February 7, 2025
Dear Cohasset Families,
In November, I shared the following with you: "As we near closer to November 5th, Election Day, we want to take a moment to remind our school community of our Cohasset Public School's mission: The Cohasset Public Schools places students first. We provide an optimal teaching and learning environment by cultivating empathy, globally citizenship, agency, inclusivity, and community engagement to empower students to realize continuous personal growth and achievement. As such, our number one priority is to ensure that all of our students feel safe and supported at school."
Today, I want to follow up on that statement and reiterate that the students in our schools are our number one priority and that our job as educators is to create a culture where every student, staff member and family feels welcomed and safe. We understand that times of uncertainty can bring anxiety and concern, and we want to assure you that our schools will continue to be places where every individual is valued and supported. We remain committed to fostering an environment where each member of our community feels a sense of belonging and knows they are welcome and have a home in our schools.
Our school and district leadership teams continue to monitor the changes being made at the federal level, consult with our legal advisors as new advisories are rolled out, and ensure that we remain consistent with Massachusetts law and DESE guidelines, both of which support and protect an inclusive and culturally responsive curriculum and school culture. You can view DESE's most recent guidance on this topic by clicking here.
As always, we encourage open communication and invite you to reach out with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued partnership in making Cohasset Public Schools a safe, welcoming, and inclusive community for all.
Ever onward,
Sarah
We are also excited to announce that the Cohasset Public Schools has a new Facebook page. Our District used to rely on Twitter to share news, announcements, and updates, however, we are shifting away from that platform and will now be sharing similar information via Facebook. We invite you to click here to Like and Follow our page to stay on top off all of the latest CPS news.
At this week's School Committee meeting, I introduced the first draft of the FY26 budget for the district. You can view the Power Point presentation here and watch the presentation with commentary here.
As always, we invite all families to join our School Committee meetings in person or to watch on Zoom or at the Cohasset Live Streaming Facebook page. I will continue to keep you updated on the budget in this newsletter and on our website (cohassetk12.org) as well.
On Tuesday, January 28th, we held the second in a series of three community forums to share an update on the Cohasset Middle and High School Feasibility Study and several conceptual designs for a potential middle/high school project. The designs fell into several categories: code upgrades only, addition/renovation, addition/demolition/renovation, and new construction. We are grateful to those who attended and are providing access to the information shared by Ai3, our architects, via this link.
We are holding one more community forum next month. This final forum is important as will review the conceptual designs presented by Ai3 and provide estimated costs associated with each of the potential project options. I hope that you will consider joining us. This meeting will be held onTuesday, February 25th @ 6:30pm in the middle and high school Learning Commons.
Keeping up with our Anxious Generation purposeful play and responsible risk taking challenges, I am inviting you to join in on our February activities. This month, our challenges are:
Purposeful Play Challenge
Winter is always hard because we're often stuck indoors. How can you encourage your children to play differently at home this February? Is there a game you haven't played together in a long time? Have a new game you haven't played yet? A family favorite in my house for a long time was Monopoly Deal - a quick, card game version of the real game. I highly recommend it!
Responsible Risk Taking Challenge
Encourage your child to take one new step into independence. This will look different for children of all ages. For an early elementary kiddo, getting their own breakfast might be a new level of independence. For an upper elementary student, trying to do all of their homework on their own might be new. For a middle school student, maybe it's staying home alone. For a high schooler, maybe it's making their own doctor or dentist appointment. Only you will know what's right for your child, but encourage them to try something they've always done with you or that you've done for them, without you.
