Cole Miners' Dig

The Cole School staff and community would like to extend a huge thank you to our amazing PTO! Last week was a very busy week for them with Soup Day on Thursday for the staff on conference day followed by the first ever Monster Mash on Friday! Then, this past Tuesday, PTO volunteers cleaned up the butterfly garden, a Herculean effort, for sure! Meanwhile plans are underway for the Winter Fair coming up on December 6th, all while booking lots of field trips and enrichment for the students. Thank you for taking such good care of the Cole School community!

Mrs. Benner has been leading Bus Meetings for each bus this week. She has been reminding students of expected behaviors and the consequences for unexpected behaviors (seat assignment, call to parents, removal from bus). Please encourage your child to sit on their bottoms, face forward, talk quietly and kindly to their neighbors.

Picture retakes are taking place on Tuesday, November 4. Be sure to send the unwanted picture package back to school with your child if you would like a picture retake. Preschool pictures will also be taken on this day.

We celebrated World Occupational Therapy Appreciation Day and Physical Therapist Appreciation Day on Monday of this week. Ms. Dearborn and Mrs. Egan supports students in the areas of OT and PT, consult with teachers, and are valuable members of our school community. Thank you to both Ms. Dearborn and Mrs. Egan! We appreciate all they bring to Cole School!

Next week, we'll be celebrating School Psychology Week and School Psychologist Appreciation Day on Monday, November 3rd. Our school psychologist, Dr. Leah Ciolkosz, evaluates students, consults with teachers and administrators, runs social-emotional skills groups, and so much more! Please join us in thanking Dr. Ciolkosz for all that she brings to the Cole School community. If your child sees her regularly, it would be a great idea for them to make her a card.

Cole School will be holding a Food Drive to benefit the Norwell Food Pantry from November 3-November 14. The priority items are listed below. Items should be non-perishable, not past expiration dates, and unopened. All donated items can be dropped off in the main lobby at Cole School. We'd love one or two parent volunteers to help us get the items to the Food Pantry on Friday of each week of the drive. Please reach out to Mrs. Burns if you're able to help.

The group of Magnificent Meerkats was so big this week, we moved the picture to the cafeteria! The nominations included great reasons like:

• He tries hard to be a role model in the class. He is kind and respectful to others. He listens carefully and follows directions. He participates often. His school work and homework show nice effort. He is standing out as someone who is working hard and trying their best!
• She is consistently a kind, helpful, and responsible student. She is an all-around wonderful person who tries her best and is excited about learning! She models these positive traits for her classmates daily.
• He exemplifies what it means to be a Magnificent Meerkat! He always strives to do his best and is a kind and friendly student!
• She never hesitates to jump in and lend a hand. She helps anyone and everyone with anything they need. We appreciate her ability to look out for others and spread kindness and positivity in our classroom!

November:

November 2 - Daylight Savings Time

November 3 - Gr. 3 Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

November 3 - Kindergarten Field Trip (Thank you, PTO!)

November 3 - School Psychology Week and School Psychologist Appreciation Day

November 4 - Picture Retake Day

November 5 - PTO Meeting 7pm

November 7 - PTO PJ Day and Music Played During Lunches for reaching 50% dues paid

November 10 - Community Meeting

November 10 - Gr. 3 Enrichment Wampanoag Visitor from Plimoth Patuxet Visits Cole School (Thank you, PTO!)

November 11 - No School

November 12 - School Council Meeting 3:30pm

November 14 - National School Superintendent Appreciation Day

November 17 - Gr. 3 Enrichment Colonial Visitor from Plimoth Patuxet Visits Cole School (Thank you, PTO!)

November 17 - Kindergarten Enrichment Puppet Show (Thank you, PTO!)

November 17 - Connections Meeting - Habit of Mind - Listening with Understanding and Empathy

Looking Ahead:

Happy Halloween Cole Families - it has been a festive week here at Cole School! Last week, teachers started our bullying prevention program in the classroom and lessons continued this week. Some of our NTSS groups started this week as well. If your child received a permission slip about participating in a NTSS small group, please sign those and return them as soon as you can. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at anna.mullen@norwellschools.org

K-2 practiced their throwing and catching in a game of Guard the Pin. Second graders also played a spooky game of Zombie Tag! Grades 3-5 completed their fitness testing with crunches and push ups and finished up with a game of Blob Tag.

All sign up links can all be found on the PTO website.

We are excited to announce that Grace Farrar Cole Elementary School PTO has been selected again as a nonprofit partner in the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program.

This time, your organization will receive $1 for each $2.50 reusable Community Bag sold during the month of December 2025 at 468 Washington Street, Norwell MA.

Winter Festival (Formally known as Winter Fair) planning is underway!

Want to play a bigger role in the fun? Join the Winter Festival Crew!
This year’s Cole School Winter Festival (Sat. 12/6) is getting a frosty fresh facelift — and we need your help to make it amazing! From planning games and raffles to decorating, organizing, or keeping things running smoothly, there’s a role for everyone.

Our kickoff meeting is Wednesday, 11/6 @ 7pm (Location TBD) — sign up below to get involved and help make this year’s event the coolest one yet!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040B45A8AE2FAB9-59938029-winter#/

Join us for a parents night out (21+) on Thursday, Nov. 20th at Tinker’s Son from 7-10pm to rock out with the Road Soda Band — the Norwell band with dads from both the Vinal and Cole school. Proceeds will benefit both the Vinal and Cole PTOs. Cheers!

Click HERE for Tickets