We wish the entire Cole School community a wonderful Thanksgiving break. There will not be a Cole Miners' Dig sent home next week due to the shortened week. The next edition will be shared on November 29th.

Please do not double park in handicapped parking spots to drop off or pick up unless you have a handicapped license plate or a child using crutches, a wheelchair, or other assistive device.

Currently, 8% of our school population has missed 10% or more (5 or more days) of the school year compared to 3.5% at this time last year. We appreciate the effort families put forward to get students to school for full days of learning whenever possible and only if children are healthy enough to attend.

The new bleachers will be installed in the gym on Monday and Tuesday of next week so Physical Education classes will take place either outside or in the classrooms. The new cafeteria tables will also be delivered next Wednesday. The new tables seat 12 and will be easier to lift and lower for our custodians.

Author of the Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, shared an article on his substack page this week that offers 7 tips that parents can use to "fight back against the digital deluge." I've shared it here to keep the conversations going about the impact of a phone based vs. play based childhood on our children.

We are always looking for substitutes for teachers, aides, and nurses. Substituting offers flexible scheduling, allowing one to work on available days and at selected levels or schools. We even have half day spots to fill! If you or someone you know is interested, please apply at the Norwell Schools website.

Another week of excellent behavior, wonderful acts of kindness, and persistence on academic goals! Congratulations to this week's Magnificent Meerkats! Be sure to ask your child the specific reason they were nominated this week if they are pictured here.

In SEL time this week, we talked about caring for people by understanding their emotions. One way to do that is to read people's body language and facial cues. All grades practiced showing different emotions on their faces, and also interpreting what people might be feeling by looking at pictures of different emotional expressions. Next week, we will finish the Caring unit.

Please check out updates on my school website to find out more about SEL lessons and programming at Cole!

All grades had fun playing soccer inside the gym. Light taps, hard kicks, punting, passing, trapping and teamwork to include everyone were all part of the games. Most importantly, whether they won or lost students understood it’s just a game and it’s no big deal.

This week in the library, students are learning about the Dewey Decimal System (4th), plagiarism and copyright (5th) and exploring stories about Thanksgiving history and fun (K-2). See some of our books for this week:

LIBRARY NEWS: Please take a moment and view our new district-wide school library newsletter to see what is happening in the library in all four schools!

November

November 25 - Puppet Show enrichment for kindergarten (Thank you, PTO!)

November 26 - Plimoth Patuxet Visitors to Grade 3 enrichment (Thank you, PTO!)

November 27 - Early Release 12:20pm

November 28 - NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Day

November 29 - NO SCHOOL

Upcoming Dates

December 7 - PTO Winter Fair 9-12pm

Registration for the 2025 Norwell Lacrosse season will be open through December 15th. The registration fee for players in grades 3rd—8th is $250, and for players in grades 1st and 2nd, it is $160. The league also imposes a $50 late fee per player for registrations filed after December 15th.

https://norwellgirlslacrosse.demosphere-secure.com/_registration_login?to=https%3A%2F%2Fnorwellgirlslacrosse.demosphere-secure.com%2F_registration

We’re still piecing together information regarding the schedule for 2025, updates to be posted on https://norwellgirlslacrosse.com/. The season will commence in March 2025 starting with indoor practices and our first games kicking off on March 30th.