• Dear Woodcrest Family:

    Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! As we embark on this academic year’s journey, I wish to take this opportunity to greet those who are returning and welcome aboard those who are new to the Woodcrest family. It was 9-years ago that I returned to Woodcrest Elementary─after serving as a student-teacher here nearly 3 decades ago─and despite the time that has since passed, I continue to feel incredibly fortunate to have rejoined this wonderful learning community!

    While I commonly use the term “journey” to describe the start of each academic year, this expression took on a whole different meaning as we navigated so many challenges unique to the pandemic, and very few institutions were more disrupted than schools. On a national scale, the pandemic affected staffing, funding, morale, social and emotional development, and the continuity of learning. Yet, we made many significant strides during the latter part of the 2021-2022 school year, which enabled us to return to an exceedingly greater level of normalcy last year. With that said, I am particularly excited about the promise that the 2023-2024 academic year holds for our school community. While we must still address some academic and social/emotional needs that exist as remnants of the pandemic, as we prepare for Woodcrest's 65th opening year, there are no longer any barriers or restrictions that had previously been necessary.   

    It is for these reasons, and so many others, that our staff and faculty are committed to meeting each child where s/he is academically, to ensure that every student achieves to his or her academic potential. And while we have long recognized the importance of working in partnership with the home to foster a positive and safe environment that is optimal for learning, these relationships have become even more critical as we work together to facilitate our shared goal of creating the ideal learning experience for each child.

    Each of us continues to play an important role in making this another successful school year, and we look forward to collaborating with you to achieve this goal. It is for this reason that we will continue to maintain the #togetherWEcan slogan that was adopted during the 2021-2022 school year (with “WE” having the double-meaning of the home and school and the abbreviation for Woodcrest Elementary).

    Again, welcome!

    Yours in education,

    Jonathan Cohen, Principal • joncohen@chclc.org • 856.429.2058 (prompt 0)