
Deer Families
Deer Hill School News . February 28, 2025
Deer Hill Need to Knows
Absence Line & Email Address: 781-383-6115; DHS-notes@cohassetk12.org.
March Spirit Days: We have two spirit days in March. This Thursday, March 6th, is Hugo the Deer Hill comfort dog's 1st birthday! We're celebrating Hugo with a black and white spirit day to show him how "paw-some" we think he is. On Monday, March 17th, we'll have a green and gold spirit day as part of Shamrock and Read Day. Students will have extra cozy reading time and some fun raffle prizes from the PSO as we celebrate how lucky we are to be such amazing readers!
Attendance Woes: Deer Hill has an attendance problem, and we're hoping to partner with you on minimizing voluntary absences and early dismissals which spike on Fridays. Please take a look at the chart below and recognize the impact these absences and dismissals have on not only the students who are not in school, but those who are left behind -- teachers are left with a no-win decision of teaching new content that will then have to be revisited or modifying academic pacing which makes it difficult to meet the instructional requirements of grade level standards. Layered on that is the ringing of the phone sometimes 5, 6, or more times on a Friday afternoon in a given classroom with students being summoned for dismissal. While we (many of us are parents, travelers, skiers, etc.) understand the importance of family time and cultural experiences, the high rate of absenteeism and mass exodus on Fridays negatively impacts the morale and culture of our school community as well as our ability to provide the high quality education to which our staff strives. As a final thought to put things in context, on a typical midweek school day, (I ran the report for Wednesday, February 5), we had 7 unexcused absences and 2 dismissals, equaling 2% of our student population. Thank you for taking these points into consideration as you make plans for your family. More information including Massachusetts law and School Committee policy can be found in our Deer Hill Handbook beginning on page 10.
Follow CPS on Facebook: Cohasset Public Schools has a new Facebook page. Thanks for following us and stay tuned for more content as we get up and running.
Deer Hill Happenings
CHS Interns: We love having Cohasset High School students join us as part of their independent study courses or through their National Honor Society community service. Here are a couple of our current interns, Kyng Williams, who tutors in Ms. Parrell's 4th grade (his former class!), and Nora Pollastri, who is working with Officer Lowrance as she considers a criminology major next year in college.
Winter BASE: Great things are happening in our BASE program. Whether you're into Legos or Taylor Swift, there is something for everyone!
Hugo in the House
Hugo on Instagram: Keep up with Hugo's adventures on his Instagram account, @Hugo.Dogberry
Is That You, Spring? This week Hugo enjoyed visiting his friends at recess with weather that hinted at spring.
CPS Purposeful Play & Risk Challenge
Each month Superintendent Shannon includes a suggestion for purposeful play and developmentally appropriate risk. I hope you'll give February's challenge a try!
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.
Deer Hill Dates
March
3.3: Grade 3 Safe Harbor Samantha Skunk performance
3.6: Black & White Spirit Day (Happy 1st Birthday, Hugo!)
3.12: ½ grade 4 to SSAC
3.13: Last day of term 2
3.13: Early release (prof dev), 1:15 dismissal
3.14: Full day prof. dev., no school
3.17: Shamrock & Read Day (green & gold spirit day)
3.18 (CHS): All schools chorus concert
3.19: ½ grade 4 to SSAC
3.20 (CHS): All schools band concert
3.21: Progress reports published in Aspen
3.25 & 3.26: Conferences (early release)
3.27: PSO Family Dance
3.28: Grade 5 to the Museum of Science
Spring MCAS Dates (thank you for your help with strong attendance):
- ELA MCAS: April 10 & 11
- Science MCAS (grade 5 only): May 7 & 8
- Math MCAS: May 14 & 15
CPS calendars 2024-25 & 2025-2026
Flyers of Interest
Deer Hill School
Alexandra L. Sullivan, Principal
Email: alsullivan@cohassetk12.org
Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/
Location: 208 Sohier St., Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781-383-6115