CPS Kicks Off Its Fifth School Year!

Smiling faces were everywhere yesterday as CPS teachers and staff welcomed students to the first day of school! Five years ago, CPS began with pre-k through first grade and 34 students; today, we have more than doubled to 88 students and pre-k through fifth grade. This is a special year for CPS: the first graduating class will be moving on to middle school next fall!

Above: CPS students smile happily during recess and lunch. Students were excited to start school after a long summer vacation!

CPS is also welcoming many new faces this year! Hal Schwartz has come to CPS from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he taught fourth grade; he will be leading the third grade class. Beth Vaccaro, our new fifth grade teacher, was most recently a Reading Specialist at West Philadelphia Achievement Charter School. Chett Farbstein has joined CPS as our Director of Development, utilizing his years of experience as a freelance writer and development consultant; Jean Strout, a Philly Fellow who recently graduated from Swarthmore College, has signed on as the Program Associate. Mary Small has also joined CPS as the Food Service Assistant.

Between getting to know all these new adults and classmates, greeting old friends, and enjoying the beautiful hot weather, students were pretty excited about the first day of school. A few students were so excited about returning to CPS, they got lost on their way to class!

"We got mixed up because we thought we were going to first grade - but we're in second grade with Mrs. Kim now!" exclaimed second grader Devin.

"We were all la-dee-dah, walking to class, til we saw Mrs. Yi and remembered," added fellow second grader Annette. Asked if she was sad about moving up a grade, Annette explained, "Yes... but today is a fresh new day!"