Welcome back from February vacation week! This week marked the beginning of an eight week block of learning before April vacation week. It's a time of great growth for our students as they work towards mastery of grade level standards.

Many thanks to the PTO for bringing the Geography Show to 4th grade. This enrichment reinforced their learning on the US states and regions. 3rd grade did a wonderful job hosting this month's Community Meeting on Monday and focused on the SEL theme of responsibility. 5th grade performed the play "The Adventures of Lewis and Clark" for the school community during the day and for their families last night. They did a fantastic job! It's really been wonderful to witness our students learning and growth through these engaging activities!

The winter screener results are now available on Aspen. Please see the email for directions to access the screener results.

Kindergarten registration for the 2025-2026 school year is open! Please reach out to neighbors and friends who have children that turn 5 years old on or before September 1, 2025 to let them know that they can register on the Norwell Schools website. Emails were already sent directly to families that were on the most recent Census collection.

We are looking for any donations of basketballs, soccer balls, playground balls, tennis balls, scoop ball, Koosh ball, hula hoops, and snow fort molds for recess (either new or used). Also, if you have any card games at home that aren't being used, we'd love to have them for use during recess. The students love Uno, Memory, Spot It, Go Fish, Old Maid, Moose Match Mayhem, and Taco/Cat/Goat/Cheese/Pizza. Donations can be brought to the office. Thank you for your help as we look to provide new and different options for outdoor and indoor recess.

Please take a moment to complete the anonymous Bilingualism and Multilingualism survey below if your family speaks one or more languages on a daily basis at home. We are hoping to learn more about the number of families that speak another language so that we can celebrate that aspect of our Cole School community.

This week's Magnificent Meerkats include students that shine brightly and consistently show kind and helpful behaviors. Many of them were nominated because they are role models for others in the classrooms and at Cole School. We are super proud of these students! Way to go, Meerkats!! Also, our very own Mr. Tarr was nominated for "teaching his students a lot and helping them when they need help." What a great group of Meerkats!

I hope you had a wonderful, restful break and a great return to school. This week, we started our Responsibility unit in SEL time. Grades K & 1 heard I Just Forgot by Mercer Mayer and talked about things they can be responsible for and grade 2 talked about what they are responsible for in their "personal habitats." Grade 4 talked about responsibilities they have at home, school, and in the community. Grade 3 worked on their Community Meeting presentation about responsibility. 5th graders had a special SEL session to plan for choosing their own lunch seats, so they worked in groups to make lunch seating plans that are inclusive and kind. We'll continue with responsibility lessons throughout March.

On Monday, March 17th, I will teach about personal safety during SEL time by reading I Said No! by Kimberly King to grades K and 2 and The Kid Trapper by Julia Cook to grade 4.

The health office is running low on extra pants and underwear for students. Students often come

to the health office with accidents, spills, or if they are wet from recess. If you are cleaning out your child’s wardrobe, we would love extras! Please consider donating any pants to the heath office that they might have outgrown. If you see a good deal on basic black leggings or sweatpants, think of us here! I will also gladly accept any NEW packs on underwear, particularly smaller sizes, for example sizes 6-8 ish.

This week we started our Basketball Unit! Kindergarteners and first graders practiced bouncing, catching and dribbling. Second graders practiced dribbling, passing and push shots while remembering the BEEF…. B(balance)E(eyes on the basket)E(elbow out)F(follow through) Grades 3-5 had fun dribbling, passing and shooting while finishing with a basketball game called “Hot Shots.”

We have been busy in the Art Room with some really fun art lessons. Check out what each grade is doing.

March

March 5 - Early Release 12:20pm Dismissal for all students

March 5 - PTO Meeting 7pm

March 6 - Meteorologist visit to Grade 5 (Thank you, PTO!)

March 6 - STEAM Night 5:30pm

March 10 - Connections Meeting, reading Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe by Kate Messner

March 10-14 - Cole School Spring Family Survey - sent by email, check your spam/junk folder

March 14 - Crazy Hair Day (selected by Charlotte Moore and her class, winner of PTO Raffle)

March 18 - PTO Bingo Night

March 19 - Grade 5 Parent Curriculum Night at NMS 6pm

March 21 - Elementary Report Cards available in Aspen

March 24 - Community Meeting 2:30pm - Grade 1 Hosting - Parents invited to join us!

March 26 - Elementary Early Release 12:20pm Dismissal for all students

March 27 - District Band Concert at NHS 7pm

March 31 - PTO Sponsored Peformance by artist Rob Surrette

Looking Ahead

April 1 - NMS performs Frozen Jr. for Cole School

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

April 4 - Parent Input for Placement for 2025-2026 school year - Google Form sent out

April 7 - MCAS Grade 4 ELA 1

April 7 - Grade 2 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 7 - Connections Meeting, reading Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming

April 8 - MCAS Grade 4 ELA 2

April 9 - MCAS Grade 3 ELA 1

April 9 - Grade 2 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 9 - Grade 5 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 10 - Early Release - Parent Conferences

April 11 - MCAS Grade 3 ELA 2

April 14 - MCAS Grade 5 ELA 1

April 14 - Grade 4 Enrichment (Thank you, PTO!)

April 15 - MCAS Grade 5 ELA 2

April 16 - School Council Meeting 3:30pm

April 18 - No School

April 21-25 - April Vacation Week

April 28 - Grade 3 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 28 - Community Meeting - Grade 5 Hosting - Parents Invited to join us!

April 29 - Grade 3 Field Trip - 2 classes (Thank you, PTO!)

April 30 - PTO Meeting 2pm - Mr. Keegan shares budget information

The 2025-2026 School Calendar has been adopted by the School Committee.

The links in the PTO Updates are only accessible on the email sent home to families this week.

In Oscar Wilde's comedic masterpiece, "The Importance of Being Earnest," two charming bachelors, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, make a habit of using fictitious names to escape their social obligations.

Come join the NHS Fourth Wall Players for a night of laughter and clever repartees—because in the world of Wilde, being earnest has never been so entertaining!
The show’s run time is 40 mins and the whole performance will likely be a one hour experience.

February 27th & 28th
7pm NHS Auditorium
$5 Students / $10 Adult

Spring 2025 Norwell Recreation Program Guides will be delivered to all resident households and PO Boxes between 3/5/25-3/7/25. Online Registration for Spring 2025 programs begins at 10:00am on Wednesday 3/19/25 for Norwell Residents only! Mail-In, Walk-In and Non-Resident Registration begins on Wednesday 3/26/25 at 10:00 am.

Spring 2025 Program Information will be available to view online at: https://secure.rec1.com/MA/norwell-ma/catalog and the Spring 2025 Norwell Recreation Program Guide will be available to view, print or download on 2/24/25 at https://www.townofnorwell.net/recreation-department.