14, who is also a licensed yoga practitioner. In addition to her master’s degree, Muna has earned yoga certificates in special needs, restorative, children, teenagers, arthritis, cancer, and more.

Cooke's yoga studio is a beautiful, sunlit room on the fourth floor of our Madison building. Muna intentionally attends to five areas in facilitating a multitude of academic, social-emotional, and physical goals for her students:

BREATHING Muna uses objects like plastic flowers freshly scented with lavender oil or pictures of favorite foods like pizza or fruit to help students become aware of their breath. She might utilize an expanding ball as a visual clue of the expanding and compressing belly in inhales and exhales. Learning to focus on their breath is a mindfulness tool that students may adopt for emotional regulation, and for improving concentration and cognitive functioning. In response to the energy level of the class, Muna also employs standard yoga breathing practices to invigorate or calm the group.
SOUND HEALING With soft music and sound bowls, Muna stimulates the senses and soothes the spirit.
EYE MOVEMENTS Because the optic nerve is directly connected to the brain, Muna directs student engagement in exercises like following the illumination from colored pen lights or an hourglass of sand with their eyes to calm the mind. They may use their eyes to mentally “draw large shapes” following the lines on paper. Muna also often creates a centerpiece with an aroma therapy ball or candle as an aid in focusing their eyes.
PHYSICAL POSES Students begin their study of traditional yoga poses in Kindergarten. By Upper School, some of them have mastered a sequence of 12 challenging positions like downward dog and sun salutation. Students learn to associate a number with the position and the name, and some of them are eventually able to perform the sequence with only the ring of a bell as a sign to move forward. Students who become proficient in the flow are acknowledged with a series of photos. “Students really take pride in getting their photos taken in each pose. The photo set is meaningful to some students both as a milestone to be pursued and a signifier of their accomplishments,” says Muna. Instruction for the poses is tailored to the needs of each student. “I emphasize the strengths of the student. Any pose can be modified to meet individual physical needs.”
DEEP RELAXATION/MEDITATION For this phase, Muna alternates between applying therapeutic massage or rollers, and leading the students in meditation. In meditation, she may ask younger students to close their eyes and try to remember what color socks they are wearing or what they ate for breakfast in the morning. Older students are encouraged to address questions like, “What is bothering or distracting me today?” clearing their thoughts to reduce stress and anxiety. Then, they may direct their mind to exploration of inspirational messages or immersion in the present moment.

“This is your class and it is for you. Everyone is unique—that difference is your power.”— Muna to her students

Cooke Summer Academy students employed various techniques to develop a deliberate, controlled yoga breathing practice.

Cooke School and Institute is NYC's premiere independent school educating neurodivergent students and those with mild to moderate cognitive or developmental disabilities ages 5-21 across campuses in East Harlem and SoHo. For more news and updates, please check out our website and follow us on our socials!

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Early September 2024 Vol. 1