We had a huge turnout for The Anxious Generation Parent Book Discussion Group last night with about 45 attendees. This is the largest turnout we have ever had for any parent meeting at Cole School. We discussed the transition from a play based childhood to the rise of a phone based childhood as well as the four suggested reforms of NO SMARTPHONES BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL, NO SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE 16, PHONE FREE SCHOOLS, AND FAR MORE UNSUPERVISED PLAY AND CHILDHOOD INDEPENDENCE. We brainstormed ways to build independence and find time for unsupervised play, have conversations with friends and neighbors to discuss these ideas, reduce or limit screen time, and think about ways to collectively take action and give our children back their play based childhood. If you'd like to continue the conversation, Norwell parent, Jeff Gordon, has booked a room at the Norwell Public Library on Tuesday, November 26 from 6:00-7:30pm to continue the conversations.

As we approach Veterans Day, I want to take a moment to express our gratitude to all the brave men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. Veterans Day is a time for us to honor the sacrifices made by those who have defended our freedom and protected our way of life. To all the veterans in our community, we want to say thank you. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your commitment to our nation. Your bravery and dedication inspire us all, and we are grateful for the example you set for future generations.

Student Government Elections took place this week. Running for Student Government takes a lot of courage and is just one of the ways that students at Cole School Dream Big, Dare Greatly, and Shine Brightly. Congratulations to the nominated Student Government representatives!

Picture Retake Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 12th. If you would like your child's picture to be retaken, send the original picture package back to school on November 12th.

We had a great group of Magnificent Meerkats this week and even included nominations for Mrs. Connors in the cafeteria for working extra hard to make gluten free options and to Mrs. Thompson for always being a supportive teacher! Check out these other great reasons for some of our Magnificent Meerkats this week.

• She is doing a great job showing leadership skills in the classroom. She shows her best effort, even when something is challenging. Way to go!
• She comes to school each day with a smile. She is working so hard on her reading and really puts in excellent effort. She is enthusiastic and excited when learning. She is a good friend to her classmates and always willing to help when needed.
• He shines brightly because of his positive attitude and inclusivity. He comes to school with a smile on his face, ready to face whatever the day may bring. He always makes sure that everyone feels included! He is such a kind, caring, and compassionate student.
• He is a Magnificent Meerkat because he has been working his hardest in every subject. He always gives his best effort and shows perseverance!

Do you ever find yourself just blurting out what comes to mind? After you say it, do you regret it? Do you find yourself thinking, “I really shouldn’t have said that. It isn’t what I really meant.” Perhaps you find yourself jumping in to do some work before you read the directions. Then you realize that, had you read the directions, you would have known that you did not have to do one thing but you did have to do another.

Managing impulsivity means thinking before acting: you work to remain calm, thoughtful, and deliberate when working through a problem or developing an idea. Helpful strategies that can help your students become more intentional:

• Focusing on your breathing to settle down. Find other strategies to help keep your emotions under control.

• Rewinding the situation to examine it with a more deliberate eye. Reflect on what, where and why this is happening that is causing the feelings that you are having.

• Considering your options. Think about what actions you could take and what possible advantages or disadvantages might happen as a result.

• Reframing possibilities. Believe that you can change the way you react when others push your buttons, seeing it as an opportunity to learn about yourself, finding new ways to stay in control of your emotions.

(https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/what-are-habits-of-mind/)

This week, we continued our Caring unit. We discussed how to show caring for each other as classes held their Student Government elections this week, and also showing caring and gratitude on Veteran's Day. Lower grades practiced showing gratitude and how it makes people at Cole School feel cared for, and upper grades continued to talk about caring for others by empathizing when they feel stressed. World Kindness Day is on Wednesday, 11/3- find out more ways to celebrate here!

I wanted to send out a couple reminders about keeping our students, staff, and community healthy. There are policies in place about when to keep your child home from school/when they will be sent home from school. If your child has a communicable disease or an injury, please notify the school nurse. Presently, there are many respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses circulating. We continue to see numerous cases of strep throat. Please help keep our school as healthy as possible by following these recommendations if your child is not feeling well.

Fever – A temperature greater than 100°F is considered a fever. Your child should be fever free, without the use of fever reducing medication, for 24 hours before returning to school.

