The CMS Tide Weekly Newsletter

Reprinted from Supt. Dr. Sullivan's Navigator Newsletter (1/28/22)

Greetings Cohasset Families,

With the incoming storm set to impact us this weekend, all activities scheduled to take place at Cohasset Public Schools, as well as all activities and sporting events, are canceled for Saturday and Sunday. Please feel free to follow @CohassetPolice on twitter for safety updates. I will also be providing information on twitter @SuperCohasset, and when necessary, over connect-ed throughout the storm. Please see the message below, which was sent this evening by Cohasset Police Chief Quigley to all Cohasset residents, on behalf of the Emergency Management Team. Please stay safe in the storm.

Sincerely,

Patrick Sullivan, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Cohasset Public Schools

School Cancelation Process and Information

Note: Commissioner Riley, has communicated that Remote Days would not be made available for days requiring school cancellation due to weather or other events. In other words, we will be utilizing snow days, when needed, until further notice.

Message sent by Cohasset Police Chief Quigley to all Cohasset residents, on behalf of the Emergency Management Team.

Good evening, this is Police Chief William Quigley, calling on behalf of the emergency management team, with a message for Cohasset residents.

We are bracing for the major winter storm that is predicted to impact our area this Saturday, we would like to pass along important information:

• The Library and Recreation Department will be closed Saturday and Sunday.
• The RTF will be closed Saturday so that DPW workers can assist in snow removal efforts.
• In the event of large-scale power failure, we are prepared to open a warming and charging center at Willcutt Commons on Sohier Street.
• Residents are encouraged to download the National Grid App from their app store to receive information on outages and restoration times.
• We would also like to remind residents that the winter parking ban remains in effect, and overnight on-street parking is not allowed.

Please monitor official Town of Cohasset social media pages and the town website for situational updates. We will have further updates as new information becomes available. Thank you!

The students of the Lego Utility Club planning their next project (above)

(Above: Mrs. Duggan's Students Analyze The Outsiders)

Order in the Court! Impressive hard work and engagement went in to The Trial of Johnny Cade 2022! Prosecution and defense teams presented excellent cases for the jurors to evaluate. Great job everyone! #theoutsiders

Text/picture provided by Mrs. Duggan

CMS is piloting the "Tower of Power" in several classrooms (see above). The towers are rolling recharging stations that allow students to recharge their devices in class without having to deal with the disruption of finding a receptacle somewhere in the classroom. one student commented that she liked the tower because "[Now I am not] not totally stressed about what to do if my Chromebook is running low but I need it for the activity we are in--I can just plug in from my seat!".

The tower features power receptacles and USB ports. We continue to encourage every student to pack a device charger when packing up for school EVERY DAY.

Director of Instructional Technology Lisa Radden is exploring ways to provide students and teachers the optimal space for learning utilizing technology. We are confident that she will continue to provide innovations like this and new visions for how to enhance our student learning.But for right now, Ms. Radden is the Tower of Power Educator of the Hour!!

Is your child missing a jacket, sweatshirt, lunch bag, water bottle or other miscellaneous item? Our CMS lost and found is located outside of the gymnasium and getting quite large. Please ask your child to check the lost and found for anything they are missing. Parents who want to check the lost and found should make an appointment with Asst. Principal Dr. Salas, ksalas@cohassetk12.org

Typically the lost and found gets emptied during vacation weeks so send your student there to look for any lost item!

As we strive to support students in developing their independence skills, we have realized that there has been a need for improvement in the way that we help them. Students who needed to borrow a CMS Chromebook because they forgot to charge or bring theirs to school were also forgetting to return the CMS loaner. Starting this week, students who borrow a Chromebook and do not return it by the end of the school day will be scheduled for an after school help session for organization with Dr. Salas. Students will learn time management as well as organization skills.

The following is reprinted from Supt. Sullivan's The Navigator newsletter 1`/18/22)

Our first delivery of testing kits for students will be delivered either next week or the week that follows. We will be informing everyone when the tests arrive and of our process for distributing the tests in the coming days. If you did not sign up for this program, but would like to be a part of it going forward, please contact your school’s nurse.

