Staffing for the 2025-2026 School Year

I am sharing the staffing plans for the 2025-2026 school year as I know them right now. You will notice that we will no longer have a librarian in the library. Mrs. Rantz will be teaching her technology lessons in the library space. We will also only have one reading specialist rather than two. We will have five sections of 2nd grade but only three sections of 3rd grade.

Please join me in thanking Ms. Ready for her years of service to Cole School and wish her all the best as she moves to Norwell High School's library. Also, please join me in extending gratitude and appreciation to both Ms. Clark, reading specialist, and Mrs. Rinkus, grade 4 teacher, whose positions have been cut or lost due to contractual "bumping."

Please join me in welcoming Ms. Jolie O'Neil to Cole School as the speech and language therapist that will fill Mrs. MacDonald's retirement. Ms. O'Neil currently works at the Norwell Middle School and the Norwell High School as the Speech and Language Therapist.

Also, please join me in welcoming Ms. Elizabeth (Liz) Fitzgerald to Cole School as a grade 4 teacher. Ms. Fitzgerald has many years of K-12 teaching experience and has worked as the French teacher at Norwell High School for the last four years. She holds an elementary teaching license and has taught in Milton and Duxbury.

Many thanks to both Mr. Tarr and Mrs. Fitzpatrick for taking on longer substitute roles this year. They both did excellent work for the Cole School community.

Please join me in wishing Mr. Bob Thayer all the best as he finishes out this school year. He is retiring after working as the Cole School custodian for the last 28 years. Thank you, Mr. Bob, for keeping us shining brightly!

We celebrated this week's Magnificent Meerkats this morning! They were nominated for being a good friend, helping a friend in need, being a health room hero, volunteering to read in a sibling's class, and working to develop skills that have been challenging. Way to go, Magnificent Meerkats!

Grades K-2 continued their throwing, catching and batting unit. Grades 3-5 continued their post fitness testing with either the mile run or crunches and push ups.

Third graders had a fitness field trip that included a hike through Norris Reservation and play time at Gaffield Park as a reward for successful completion of the “Let’s Move Fitness and Nutrition Program.” The goals of the program were to encourage physical activity and making healthy eating choices.

Second graders also had a fitness field trip with a hike along the Norwell Pathway to the Clipper Community Complex as a reward for successful completion of the “Healthy Snack and Fitness Program.” The goals of the program were to encourage students to eat healthy snacks at school and to be physically active. Besides enjoying a walk in the woods, both fitness field trips provided the opportunity to experience some of the gems located in Norwell.

We're going to be learning about Thinking Interdependently and Thinking and Communicating with Precision and Clarity as the next two Habits of Mind. You can see more about the habits on Habits of Mind Institute website and here.

Thinking Interdependently is collaborating with a sense of purpose and mission. It is the ability to speak up, contribute to the discussion, and to advocate for a particular position or plan. It is also knowing when it is time to take your own plan off the table if it doesn’t seem to fit where the group is going. As we collaborate and cooperate — not just finding a solution but discovering many different ways to approach problems — the power of our thinking is increased exponentially by the dynamic interchanges between ourselves and others in the group. They contribute to a common goal, seek collegiality, and draw on the resources of others. We become more than the sum of our individual contributions and talents.

As a family, we adjust to moving from I to we. Working together with your family is more than cooperation. It requires your ability to express your ideas and allow yourself to be open to the ideas of others. Here are some tips to develop thinking interdependently with your family members.

• Clarify the values, goals, hopes, and dreams you have for yourselves individually and as a family.
• Create conditions where everyone in the family is encouraged to have a voice when thinking interdependently about a topic that matters to all. Protect a child from interruptions by an older sibling or distracted by phone notifications or multi-tasking.
• Listen attentively to each family member and ask clarifying questions to better understand perspectives and seek consensus, as appropriate.
• Find opportunities to plan for family events collaboratively focusing on organizing, problem-solving, and preparing for the event.
• Be okay with disagreements. Conflict about ideas, plans, and points of view can be healthy and productive. They can be opportunities to learn, modify thinking, and generate new ideas.
• earn how to give up on your idea when it is not working and engage with the ideas of others.

Thinking and Communicating with Precision and Clarity

The need for communicating with clarity and precision is more important than ever in our current social climate. We want to give our children access to words they need to express their ideas and feelings. As a society, too often our children are exposed to vague and general terms that interfere with clear and precise communication. They also may hear labels that are hateful or stereotypical. We often use shortcuts such as abbreviations or emojis that don’t push us to describe our thinking.

Language and thinking are closely entwined. Like either side of a coin, they are inseparable. Your words represent your mind. When you use fuzzy language, it is a reflection of fuzzy thinking. As you strive to communicate more precisely and accurately, you become a better messenger of your ideas. Instead of using overgeneralizations such as “everybody does it,” you support statements with explanations, comparisons, quantification, data, and evidence.

So how can you work with your child to become more skillful in thinking and communicating with clarity and precision?

A few strategies include:

• Keep explanations brief and to the point. Learn how to speak directly to the point. Too many words and over-explaining can distract rather than help your child stay focused.
• Be a role model. Refrain from using jargon and inappropriate language. Use words that describe, appreciate, and extend your child’s vocabulary to express feelings.
• Avoid words that fail to convey the specifics that a particular situation calls for. For example:
  • Universals such as “always,” “never,” or “everybody.”
  • Vague action verbs such as “behave,” “settle down,” or “be nice.”
  • Comparators such as “better,” “more,” or “newer.”
  • Unreferenced pronouns such as “they,” “them,” or “we.”
  • Unspecified groups such as “teenagers,” “parents,” or “teachers.” This may lead to sweeping generalizations.
  • Assumed roles or traditions such as “ought,” “should, or “must.”

June

June 2 - Grade 1 Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

June 2 - Kindergarten Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

June 2 - Connections Meeting

June 3 - Kindergarten Habitat Day (2 classes)

June 4 - Kindergarten Habitat Day (2 classes)

June 5 - Grade 2 Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

June 5 - Grade 4 "High Seas" Play 2:15pm

June 6 - Field Day - Fingerprint and CORI required for all volunteers

June 9 - Screening for incoming kindergarten students in the library

June 9 - Delilah the Whale Kindergarten enrichment (Thank you, PTO!)

June 9 - Grade 4 Biography Fair

June 9 - Grade 5 Band Concert 2:30pm

June 11 - Grade 5 Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

June 12 - Grade 4 Tent Day

June 12 - Fifth Grade Celebration 6-8 pm - Grade 5 parents and grade 5 students ONLY

June 13 - PTO Stay and Play

June 16 - Grade 5 Move Up Day to NMS

June 17 - Move Up Day for Grades K-4

June 17 - Last Day of School