Strep Throat --Think beyond a sore throat. A fever, headache, stomach ache, or nausea/vomiting alone may indicate a strep infection. If diagnosed with strep throat, your child must complete a minimum of 24 hours of antibiotics and be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication before returning to school. It is very possible to have recurring cases of strep throat. Make sure to change out toothbrushes and follow up with your provider for any continuing or rebounding symptoms.

Vomiting and Diarrhea – Your child should be symptom free for at least 24 hours and able to tolerate a few meals before returning to school. If your child is sent home from school due to vomiting or diarrhea, they are to remain out of school the following day.

Conjunctivitis (pink eye) – Some signs and symptoms of conjunctivitis are when the white part of the eye is red; eyes are itchy, painful, sensitive to light, watery or produce a yellow or green crusty discharge. If suspected, contact your physician. Your child may attend school 24 hours after antibiotic treatment starts, or when cleared by your healthcare provider (if no antibiotic treatment is needed).

Injuries -- If a child has an injury that requires an orthopedic device such as crutches, cast, walking boot, splint, sling, etc., a note from the provider should accompany the child when returning to school. Such notifications should clearly detail all restrictions and identify the date when participation in PE/ recess may resume. Our fax number is 781-659-2850. Providers may fax to us directly. Written notification from a parent is required when it is necessary to excuse a child from physical education short term and the PE teacher should be notified as well.

Head lice -- Remember to check your child’s head frequently for head lice, as they can be a common occurrence in children. If found at school, parent/guardian will be notified and directed to treatment options to occur outside of school. There are no whole class notifications or screenings done. Head Lice is a common concern of childhood that occurs every year to millions of children across the United States.

Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the CDC advocate for the following practices to be discontinued:

• whole classroom screening,

• exclusion for nits or live lice

• notification to others except for parents/guardians of students with head lice infestations

That being noted, it can never hurt to check your child's hair if they are complaining of it being itchy or if you are notified of a close playmate who did have it. Lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. If you ever have any questions please reach out at any time.

Reminder about Prescription and Non-Prescription Medications (from the handbook):

Students are not to carry medications of any kind. The school nurse shall be the supervisor of the medication program in the school, including over-the-counter medications such as calamine lotion, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc.

ALL medications, prescription or non-prescription, can only be administered under the following conditions:

• A written medication order form is required for prescription medication and over-the-counter medications not including the standing orders written by the district physician

• A written parent/guardian authorization form is required for all medications

• All medications must be in the original pharmacy labeled container

• All medications must be brought to school by the parent/guardian and given directly to the nurse.

Kindergarteners & First Graders continued their Soccer Unit. Working on dribbling/light taps, hard kicks, punting, passing and trapping the soccer ball with a partner. Using those skills they played a game of Soccer Noodle Tag. Second Graders continued practicing their soccer skills working together in groups of 4’s/5’s with lead passes and defending while playing a keep away soccer game. Grades 3-5 played a cooperative team building game called Capture the Turkey! Each team worked together to defend their turkey from being captured or strategizing to capture the opposing team’s turkey.

November

November 11 - NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

November 12 - Picture Retake Day - send picture package back to school with child for retake

November 13 - School Council 3:30pm

November 18 - Community Meeting 2:30pm

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

Please join the NHS Fourth Wall Players for their first show of the season! Guys and Dolls is musical comedy about big city gamblers and the women who love them. It intertwines the tales of high-roller Sky Masterson, who falls for mission worker Sarah Brown, and the charming Nathan Detroit, who has been engaged to Miss Adelaide, a headliner at the Hot Box Club, for 14 years. Nathan is known for running a famous floating crap game, and much of the plot revolves around his search for a safe location for the game while Adelaide persistently tries to convince him to marry her. Meanwhile, Sarah, mistakenly believing that Sky organized an illegal game at the mission, struggles with her growing affection for the charismatic gambler.

Praised by TIME Magazine as “the greatest of all American musicals!” and hailed by The New York Times as “the show that defines Broadway dazzle,” this musical fable of Broadway promises an unforgettable evening at the theatre. Guys and Dolls is rated PG for mild adult humor. Run time is approximately 2 hours 15 mins, which includes an intermission. This is an upbeat musical comedy that everyone can enjoy.