We are so excited to welcome all the Cole School students and families back to school for an amazing year of learning and fun! The teachers and staff have been hard at work preparing the spaces for learning. It's showtime!

All elementary students are automatically assigned a bus. If your child is not taking the bus this year, please email Janet Asnes at janet.asnes@norwellschools.org.

The doorbell system is being updated. Right now, the door will need to be physically opened by office staff for each visitor until the new system is fully installed. Once it is fully installed, we'll let the community know. When visiting Cole School, please ring the doorbell to the right of the doors and windows. Please do not hold the door for visitors behind you until they have been cleared by the office. Thank you for helping to ensure the security of the building.

Would you like to volunteer this year at Cole School? We love having volunteers as room parents, library helpers, and classroom helpers. Please complete the CORI form (good for 2 years) and fingerprinting (good for life in Norwell Schools). Click here for more information on volunteering at Cole School.

Room Parent Volunteers make a big difference in the life of the classroom. They help teachers coordinate celebrations, field day t-shirts, collections/donations for classroom projects and activities, and tokens of appreciation for appreciation days. In addition, you may be called upon to help the PTO with large school community events like the Winter Fair and the Variety Show, or to help round up more volunteers from your child's class to help with the events. We hope to find two parents per classroom to take on these important positions. If you're interested, please fill out the Google Form here by Friday, September 29th.

Will you be picking up your child at dismissal any time this year? If so, please write your child's last name in LARGE and BOLD lettering and place it in the passenger side window. Students must enter the car on the passenger side only. Drivers must not get out of the vehicle for any reason. If you must get out of your car, we ask you to park in the parking lot and have your child dismissed as a walker.

Many thanks to the two outgoing parent representatives on the School Council - Mrs. Crohan and Ms. Garvey. We are so thankful for their time and input over the last two years.

We are now in need of two new Cole School Council Parent Representatives who will join our current parent representatives, Mr. Adam Duffield and Mr. Tyler Martin, to help guide our school as we move forward to implement the goals in the Cole School Improvement Plan. This position holds a 2-year commitment with a monthly meeting from 3:30-4:30pm. Interested parents can learn more about School Councils and their roles in school improvement here.

If you would like to nominate yourself or another Cole School parent, please send Mrs. Burns (eliza.burns@norwellschools.org) the name and a brief bio introducing yourself to the community. This bio will be used for the ballot as these are elected positions. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, September 15th. An election ballot with all nominated parents will be sent home the following week in preparation for the first School Council Meeting on September 27th.

September 4 - Labor Day - No School

September 5 - First Day of School for Grades 1-5

September 5 - Kindergarten Open House

September 6 - Boohoo/Yahoo PTO Meeting 9:00-10:00am

September 15 - PTO Stay and Play (more info coming soon)

September 20 - Early Release Day - all students dismissed at 12:20

September 21 - Grades 1 & 2 Curriculum Night/Open House 5:00-5:45pm

September 21 - Grades 3, 4, & 5 Curriculum Night/Open House 6:15-7:00pm

September 25 - Instrument Rental Night at Vinal School for Gr. 5 Band Students

September 25 - Grade 3 Field Trip

September 25 - Grade 5 Enrichment - Northeast Passage in Gym

September 27 - Norwell CARES Day (more info shared soon)

September 27 - School Council Meeting 3:30-4:30pm Library

Looking Ahead:

October 16 - Picture Day - new school picture vendor this year - Coffee Pond

Hi Cole School Families!

Welcome back to a new school year. This year, we are continuing to expand social-emotional learning with weekly, in-person lessons with me in each grade, in addition to teacher-led classroom lessons. We will be following the Kindness in the Classroom curriculum, please check it out here! Our first unit will be on Respect. I am excited to also have the help of a graduate school counseling intern through December, Alexis Rush. She will be here 3 days a week and will be teaching, counseling, and working with students in groups.

Please reach out with any questions or if your child needs support:

Anne Walsh, LICSW, School Adjustment Counselor anne.walsh@norwellschools.org

Welcome back to a very hot week at school. It looks like everyone has grown over the summer! I just wanted to take a minute to remind folks at home of some of the health protocols we follow here in Norwell.

• The student must remain home until 24 hrs free from vomiting/diarrhea. If a child is sent home from school vomiting they must be out of school the following day.

• Students who have had a fever of 100.0 or higher will be sent home and may not return to school until 24hrs. without the use of antipyretics (i.e Tylenol, Motrin, ect ).

If your child has a communicable disease, please notify me via email or phone call. Some examples on when students may return to school as follows:

• Strep Throat, Scarlet Fever, and Conjunctivitis – 24 hours after the first dose of prescribed medication.

• Hand, foot, and mouth (Coxsackie virus) or Fifth Disease (Erythematous Infectiosum)

• Impetigo - 24 hours after medical treatment has begun, lesions should be covered in school.

• MRSA- Antibiotic treatment (Bactrim) for 24hrs. before returning to school, lesions should be covered.

• COVID: Please contact your school nurse should your child test positive. The latest guidance on the quarantine protocol is day 0 is when symptoms start or you test positive, 5 days of isolation, as long as they are fever free, asymptomatic, or symptoms have improved they may return to school on day 6 or later wearing a mask through day 10. If at any point between day 6 and day 10 they have a negative test result they are no longer required to mask.

Head lice: Remember to check your child’s head frequently for head lice, as they can be common children. If found at school, parents/guardians will be notified and directed to treatment options to occur outside of school.

I want to remind parents of our medication policy in the event that your child requires medication during the school day. 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 that you signed off in on ASPEN)

• 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.

Cole PTO is excited to kick off the year with a STAY & PLAY Friday, 9/15/23!

Stay & Plays are a fun community building event hosted by Cole School PTO. Events vary but 9/15/23 will have music, freezer pops, face painting, temporary tattoos, concessions and more! It is a great way to ease into the weekend and meet more families!

This is NOT a drop off event! Students must be SIGNED UP IN ADVANCE and met by a parent, guardian or designated adult.

Use this link to sign up: https://forms.gle/oJKNzGHa1BkJiJJ4A

• To ensure the safety of students, this form must be completed by THURSDAY 9/14 @ 12pm if you would like your child dismissed directly to Stay & Play.
• If you miss the sign up, feel free to bring your child back to school after their regularly scheduled dismissal from school.
• Please complete 1 form for EACH student. Parents of multiples will need to complete the survey TWICE.

DISMISSAL PROCEDURE DETAILS

• Students who are signed up for Stay & Play dismissal are dismissed from the gym door closest to the MAIN playground.
• Dismissal will occur AFTER the pickup car line has cleared (aprox 3:15pm). The parking lot is BUSY at this time, please arrive early.
• Kindergarten will be dismissed first, followed by Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5. Parents/Designated Adults picking up should look for the correlating sign for each grade.

The Norwell Middle School Spotlighters have been accepted through an audition process to perform at Walt Disney World this December and we are raising money to help offset the cost for these kids. The Silent Auction is a major fundraiser and there are a ton of awesome items that have been donated to this auction.