STEAM Night was a great success! Many thanks to the staff that put the event together and to the many families that participated. A huge thank you to the many 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students that worked on Science Fair projects outside of school and shared them with the community at last night's event. They were all fantastic!

Charlotte in Mrs. Donahue's 2nd grade class won the chance to select a themed day for Cole School at the Winter Fair. She selected Crazy Hair Day to be held on Friday, March 14th. So, get creative and bring those wild and crazy hair dos to Cole School. We can't wait to see what the students come up with!

We will be celebrating Neurodiversity Celebration Week during the week of March 17-21. We have been selected to have a free school assembly from Katy Boucher, founder and director of the Accord School. This assembly will take the place of the weekly SEL lesson with Mrs. Walsh. Katy will use engaging videos of real student perspectives, tactful stories, and relatable graphics, to help elementary students learn:

• What it means to be a curious and caring classmate
• The many ways, noticeable and invisible, that we are different from one another
• Applying the theory of Multiple Intelligences (H. Gardner) to show how we all think differently
• Fair & Equal: Getting what we all need

Kindergarten registration for the 2025-2026 school year is open! Please reach out to neighbors and friends who have children that turn 5 years old on or before September 1, 2025 to let them know that they can register on the Norwell Schools website. Emails were already sent directly to families that were on the most recent Census collection.

Next week we'll be learning about the Habit of Mind - Striving for Precision and Accuracy. When you think about this habit, this quote may come to mind, "Measure twice and cut once." We'll help our students develop this habit by reading the book Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner at the Connections meeting on Monday.

Here is more information for parents to consider when thinking about ways to help your child develop this habit:

Too often we think of accuracy and precision as the end game — we get the “right” answer or complete the task and move on. However, striving is a word that implies continuous effort and caring about your work. No matter how good you are in your performance, craftsmanship requires continuous reworking to grow your expertise.

Here are some strategies to consider to motivate you or family members to set goals to continue toward even greater work:

• Remind your child that when we care about getting better at something, striving is something we work on, not something that we race to finish.
• Ask your family member about how you can be supportive as they work on something that they care about.
• For example, sometimes it is helpful to receive feedback. Other times it is helpful to provide quiet space so they can focus.
• Search for experts in the fields of interest your children might be interested in. Find people or other resources they can be exposed to so that they can learn more about the necessary craftsmanship in their work.
• Showcase the progress of work over time. For example, show drawings your child has done over a period of time and talk about how you see their growth and mastery over the art.
• Encourage your children to see when they are getting better at something and celebrate their stamina for continuing to grow their capacities.
• Talk with your children about how striving for accuracy and precision is part of your work. For example, a baker needs to be exact with their measurements and technique or an accountant needs to be precise in how they document revenues and losses.
• Work together with your child on a project that requires striving for accuracy and precision such as building a model airplane, assembling a piece of furniture, or putting together puzzles. Share some of the strategies you use to check for accuracy and precision.

(From habitsofmindinstitute.org)

This week's Magnificent Meerkats included several students that are consistently demonstrating the use of the Habits of Mind in their daily work and interactions with others. Several other students were recognized for going above and beyond in their learning. This week we also received a student nomination from a parent that wanted to celebrate the kindness they observed at morning drop off! Our very own Ms. O'Malley, 3rd grade teacher, was nominated for being a very kind teacher who has many previous students stop by each morning to say hello before they head to class. Keep up the great work, Meerkats!

This week in SEL time, we continued our Responsibility unit. KIndergarten and first graders talked about jobs that students, teachers, and grown ups at home are responsible for, and we heard "The Little Red Hen." Grades 2 and 3 did a "pass the mic" challenge, where students came up and shared a responsibility that they have- without repeating what someone else said! 3rd grade reached an impressive total of 67 students sharing 67 unique responsibilities! Grades 4 and 5 talked about common slips in responsibility- like forgetting homework or sleeping too late, and how they can make plans to be more responsible in the future.

