The CMS StuCo's SnowBall Winter Dance was a frosty Friday of fun!

Thanks to our Student Council members and Advisors Ms. Jewell and Mrs. Ryan for planning and presenting an amazing evening! Also - thank you to all of the parents of generously donated refreshments .

Please enjoy the images from this memorable evening below!

The CDC recommends routine annual influenza vaccination for all persons aged ≥6 months who do not have contraindications. Per the CDC, “it’s important to know that vaccination after October can still provide protection during the peak of flu season.” In addition to flu viruses, other respiratory viruses spread during flu season and can cause symptoms similar to those seen with flu infection. Please keep your child home with fever or concerning symptoms and call the nurse’s office with any medical updates. If they are home sick for an extended period, please provide note to excuse their absence.

Stay Safe!

Nurse Kalberer

You are warmly invited to Cohasset’s upcoming 18th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast.

DATE: Monday, January 16, 2023
TIME: 9 - 11 a.m. (Breakfast served 9-10 a.m. with Program 10-11 a.m.)

PLACE: St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Parish Hall
ADDRESS: 10 Summer St., Cohasset MA 02025
GUEST SPEAKER: Arthur Bembury, Executive Director of ‘Partakers’
PRICE: $5 per person / $15 per family / no one declined for lack of payment

The Cohasset Diversity Committee and the Cohasset Clergy are proud to sponsor the upcoming 18th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast. This year’s honored speaker is Arthur Bembury, Executive Director of ‘Partakers’, an amazing organization that advances the education of men and women in prison, helping to bridge the divide that separates those inside and outside of prison.

In conjunction with the 18th Annual MLK Breakfast, Cohasset’s Paul Pratt Memorial Library is sponsoring a town-wide read of “The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose’ by Chris Wilson, published in 2/5/2019. Copies of this illuminating book are available to borrow, prior or post the MLK Breakfast, to better understand the amazing good works of the ‘Partakers’ organization.

*For further information please contact Connie Afshar at 781 383 6006 or connieafshar@gmail.com

Several parents remarked at this week's Parent Coffee and at Parent Conferences that they aren't confident in their navigation skills in Aspen, our online Student Information System. In order to help parents learn how to find their children's class grades and assignments information, our Technology Integration teacher , Lindsey Kay, has created an easy-to-use interactive Aspen tutorial. It was built specifically for our parents, so we hope you find it useful. The link to find it is: Aspen: How to Check Student Grades

If you need assistance with your username or password, please contact Mrs. Simmons, CMS Admin. Asst. dsimmons@cohassetk12.org

Among the learning experiences CMS students find in our classrooms, perhaps the most memorable are guest speakers. When students can meet someone whose occupation, travel, skills, or other life experiences connect to what they are learning, the curriculum comes alive. Learning becomes authentic and grounded in the real-world.

The CMS community is rich and made up of individuals with diverse experiences. Teachers would love to invite you to meet their classes to share your knowledge. However, it is difficult to know who is willing to become a guest speaker and who had the experiences that would connect to curriculum.

In order to facilitate this, we ask any parents who have experiences and knowledge to share and are willing to be a guest speaker to fill out and submit this form which will be shared with teachers.

The CMS faculty and students thank parents willing to share their experiences as a guest speaker!

Every fall we receive a variety of requests from students and their parents to complete applications and write recommendations for private schools. If you are considering applying to a private school, please follow the guidelines set out below.

1. Please complete a signed consent for us to release information to the schools.

• Your child can pick up a copy of the release form in the School Counselor’s office room 231, or the Main Office.
• Please be sure to include on the release the names of the schools for which your child is applying.
• You can either have your child drop the signed form to Ms. Pearce’s office or email it to her directly at Apearce@cohassetk12.org

2. Please have your child pick up a Middle School Brag Sheet in Ms. Pearce’s classroom to complete and return.

Electronic forms for Ravenna, Gateway to Prep, and SSAT

• If you are choosing to use the electronic forms for schools, please send all Transcript Request Forms and Student Conduct Forms to our School Counselor, Allison Pearce. Apearce@cohassetk12.org

• Please send all Counselor/Principal Recommendation Forms to either our School Counselor, Allison Pearce or our Principal, John Mills. Apearce@cohassetk12.org, JMills@cohassetk12.org
• Please send all Teacher Recommendation Forms to your child’s teacher. Please encourage your child to personally ask the teacher to write a recommendation letter before sending the recommendation form.
• Teachers do their best to write specific thoughtfully written recommendations for students but need ample time to do this. Please adhere to the following deadlines for transcript and recommendation requests.

November 15th for all December 1st deadlines

December 15th for all January 1st deadlines

December 22nd for all January 15th deadlines

January 15th for all February and March deadlines

As always, feel free to contact Ms. Pearce at Apearce@cohassetk12.org with any questions regarding this process.

In the Fall of 2022, Cohasset HS volleyball hit the court for the FIRST TIME!

It's time to kick-off a new fundraising season!! Once again, an additional $20,000 must be privately raised to keep this team playing for a 2nd season. Over the past 2 years, an impressive group of volunteers from this High School community, successfully raised $13,500 at this Boston Volleyball Festival event alone. Again this year, Festival Organizers have approached us to help put courts together and break them down after the tournament, and they have increased our per-court payout; for 20 courts, $6,500 will go to our cause. That's 1/3 of our Season-2 fundraising needs!!

