It has been such a busy and wonderful week at Cole School with a visit from artist Rob Surette on Monday, a Frozen Jr. preview by the NMS Spotlighters on Tuesday, April Fools' Day on Wednesday, and Red Sox Spirit Day on Friday. Such fun sprinkled into all of the learning happening this spring!

As MCAS testing approaches for students in grades 3, 4, and 5, we ask families to help their child get a good night of rest, eat a healthy breakfast, and encourage them to give it their best effort. They have been working so hard all year and they are ready and will shine brightly!

Time is flying! It's time to begin our placement process for the 2025-2026 school year! The Parent Input Survey for Placement will be shared via email on Friday, April 4th and is due by Friday, April 25th (no exceptions). We are looking to gather all pertinent information in order to create the most balanced classrooms possible.

The digital form will be reviewed as part of the placement process. The information will be kept confidential and released only to pertinent staff. You are welcome to include any information you feel is important for us as we build each class, however, we will NOT take into consideration specific teacher requests and we will NOT guarantee that we will be able to separate certain students or place certain students together. Although parents have shared concerns with other staff, only concerns submitted on this form will be considered as final input. The goal is to create the most balanced classrooms for learning for all students.

The placement process is:
· The current teacher starts the class lists without a specific teacher’s name attached. The goal is to create a balanced classroom and not to customize a class to fit a particular teacher.
· Teachers review their current list to determine the needs of the current students. They consider combinations of students that have not been productive.
· Grade levels meet to make tentative class lists for the next year. The factors that guide this stage are student strengths, gender, class size, number of sections for each grade and the pertinent information from the parent input form.
· The lists are reviewed by staff members and by administration to verify that the classes are balanced and appropriate.
· The final step is for the principal to assign specific teachers to each class.
· Fifth graders will receive their teacher assignments from Norwell Middle School.
· The principal reserves the right to make any changes necessary to ensure well-balanced classes.

This week's group of Magnificent Meerkats were recognized for showing persistence in their learning, going above and beyond in their school work and on projects, and being polite and inclusive of others consistently throughout the day. Way to go, Magnificent Meerkats! Keep shining brightly!

We'll be starting to learn about a new Habit of Mind on Monday at our Connections meeting. We'll focus on Questioning and Posing Problems. Students will hear the story Papa's Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming and work collaboratively to identify problems, ask questions, and seek solutions for the famous Farmer and River puzzle.

The Institute for Habits of Mind (habitsofmindinstitute.org) offers more information on how to strengthen this Habit of Mind with your children and for yourself.

Asking questions and posing problems can be a signal of your genuine curiosity and commitment to wanting to understand what your family member may be experiencing. An attitude of curiosity acknowledges that there are usually many different contributing factors to the situation, and that we don’t yet know all of them. If we approach an encounter with our family member with curiosity instead of certainty, it is important to use an invitational tone when questioning — one that invites thinking. It is easy for a child to feel defensive and shut down rather than feeling comfortable sharing their thoughts.

Here are some strategies that may be helpful to invite your child’s thinking.

Use tentative language that implies that you do not know the answer to what is being asked:

• How might we…
• When could…
• Perhaps it might be…
• What do you imagine an alternative might be…

Use plurals to indicate that there might be more than one answer to the question or approaches to a solution:

• What are some strategies…
• What are some of the goals you are considering…

Use invitational sentence stems before asking a question to offer a suggestion about the kind of thinking you think would be most helpful:

• As you analyze this problem…?
• As you consider…?
• As you evaluate…?
• As you compare…?

Grades 4-5 played games of floor hockey. Grades K-3 played Guard the Pin and had a chance to be creative with their dance moves while playing Dance Noodle Tag. Brendan, who is a senior intern from Norwell High School and a former Cole School student, began working in all physical education classes. Welcome back, Brendan!

A special edition of our Norwell Schools Library Link is available. NPS libraries circulate thousands of books and top the charts of database use, according to the Massachusetts Library System. See headlines below:

April

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

May

May 2 - PTO Stay and Play

May 5-May 9 - Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week

May 5 - Town Meeting

May 5 - MCAS Grade 4 Math 1

May 5 - North and South River Watershed Enrichment for Grade 5

May 5 - Connections Meeting, reading Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

May 6 - MCAS Grade 4 Math 2

May 7 - Elementary Early Release 12:20pm dismissal for all students

May 7 - Grade 3 American Revolution Presentations in Cafeteria

May 7 - PTO Variety Show Rehearsal 12:20-3pm

May 8 - MCAS Grade 3 Math 1

May 9 - MCAS Grade 3 Math 2

May 12 - Grade 4 High Tech High Touch Enrichment (Thank you, PTO!)

May 12 - Puppet Storyteller to Kindergarten (Thank you, PTO!)

May 12 - Community Meeting 2:30pm Kindergarten Students Hosting - Parents welcome to attend!

May 14 - MCAS Grade 5 Math 1

May 14 - School Council Meeting 3:30 pm

May 15 - MCAS Grade 5 Math 2

May 15 - Grade 4 Fitness Field Trip (Thank you, Mr. Thornton and PTO!)

May 17 - Town of Norwell - Voting Day

May 16 - Early Release - 12:20pm dismissal for all students

May 16 - PTO Variety Show Rehearsal 12:20-3pm

May 19 - MCAS Grade 5 Science 1

May 20 - MCAS Grade 5 Science 2

May 21 - Grade 5 Fitness Field Trip (Thank you, Mr. Thornton and PTO!)

May 22 - PTO Variety Show at Cole School

May 23 - Grade 3 Fitness Field Trip in morning (Thank you, Mr. Thornton and PTO!)

May 23 - Grade 2 Fitness Field Trip in afternoon (Thank you, Mr. Thornton and PTO!)

May 26 - No School - Memorial Day

May 28 - Art Show

June

June 2 - Grade 1 Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

June 2 - Kindergarten Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

June 2 - Connections Meeting

June 3 - Kindergarten Habitat Day (2 classes)

June 4 - Kindergarten Habitat Day (2 classes)

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

June 6 - Field Day - Fingerprint and CORI required for all volunteers

June 9 - Screening for all incoming kindergarten students in the library

June 9 - Delilah the Whale Kindergarten enrichment (Thank you, PTO!)

June 9 - Grade 5 Band Concert

June 12 - Fifth Grade Celebration 6-8 pm - Grade 5 parents and grade 5 students ONLY

June 13 - PTO Stay and Play

June 16 - Grade 5 Move Up Day to NMS

June 17 - Move Up Day for Grades K-4

June 17 - Last Day of School

VARIETY SHOW IS BACK!

Thursday, 5/22 @ Cole School!

Sign Up Form Due Friday, 4/4/25:

https://forms.gle/nb4ErQ1SQfiWnXw77

Volunteer & Donations:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040B45A8AE2FAB9-55632848-2025#/