Change of schedule- the week of 3/17, we are lucky to have Katy Boucher speaking to all grades in an assembly about Neurodiversity. This will be the SEL lesson for that week, so grades K, 2, and 4 will have their personal safety lessons moved to 3/24 ("I Said No" read aloud for grades K&2, and "The Kid Trapper" read in grade 4).

Fifth graders started a 7 week fitness program called Go Fit that includes writing an essay on their favorite physical activity. As a reward for successful completion of the Go Fit Program, students will be eligible to go on a fitness field trip that includes a hike through Blue Hills, a picnic lunch and play time at Houghton’s Pond.

We continued our Basketball Unit. Kindergarteners and first graders practiced bouncing, catching, dribbling and were introduced to the push shot. Second graders had fun with the Dribble Dot Challenge. Grade 3 enjoyed playing Knockout. Grades 4-5 also played Knockout but worked on their teamwork skills playing games of basketball.

March

March 10 - Connections Meeting, reading Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner

March 14 - Crazy Hair Day (selected by Charlotte Moore and her class, winner of PTO Raffle)

March 17-21 - Cole School Spring Family Survey - sent by email, check your spam/junk folder

March 17-21 - Neurodiversity Celebration Week

March 18 - PTO Bingo Night 6-7:30pm

March 19 - Grade 5 Parent Curriculum Night at NMS 6pm

March 20 - Neurodiversity Assembly with Katy Boucher

March 21 - Elementary Report Cards available in Aspen

March 24 - Community Meeting 2:30pm - Grade 1 Hosting - Parents invited to join us!

March 26 - Elementary Early Release 12:20pm Dismissal for all students

March 27 - District Band Concert at NHS 7pm

March 31 - PTO Sponsored Peformance by artist Rob Surrette, 9:15 for K-2 and 1:30 for grades 3-5, parents invited to join us!

Looking Ahead

April 1 - NMS performs Frozen Jr. for Cole School

April 2 - Grade 5 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 4 - Parent Input for Placement for 2025-2026 school year - Google Form sent out

April 7 - MCAS Grade 4 ELA 1

April 7 - Grade 2 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 7 - Connections Meeting, reading Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming

April 8 - MCAS Grade 4 ELA 2

April 9 - MCAS Grade 3 ELA 1

April 9 - Grade 2 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 9 - Grade 5 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 10 - Early Release - Parent Conferences

April 11 - MCAS Grade 3 ELA 2

April 14 - MCAS Grade 5 ELA 1

April 14 - Grade 4 Enrichment (Thank you, PTO!)

April 15 - MCAS Grade 5 ELA 2

April 16 - School Council Meeting 3:30pm

April 18 - No School

April 21-25 - April Vacation Week

April 28 - Grade 3 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 28 - Community Meeting - Grade 5 Hosting - Parents Invited to join us!

April 29 - Grade 3 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 30 - PTO Meeting 2pm - Mr. Keegan shares budget information

Please check your SPAM/JUNK folder if you are not receiving PTO emails and mark them as safe so future emails will go to your inbox.

Dues Update - 69% of students have paid dues. We will be asking families to pay for individual field trips if dues have not been paid. Please contact Mrs. Burns if financial assistance is needed.

Dues payments to the PTO are used to cover the cost of field trips (busing, entry fees) and enrichment programs. Additional fundraising throughout the year helps to fund appreciation days and teacher grants.

HAVE USED OR UNWANTED CRAYONS, MARKERS, PENS, WOODEN OR MECHANICAL PENCILS?

The Norwell Recycling and Sustainability Committee continues to sponsor a project to recycle crayons, markers, pens and wooden and mechanical pencils. We are working in partnership with Staples, who sends the crayons to the Crayon Initiative where they are melted down and remanufactured into new crayons which are delivered to children's hospitals for patient use. Staples also partners with TerraCycle which recycles writing tools to raw formats that manufacturers use to make new products. These programs work to reduce environmental waste.

Collection boxes are located at-

Grace Farrar Cole School William G. Vinal School Norwell Middle School

The Accord School Norwell High School First Parish PreSchool

Ridge Hill School Norwell Public Library Norwell Council on Aging