Checotah Public Schools (CPS) officially started back on Thursday, Aug. 15, with the senior Class of 2025 meeting on Ogle Field for their last “Senior Sunrise” together.

However, the first of the week held a lot of excitement with two days of Meet the Teacher on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, followed by one of the biggest turnouts to date for the Wildcat Welcome at Ogle Field on Tuesday evening.

CPS Educators Jennifer Crooch and Lauren Edmonds are in charge of the 21st Century grant programs and hosted the Wildcat Welcome, an annual back to school event, with over 40 booths and vendors, music by the Class of Checotah, giveaways, food trucks, a bounce house and recognition of students with their specific teams. The Checotah community showed up in full force to join in the fun with these Wildcats as they prepared to go back to school in style.

CPS was once again awarded a Title IV, Part B – Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) Grant of $300,000. This grant will be used in many ways for Checotah school programs. The primary goal of this grant is to support student success through quality expanded learning opportunities.

Students at Wildcat Welcome seemed excited to see their friends and were ready to go back to class when school started bright and early Thursday morning. Though there were a few tears shed at Marshall Elementary with newcomers in Pre-K and Kindergarten who missed their moms and dads and weren’t sure about all the organized chaos as staff opened the doors. Most students were all smiles and getting hugs from their teachers and friends as they found their classrooms and then headed to the cafeteria for a bite to eat before the bell rang to start their day.

The Checotah High School and Middle School 21st Century After School Program announced they will be back in session Sept. 3 with Drama Club tryouts being held Sept. 11.

The CATS After School Program for Marshall Elementary and Checotah Intermediate School will also start soon but has limited spots. Educators are excited about the new program name CATS, which stands for Creating Avenues to Success. All students interested in either program need to register through their schools or online as soon as possible.