Dear Parent/Guardian/Caregiver:

At Cohasset Public Schools, keeping your children and our students safe and in school is our top priority. We are writing to let you know, in accordance with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Public Health (DPH), our district is updating our COVID-19 Testing Program, with an anticipated start date of the first full week in February. We are opting into an at-home testing program that will increase testing of our participating students and staff, regardless of vaccination status. For more information about this update to the statewide testing program, please click here. Although we are awaiting confirmation from DESE, it is anticipated that the at home-testing option will begin during the week of February 7, 2022, but perhaps earlier. In addition to this new at-home antigen test option, we will implement symptomatic testing, when deemed necessary by our nurses, during the week. As part of this shift in the program, we will be discontinuing Test and Stay and contact tracing for in-school close contacts. This means that if your child is a potential contact in school, they may continue to come to school and do not have to quarantine. This new at-home testing opportunity is voluntary, and only those who opt-in will receive tests. Until we have fully implemented this new testing program, we will continue our current procedures. If you did not sign up for this program, but would like to be a part of it going forward, please contact your school’s nurse.

Overview: At-Home Rapid Testing Program

• About the Test: iHealth is a 15-minute at-home FDA-approved rapid antigen test
• Opt-In: To participate, you must opt in by contacting your school's nurse. By opting in, you will agree to review the training materials for test administration, report positive test results to your student’s school.
• Weekly: Every two weeks your child will receive an iHealth at-home rapid test kit. Each kit contains two individual tests. Details regarding this distribution will be forthcoming. Please ensure your child administers one test each week.
• Reporting Positive Test Results: If your child tests positive on an at-home antigen test, you will inform their school of the positive result by contacting the school nurse.
• Results: The school will keep the results confidential and will not make individual results public. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you inform your healthcare professional of the positive result.
• Easy, Free, and Flexible: This test is administered at home (not at school), reducing the burden on school staff and time to administer tests and increasing a family’s flexibility to do testing in the home for free.
• 
  

How do I administer the test?

• Click here for a full “how to” written guide in various languages
• Click here for a video of an individual self-testing

How do I submit results?

• Submit Results: You must submit positive test results to your student’s school by contacting your school’s nurse.
• Confidentiality: Positive test results are shared with your school district for informational purposes only. Individual results will remain confidential, and they will never be made public.

Thank you for your help with this important initiative.

Sincerely,

Patrick Sullivan, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Cohasset Public Schools

Dear Tide Reader,

I wanted to share the following announcement that I read Friday (1/14/22) morning as part of our daily announcements. The message explains to students that the School Committee has changed the masking requirement for all vaccinated students and staff per DESE guidance beginning Tuesday as we met the 80% threshold for vaccinated staff and students. Beginning on Tuesday, vaccinated students and their parents will have the choice of whether to continue wearing a COVID mask at school. Unvaccinated students will be required to continue wearing a mask until proof of their vaccination is provided to the nurse’s office or the School Committee modifies the requirement.

I emphasized in my message that the School Committee has not prohibited masking but has given the choice of masking to students and their parents/guardians. The Cohasset Board of Health and DESE have both “strongly recommended” that students wear masks to fight the spread of COVID. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me.

Good morning CMS, this is Mr. Mills. Beginning on Tuesday 1/18 and by School Committee policy, CMS students who are vaccinated will no longer be required to wear COVID masks at school. Unvaccinated students are required to continue to wear COVID masks until either proof of vaccination is provided to the school nurses’ office or the School Committee modifies this requirement.

The School Committee made this change because over 80% of CMS students and staff have provided proof of COVID vaccination. This 80% threshold was established by our state department of education which is called DESE.

I want to make absolutely clear to students the school committee policy does NOT prohibit wearing a COVID mask at school. In fact, the Cohasset Board of Health strongly recommends that all students and staff choose to wear face coverings. In case you are wondering, I will continue to wear a mask because I want to protect myself and everyone around me from potentially catching or spreading COVID.

Beginning Tuesday, vaccinated students and their parents/guardians have the choice of whether the student will wear a mask at CMS to protect themselves against contracting or spreading COVID.

If you have questions, please feel free to stop by the Main Office where Dr. Salas and I would be happy to meet with you to discuss this change.

As we work with our community through these difficult times, Cohasset Public Schools makes many resources available to the community on its website and Superintendent Sullivan's Navigator newsletter contains up-to-date information about COVID in the Cohasset community as well as the school system. It is available online here

CMS will participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in February, 2022. NAEP is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP is different from MCAS because it is a common measure of achievement across the country. The assessment is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, within the U.S. Department of Education. The results are released as The Nation’s Report Card, which provides information about student achievement to educators, parents, policymakers, and the public.

