This Newsletter updates on all matters connected to Cohasset Public Schools. This letter is sent as part of a District initiative focusing on communication.

During this past Monday's Cohasset School Committee Meeting, the Cohasset School Committee determined that the 2022 - 2023 School Year will begin after Labor Day for students. Teachers will engage in professional development on the Wednesday and Thursday before Labor Day (with Friday being a day off), and students will return to school on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 (Kindergarten will begin on September 7).

The Cohasset School Committee also decided, by vote, that, moving forward, a pre or post Labor Day school start for students will be determined by how early Labor Day falls within the school year. We are looking at the following draft language, and we will confirm this information to the school community, after consultation with the Cohasset Teachers Association (CTA) and finalized approval by the Cohasset School Committee at the next meeting:

“For the 2022-2023 school year, teachers will begin their work year on the Wednesday and Thursday before Labor Day with the Friday before Labor Day as a no school day for students and staff. The first day of school for students for 2022-2023 school year will be September 6th. In subsequent years, if Labor Day falls on September 3rd or earlier, the teachers' work year will start on the Wednesday and Thursday before Labor Day with the Friday before Labor Day as a no school day for students and staff and the first day of school for students taking place on the Tuesday following Labor Day. If Labor Day falls on September 4th or later, the teachers' work year will start on the Monday and Tuesday before Labor Day with the first two days of school for students taking place on Wednesday and Thursday before Labor Day and the Friday before Labor Day as a no school day for students and staff. Teachers work year will terminate no later than June 30. Input from the Association will be considered in developing the School Calendar.”

The full 2022 - 2023 School Year Calendar will be presented at the April 13 School Committee Meeting for vote and approval. Thank you to everyone who engaged in the important discussion during Monday's meeting.

This past Tuesday and Wednesday, our music department led two wonderful concerts showcasing our talented choral and band students in grades 4 - 12. Thank you to our tremendous music department and to all the student musicians...you were wonderful! We are proud of our music program. Here are some images of the events and a video produced by Principal Mills for the middle school, which shows some of the performances.

PUBLIC HEARING

ON

FISCAL YEAR 2023 SCHOOL BUDGET

A public hearing has been scheduled on March 30, 2022 at 5:30 pm. The hearing will be a held in the Learning Commons at the Cohasset Middle & High School, and via Zoom Video Call. The purpose of this meeting is to invite public comment as the law requires, on the School Committee’s deliberation on and certification of the proposed Fiscal Year 2023 School Budget.

We are thrilled to announce that Cohasset Finance and Operations Department will be launching a new tab on our district website.

Our goal is to make our website easy to navigate for Cohasset families as well as staff. Some of the great new features of this site will include:

For Cohasset Families:

· Transportation information

· Bus routes

· Fees and Payments

For Cohasset Employees:

· Benefit information

· Updated Employee Forms

· Aspen Training Videos

· Aesop Training

· Employee Forward

For all questions about PO’s, ordering, vendor payments, and tuition reimbursement, etc., please reach out to:

Karen Crowell

Accounting Specialist,

kcrowell@cohassetk12.org or extension 2307

For all questions about salary, payroll, retirement, extra duty pay, deductions, etc., please reach out to:

Jeri Ballard

Bookkeeper

jballard@cohassetk12.org or extension 2306.

"Earlier this month, students in grade 6 finished their reading of the autobiography The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. The novel tells the story of William Kamkwamba, who faced severe drought and famine. William was forced to drop out of school at age 14 because his family could not afford the school fees. William’s determination to help his family and his village inspired him to learn how to build a windmill out of scraps he found in the junkyard.

After learning about the struggles that so many in Malawi face, the grade six students have decided to raise money to help prevent issues surrounding lack of food, resources, health care, and access to education. Our students have chosen to support William’s nonprofit, Building Windmills, which is currently collecting donations to help build an innovation center. This center aims to mentor students and provide young innovators with solutions to prevent issues such as drought and famine.

Our campaign will take place Wednesday, March 3 through Monday, March 21. Students in grade 6 are inviting the CMS community to help us in collecting loose change to “change the world.” A small amount can go a long way if we work together. If you are interested in donating your spare change, a table will be set up at the middle school entrance.

Thank you for your help in supporting our fundraising!" - Principal Mills from the CMS Newsletter

Community Health Information:

As of March 17, 2022, the Department of Public Health (DPH) reports that the town of Cohasset’s positive COVID-19 test rate over the past 14 days is 3.24% with 340 tests reported. The town of Cohasset has 11 positive cases reported over the past two weeks. Currently, 95% of eligible Cohasset residents are fully vaccinated with 13% of eligible residents partially vaccinated. Here is the complete report issued on March 17, 2022.