We need 48 volunteers on Wednesday, February 22nd and Sunday, March 5th, willing to commit 3 work hours (6hrs if volunteering both days), getting their hands dirty to help lay court flooring.

For students applying to the National Honor Society, your service hours will be recognized.
Parents bring your students and their siblings or grab some friends. Click on the following sign-up link: https://rebrand.ly/Volleyball2023

Can’t attend? Should you be unable to join us on these dates, but still want to support this exciting endeavor, click on this GoFundMe link. https://rebrand.ly/GoFundCohoVolleyball We appreciate any amount that you can afford.

Questions? Email Laura Soderberg at Laura@Soderberg.ws. Thank you for your support.

Massachusetts General Law Chapter 76 requires that each school notify parents and guardians if their student has five (5) or more unexcused school absences. Parents and guardians will receive a letter when their child has 5, 10, and/or 15+ days of unexcused absences. The letter will also include the number of unexcused tardies and unexcused early dismissals.

Absences will be excused under the following circumstances:

• After a medical appointment documented with a note from the medical office

• Illness or quarantine with a note from the appropriate medical office

• Observance of a religious holiday

• Bereavement or serious illness in family

• Court appearance

• A child may also be excused for other exceptional reasons with approval of the Principal or designee in accordance with the school committee policy and the regulations set in Chapter 76

Daily attendance is essential to a student's success. Missing a significant number of days of school has a detrimental effect on academic and social development. Therefore, each school will work with individual families to support student attendance.

Since July 2014, Safe Harbor Cohasset has been working to promote awareness and implement resources to help make an impact on the substance use in the community. The group has members from across the spectrum in the community, including, but not limited to, Paul Pratt Memorial Library, Cohasset Recreation Department, Cohasset Police Department, Cohasset Public Schools, Second Congregational Church, town leaders, health professionals, parents, youth, fire personnel, and concerned citizens. In September 2017, Safe Harbor was awarded a federal Drug- Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grant, which focuses on preventing substance use among youth ages 12-17.

Since then, the group has worked to foster a strong and inclusive community that allows youth to strive and encourages healthy, educated and responsible choices about drug and alcohol use. The mission is supported by evidenced based, prevention focused, sustainable policies and youth- focused programs, such as Ground Level Café and the Safe Harbor Youth Ambassador Program. To learn more, and to find resources for both parents and teens, visit the Safe Harbor website at safeharborcohasset.org. Keep up to date on the latest news and trends by following Safe Harbor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/safeharborcohasset, on Twitter @cohsafeharbor, and on Instagram @safeharborcohasset.

Oftentimes when dealing with personal or family issues, we feel overwhelmed because we lack experience and expertise with handling these issues. We want to be sure our families know that they are not alone--there are many resources on the South Shore that can help.

Community Resources

Wellspring Multi Service

Website: wellspringmultiservice.org

Address: 814 Nantasket Ave Hull, MA 02045

Phone: 781-925-3211

Contact: Jenny Gerbis, Community Outreach, ext. 127, jenny@wellspringmultiservice.org

Baystate Community Services

Website: baystatecs.org

Address: 1120 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA 02169

Phone: 617-471-8400

Email: info@baystatecs.org

Cohasset Food Pantry

Address: 129 So. Main Street, Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-383-0219 ext. 25

Cohasset Rotary Club

Website: cohassetrotary.org

Email: cohassetrotaryclub@gmail.com or pwmcohassetrotary@gmail.com

Interfaith Social Services

Website: interfaithsocialservices.org

Address: 105 Adams Street, Quincy MA 02169

Phone: 617-773-6203

Email: info@interfaithsocialservices.org

Safe Harbor Coalition Cohasset

Website: safeharborcohasset.org

Address: 35 Ripley Road, Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-783-5293

Contact: Nicole Balaschi, Program Director,

Email: safeharborcohasset@gmail.com

Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

These are certainly difficult times and many parents and families are experiencing great stress. Our ability to cope is regularly challenged and, understandably, there may be times when individuals can no longer manage their emotions. It is important to know where to turn when we reach that point.

To help our families, we share this contact list of support providers--Mental Health and Crisis Contacts These support providers offer great opportunities to help receive help when those we love are struggling to manage.

The CMS administration and faculty communicate with our families using many digital and traditional means. Our weekly newsletter, the CMS Tide, will be sent to families and students every weekend. It is also posted on our school website and shared via Twitter (@comsprincipal).

We call it the CMS Tide because just like we find when we walk along the beach, the tide brings to us treasures from the deep. It helps us picture what is going on just beyond where we stand. The CMS Tide supplies news, images, stories about life at CMS to our families each week,

We hope you enjoy each issue this year!

The Cohasset Middle School is a grade 6-8 school dedicated to the development of the whole child. We are an inclusive, supportive, and safe learning environment committed to excellence and growth. Our community values experiential, collaborative, active learning that is rigorous and relevant, and fosters creative, responsible contributors to a global society.

Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/Domain/9
Location: 143 Pond Street, Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781.383.6100
Twitter: @comsprincipal