The CMS Tide Weekly Newsletter
February 10, 2023
Dear CMS Families:
Every year, each public school and school district in Massachusetts receives a report card. Just as your child’s report card shows how they are doing in different subjects; the school’s report card is designed to show families how our school is doing in different areas. A link to our school’s report card is available at Cohasset Middle School 2022 School Report Card.
The report card includes multiple measures of a school’s performance – more than just MCAS scores. It represents a new way of looking at school performance, by providing information on student achievement, teacher qualifications, student learning opportunities, and more.
Report cards are designed to be useful tools for everyone connected to our school. Families can use the information to have meaningful conversations with us about what the school is doing well and where there is room for improvement. Community and education leaders can use the information to better understand how to support students and our school.
We encourage you to become involved in helping us improve our school. We see parents as critical partners in the success of our students and school, and we are grateful for your continued support.
If you have questions about our school’s report card or would like to become involved in school improvement activities, please contact Principal John Mills at jmills@cohassetk12.org. To see our district’s report card or to search for other schools’ report cards, visit reportcards.doe.mass.edu.
Sincerely,
John P. Mills
Principal
Coping with Traumatic Events
Coping with the aftermath of a traumatic event, disaster or crisis can be difficult for middle school students. Older children and teens might ask more questions. According to healthychildren.org, “they may ask for and benefit more from additional information. But no matter what age your child is, it's best to keep the dialogue straightforward and direct.”
The following signs may indicate that a child is having difficulty adjusting:
- Sleep problems: Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, difficulty waking, or nightmares
- Physical complaints: Fatigue, headache, nausea, or generally feeling unwell.
- Changes in behavior: Changes in eating habits, behavior or social regression
- Emotional problems: Increased sadness, depression, anxiety or fears.
If you think your child might benefit from extra support, please inform your child's pediatrician or a mental health professional or counselor. Our school Adjustment Counselors are also available if needed, and students are welcome to stop by my office if they have any concerns during the day.
David Schonfeld, MD. “How to Talk With Kids About Tragedies & Other Traumatic News Events.”
Healthychildren.org, 9 June 2022, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Talking-To-Children-About-Tragedies-and-Other-News-Events.aspx.
Aspen Help for Parents
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
Sharing Valuable Life Experiences
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!
Private School Application Process at CMS
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.
Excessive Student Absence Notification Process
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.
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!
Cohasset Middle School
Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/Domain/9
Location: 143 Pond Street, Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781.383.6100
Twitter: @comsprincipal