Here is the Confirmed Positive COVID Cases Weekly Update Spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is also found on the district website under COVID-19 Information.

Vaccination Attestation:

Please remember that as your child becomes fully vaccinated to please contact your child’s school nurse.

Proof of your child’s vaccination, submitted to your child’s school nurse, can be provided in one of the following ways:

• A signed self-attestation completed by a parent / legal guardian of the child indicating the brand of vaccine; or
• Documentation provided to the individual by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health or a health care provider. Documentation may include but is not limited to a COVID-19 vaccination record card or a copy or digital picture of the vaccination record card, or a print-out from the Massachusetts Immunization Information System (MIIS).

Thank you for your understanding and for your assistance.

PLEASE NOTE: We have now officially transitioned our practices from Test and Stay to At Home Testing. In conjunction with DESE requirements for being a part of the At Home Testing Program, we are no longer contact tracing within the schools.

Symptomatic Testing: The same consent previously signed for Test and Stay covers Symptomatic Testing, which will be able to be implemented by our nursing staff, now that we are implementing At Home Testing.

Parents and guardians who wish to have their children participate in the Cohasset School District Covid-19 testing, thus being eligible for Symptomatic Testing, must click on the link provided (if you did not do so previously for test and stay) and complete the consent forms.

We will continue to engage students and staff in the meaningful discussions necessary to promote change. We are committed to promoting anti-racism and cultural responsive teaching and learning.

I was proud to meet last week with other Superintendents and METCO Directors, including our own METCO Director, Aleisa Gittens-Carle, at Gillette Stadium. Topics included examining the growth of METCO Districts, recruiting and retaining a diverse staff, and ensuring we are progressing towards creating "Communities of Belonging."

Cohasset Public Schools is a proud METCO District. Please see the METCO Web-page for additional diversity resources.

February 2022

Dear Cohasset Community Members:

We write to introduce ourselves as the members of the recently reconstituted Cohasset School Facilities Committee (the “SFC”). The SFC was formed pursuant to §3-56 of the town bylaws to investigate and study the condition and adequacy of the Cohasset Public School facilities and to advance the goals of the Cohasset School Committee relative to the addition, renovation, and/or construction of school facilities in the district. The full committee charge was drafted and approved by the Select Board and School Committee and can be viewed on the SFC website. The SFC is comprised of nine members in total, and applications were solicited and considered from September 2020 – August 2021. Three committee members were appointed by the School Committee, three by the Select Board, and three by the town moderator, pursuant to the town bylaws. We have backgrounds in education, project management, engineering, construction, public finance, and law. The SFC first convened on August 19, 2021, and currently meets once a month, typically (but not always) the last Tuesday of each month at 7PM. Meeting information is posted on the town website, and the meetings are open to members of the public.

Since we first convened in August, we have organized the committee, electing Jason Earls as the Chairperson, Dr. Paul Schubert as Vice Chairperson, and Nan Roth as the Clerk. In addition, we have preliminarily evaluated the current state of our school facilities and have started to compare those initial findings with current standards and facilities in surrounding and nearby school districts. To further evaluate the conditions and opportunities for improvement at our schools, the SFC recently evaluated bids from several qualified consultants, and selected Ai3 Architects, a leading educational design firm, to conduct an existing conditions study for all three of our school buildings. This study, which is currently being conducted by Ai3, will identify specific opportunities for improvement and/or deficiencies within our school facilities and is the first step towards the development of a long-term plan to ensure that our school facilities meet the needs of our students, teachers, and community in accordance with the goals identified by the Select Board and School Committee. The SFC is particularly focused on the Middle/High School, which was built in 1950 and renovated in 2003, and is in need of many significant updates. Based on the findings of the existing conditions study, we expect to submit a Statement of Interest (“SOI”) regarding the Middle/High School to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”). The MSBA is a quasi-independent government authority that funds capital improvement projects in the Commonwealth’s public schools and works with local communities to create affordable, sustainable, and energy efficient schools across Massachusetts. The SOI is a document that identifies deficiencies in a district’s school facilities; it is the first (very preliminary) step in working with the MBSA to seek funding for school improvements. The MBSA only accepts SOIs for a limited time period each year, so our goal is to prepare an analysis of our school’s current conditions before the end of April 2022, when this year’s submission period closes.

The SFC is mindful of the fact that any major project concerning the schools is a community decision that will take years to properly evaluate, prepare for, and undertake. We are at the very beginning stages of evaluating the opportunities for improvement in our school facilities, and as the process develops further, there will be many more updates like this one, open communication, public meetings and information sessions, before, ultimately, any vote at a town meeting that would be required for any major decisions such as a renovation or construction. We welcome and value your input. It will be critical for the entire community to be well-informed and have an opportunity to be a part of the discussion and important decisions.

Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that the Town of Cohasset has a premier school district that is reflective of the unique needs, priorities, and values of our entire community. We are excited by the prospects of this undertaking and look forward to community-wide discourse and participation as we move forward.

Respectfully,

Your School Facilities Committee:

Mr. Jason Earls, Chairperson

jearls@cohassetk12.org

Dr. Paul Schubert, Vice Chairperson

pschubert@cohassetma.org

Nan Roth, Clerk

nroth@cohassetma.org

Kathleen Burns, Member

kburns@cohassetma.org

Paul Kearney, Member

pkearney@cohassetk12.org

Jennifer Lesky, Member

jlesky@cohassetk12.org

Craig MacLellan, Member

cmaclellan@cohassetk12.org

Martin Nee, Member

mnee@cohassetma.org

Douglas Schultz, Member

dschultz@cohassetma.org

All students are required to attend school for 180 days. As of today, the new last day of school (half day) for the 2021 -2022 school year is Thursday, June 30, 2022. Please see below for an updated school calendar.

CPS is pleased to continue its partnership with the Cohasset Recreation Department by providing before and after school care for our elementary students. We have an amazing staff that provides wonderful opportunities for our students through the RISE program. Please see this link for more information.

The CMS/CHS department chairs along with the building principals participated in a Learning Walk at CMS on March 10th. The CPS Learning Walk Protocol was used and department chairs used the the established Look Fors of Learning Environment and Student Engagement. CPS leadership has made Learning Walks a part of our practice since 2019. The purpose of a Learning Walk is to improve the teaching and learning by having specific Look Fors to look for trends and patterns in teaching and learning across the district and in individual buildings.

Thursday, March 17 afternoon CPS staff participated in Building-Based professional development. Friday, March 18 keynote speaker, Raymond Porch, the Director of Equity and Inclusion for the Burlington Public Schools facilitated a workshop on "Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices". During the afternoon building principals led their staff in a Ghost Walk which is a type of Learning Walk (LW) that is done when there are no students in the building. Staff walked around the classrooms and building with a lens equity and inclusion using the Districts LW Look For's about the environment. The goal was to survey our spaces to identify ways to ensure that all spaces are inclusive and make students, staff and families feel welcome.

A few updates from the Director of Student Services:

• Our parent surveys connected to IEPs continue to come in. We appreciate your feedback, both the positive comments and the areas in which we need to improve. Keep them coming!

• We had an independent evaluation of our social emotional programming for students. We received commendations on our growth since 2018, our use of specific tools to measure student status and need, our developing MTSS system, our guidance and counselor staffing, and our addition of a social worker. Ongoing development will continue in differentiating instruction and accommodations.

• Julie Evans from DESE conducted on site building tours for our Tiered Focused Monitoring. All districts participate in this process every three years. It is a six year cycle, with Years 1-3 considered Group A and Years 4-6 considered Group B. We are currently in Year 5 this year. A report will come out in 60 days.

• As part of the process, we updated the Student Family Handbook. Please refer to pages 44-48 in the handbook on our website.

During the week of February 28, 2022 the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Cohasset Public Schools. The Office of Public School Monitoring reviews each district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special education and civil rights regulations. Areas of review related to special education include student assessments, determination of eligibility, the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Team process, and IEP development and implementation. Areas of review related to civil rights include bullying, student discipline, physical restraint, and equal access to school programs for all students.

Parent outreach is an important part of the review process. Prior to the review, the chairperson from the Office of Public School Monitoring will send an online survey to all parents of students with disabilities receiving services. The survey focuses on key areas of their child’s special education program. Survey results will contribute to the activities of the onsite review and the development of the final report.

During the onsite review, the Office of Public School Monitoring will interview the chairperson(s) of the district’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). Other onsite activities may include interviews of district staff and administrators, reviews of student records, and onsite observations. After the conclusion of the review, the public will be able to access the report at http://www.doe.mass.edu/psm/tfm/reports.

Parents and other individuals may call Julie Evans, Public School Monitoring Chairperson, at (781) 338- 3754 to request additional information, or contact the district coordinators Dr. Leslie Scollins at (781) 383-4210 or Mrs. Barbara Cerwonka at (781) 383-6104.

To Parents/Guardians of Cohasset Public Schools :

The Cohasset Public Schools believes in providing the highest quality of education for our students. This letter is to provide you with information about a three-tiered instructional approach we use to meet this goal, referred to as Multi Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).