A sample of 8th graders will take a mathematics or reading assessment. In addition to subject-area questions, students voluntarily complete NAEP survey questions. These questions provide valuable information about participating students’ educational experiences and opportunities to learn both in and outside of the classroom. More information about NAEP survey questions is available at https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/parents under the section “What Questions Are on the Test?”

The assessment takes approximately 2 hours for most students, which includes transition time, directions, and completion of survey questions. Families of students chosen to participate will be notified in January.

The information collected is used for statistical purposes only.

· Your child’s grades will not be affected.

· Students may be excused for any reason, are not required to complete the assessment, and may skip any question.

· Participation in the NAEP assessment is voluntary,

Oftentimes when dealing with personal or family issues, we feel overwhelmed because we lack experience and expertise with handling these issues. We want to be sure our families know that they are not alone--there are many resources on the South Shore that can help.

Community Resources

Wellspring Multi Service

Website: wellspringmultiservice.org

Address: 814 Nantasket Ave Hull, MA 02045

Phone: 781-925-3211

Contact: Jenny Gerbis, Community Outreach, ext. 127, jenny@wellspringmultiservice.org

Baystate Community Services

Website: baystatecs.org

Address: 1120 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA 02169

Phone: 617-471-8400

Email: info@baystatecs.org

Cohasset Food Pantry

Address: 129 So. Main Street, Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-383-0219 ext. 25

Cohasset Rotary Club

Website: cohassetrotary.org

Email: cohassetrotaryclub@gmail.com or pwmcohassetrotary@gmail.com

Interfaith Social Services

Website: interfaithsocialservices.org

Address: 105 Adams Street, Quincy MA 02169

Phone: 617-773-6203

Email: info@interfaithsocialservices.org

Safe Harbor Coalition Cohasset

Website: safeharborcohasset.org

Address: 35 Ripley Road, Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-783-5293

Contact: Nicole Balaschi, Program Director,

Email: safeharborcohasset@gmail.com

The CMS administration and faculty communicate with our families using many digital and traditional means. Our weekly newsletter, the CMS Tide, will be sent to families and students every weekend. It is also posted on our school website and shared via Twitter (@comsprincipal).

We call it the CMS Tide because just like we find when we walk along the beach, the tide brings to us treasures from the deep. It helps us picture what is going on just beyond where we stand. The CMS Tide supplies news, images, stories about life at CMS to our families each week,

We hope you enjoy each issue this year!

Since July 2014, Safe Harbor Cohasset has been working to promote awareness and implement resources to help make an impact on the substance use in the community. The group has members from across the spectrum in the community, including, but not limited to, Paul Pratt Memorial Library, Cohasset Recreation Department, Cohasset Police Department, Cohasset Public Schools, Second Congregational Church, town leaders, health professionals, parents, youth, fire personnel, and concerned citizens. In September 2017, Safe Harbor was awarded a federal Drug- Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grant, which focuses on preventing substance use among youth ages 12-17.

Since then, the group has worked to foster a strong and inclusive community that allows youth to strive and encourages healthy, educated and responsible choices about drug and alcohol use. The mission is supported by evidenced based, prevention focused, sustainable policies and youth- focused programs, such as Ground Level Café and the Safe Harbor Youth Ambassador Program. To learn more, and to find resources for both parents and teens, visit the Safe Harbor website at safeharborcohasset.org. Keep up to date on the latest news and trends by following Safe Harbor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/safeharborcohasset, on Twitter @cohsafeharbor, and on Instagram @safeharborcohasset.

Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

These are certainly difficult times and many parents and families are experiencing great stress. Our ability to cope is regularly challenged and, understandably, there may be times when individuals can no longer manage their emotions. It is important to know where to turn when we reach that point.

To help our families, we share this contact list of support providers--Mental Health and Crisis Contacts These support providers offer great opportunities to help receive help when those we love are struggling to manage.

The Cohasset Middle School is a grade 6-8 school dedicated to the development of the whole child. We are an inclusive, supportive, and safe learning environment committed to excellence and growth. Our community values experiential, collaborative, active learning that is rigorous and relevant, and fosters creative, responsible contributors to a global society.

Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/Domain/9
Location: 143 Pond Street, Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781.383.6100
Twitter: @comsprincipal