Deer Families

Deer Hill School News . September 13, 2024

Dear Deer Hill Families,

It's been a fantastic start to the school year against a backdrop of beautiful weather. There is a positive energy throughout the building, and staff is looking forward to sharing their hopes for the year with you at our Open House next Thursday, September 19 from 6-7:30. This morning we had a high turnout for our first PSO meeting -- it was great to share details about our first couple of weeks as well as some areas of focus for the year which are also shared here. Thank you so much for your partnership as we set our students up for success!

All the best,

Alexandra L. Sullivan

Principal, Deer Hill School

P.S. Our next newsletter will be published September 27, 2024.

Need to Knows

Deer Hill Family Handbook

Deer Hill Chorus: All interested singers in grades three, four, and five are invited to join the Deer Hill School Chorus. Our school chorus will meet one time each week during the school day. Chorus members will prepare and perform selections for the Winter, Spring, and All School Choral concerts. It is possible for grade four and five students to participate in both band and chorus. If you have already completed the form, there is no need to register a second time. If you have an interested young musician, please click on this link to register your student.

Absence Line & Email Address: If your child is going to be absent or tardy, please make sure that you either call our absence line at 781-383-6115 or email us at DHS-notes@cohassetk12.org. You are always welcome to let the classroom teacher know, but notifying the office is an important step that helps us ensure student safety (and also prevents you from getting a robo-email which will ask you to call and verify the absence!)

Morning Arrival: This year Deer Hill is prioritizing time on learning. We've revamped our daily schedule to ensure that instructional minutes are maximized within the classroom, and we've shifted to grab-and-go breakfast to get students into classrooms as quickly as possible. Another important step is being on time to school. Our school day starts at 9:05 when doors open and instruction begins at 9:10. Beginning on Monday, students who arrive to school past 9:10 will need to stop in the office to get a tardy slip. Students in the building will be monitored to ensure they move efficiently to class and may be marked tardy if they are lingering in the hallways, etc. Our school handbook reflects these expectations.

Picture Day: Picture day will take place on Thursday, September 19 (makeups on October 21). A flyer and order form will come home with your student and are attached here.

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Picture day order form.pdf

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Deer Hill Happenings

Introducing Our New Staff: Deer Hill is happy to welcome the following new staff: Mrs. Colleen Farrow, Elementary SPED Team Chair; Ms. Emily LaFleur, special education ILC teacher; Ms. Allison Morrissey, long term substitute teacher in grade 4; Ms. Nora Rezendes, CPS bus driver who is now also supervising our lunch and recess blocks; Collin McGrath, cafeteria staff

Our PSO Rocks!: Our Deer Hill courtyard is a source of pride and gets a lot of use throughout the year. Mere days before school started the DPW began the huge task of clearing our perimeter beds which had become overgrown. However, they become short staffed, leaving a mountain of branches and other cuttings just before Labor Day weekend. This is when our PSO liaisons, Bits Sullivan and Laura Larner, as well as our dedicated garden liaison, Dee Riley, stepped in. Along with Bits' husband Brian, they cleared it all from our courtyard, taking five truckloads to the dump. This is just one example of the ways our families show up for Deer Hill, and we're so grateful!

Hugo in the House: Last Friday, Hugo, Deer Hill's comfort dog in training, had his first day of school. He was introduced during our back to school expectations assembly where we not only reviewed important principles that we follow at Deer Hill such as the Skipper Creed and WITT, but also discussed how we interact with Hugo as well as our Reading Rovers. Hugo was joined at this assembly by several of his Reading Rover friends and their handlers. It was a great way to start the year on a "pawsitive" note!

Play Block: Like many of you, I've recently read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt and am looking forward to next Wednesday's panel discussion hosted by Buttonwood Books. A key tenet of Haidt's work is the importance of unstructured play. With that in mind, all classroom teachers have built 30 minutes of play into their schedules each week and the feedback in the first days of school has been amazing! Play is such a critical way for children to learn how to navigate their world, and I'm proud of our staff for recognizing its value.