For MTSS, all students will participate in the core curriculum, with three levels (tiers) of interventions for students who demonstrate at-risk skills in general academics or behavior/social emotional areas. Each tier provides additional support beyond the core curriculum. All students receive formal and informal checks to measure their progress to determine if they are performing at an expected level. Behavioral and social emotional impacts are also monitored on a regular basis through the year.

• Tier One- Teachers will use different strategies as universal supports within the core curriculum to address all student educational needs.

• Tier Two- Based on progress data, students who require more support than Tier One will be provided targeted interventions matched to their needs within the general classroom by the classroom teacher and/or support staff in the classroom. The Tiered Support Team will track the student’s progress, and parents/guardians will receive ongoing progress data.

• Tier Three- Students who continue to require measures beyond Tier Two will receive more intensive interventions at this level. Parents/guardians will receive ongoing progress data. After Tier Three implementation, students who continue to display limited progress may then be considered for further evaluation and services.

Our schools are excited to take part in this process to improve educational outcomes for all students. As always, do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or myself if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Barbara Cerwonka, Director of Student Services

Office of Student Services

143 Pond Street, Cohasset, MA 02025-1999

Telephone 781-383-6104

bcerwonka@cohassetk12.org

Guiding Good Choices

Mondays, March 7-March 28, 2022

10AM-12PM (4-6PM on 21st)

Information&Registration

Hey Kiddo Author Event: Jarrett Krosoczka

March 30, 2022

6-8PM

Gates Middle School Dining Hall

Join us for a live reading of the award-winning graphic novel for young teens. "Hey, Kiddo" is a memoir of Jarrett's childhood growing up in Worcester, Massachusetts and his relationship with his mother who was living with opioid addiction. While some themes are challenging, "Hey, Kiddo" is a story of hope and resilience; and about how grandparents, teachers, and art can help a child make it.

Doors open at 6:00pm for free pizza, refreshments and art activities! Live reading begins at 6:30pm.

Families play an important role in helping to create a culture that prioritizes health and safety. Families should check their children daily for signs of COVID-19 and should keep them home from school if they are not feeling well or if they have been in close contact with a person who has been recently diagnosed with COVID-19. It is also important that families support students wearing masks in school and on the bus. We are strongest when we work together to stop the spread (Initial Fall School Re-entry Guidance, 2020).

CPS Pledge: Healthy and Responsible Behaviors Regarding COVID-19

By coming into Cohasset Public Schools, I pledge I am following:

• State expectations for social and physical distancing

• Regulations regarding the wearing of facial coverings

• Quarantine directives put forth by the Massachusetts Department of Health and the Cohasset Department of Health

• Guidance that has students and staff stay home from school / work if they are experiencing symptoms of fever, fatigue, difficulty breathing, or dry cough or if they have exhibited any symptoms relating to COVID-19

“Nine Things Every Parent with an Anxious Child Should Try”

There are many stressors to our day-to-day lives; however, there are many resources available. The District Website has a page dedicated to Social Emotional Learning and Wellness. Please remember that our schools are a resource, and that our counselors, school psychologists, and social workers can support you and your child.

Thank you to all of our counselors for their caring and selfless work throughout the District!

Osgood: Dave Vinton dvinton@cohassetk12.org (adjistment counselor)

Deer Hill: Robyn Costa rcosta@cohassetk12.org

Deer Hill and Osgood: Laurie Dolan ldolan@cohassetk12.org (adjustment counselor)

Robyn Costa rcosta@cohassetk12.org (adjustment counselor)

Alyson Doyle adoyle@cohassetk12.org (school psychologist, Osgood and Deer Hill)

CMS: Emily Manewal emanewal@cohassetk12.org

Allison Pearce apearce@cohassetk12.org

CHS: Laura Struzziery lstruzziery@cohassetk12.org (lead counselor)

Leanne McCarthy lmccarthy@cohassetk12.org (high school adjustment counselor)

Kevin McGowan kmcgowan@cohassetk12.org (high school counselor)

Allison Battista abattista@cohassetk12.org (high school counselor)

Catlin Stromberg cstromberg@cohassetk12.org (school psychologist)

Robert Collins rcollins@cohassetk12.org (middle and high school social worker)

Stephanie Gertz sgertz@cohassetk12.org (ESP: BRYT Program...Middle and High School)

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if we can do anything to help your student or your family during this difficult time. Most important is the physical and mental health of everyone, and we will stay focused on making that a priority. Please take good care.

Email: psullivan@cohassetk12.org
Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/
Phone: 781 383 6111
Twitter: @SuperCohasset