Cole Miners' Dig

We are beyond excited to welcome our Magnificent Meerkats back to Cole School to begin the 2026-2027 school year. Teachers and staff have been hard at work preparing the building and classrooms for students in grades 1-5 to return on Tuesday, September 8th. All students will meet their new teacher and class in the gym where we will start the day with a quick Community Meeting. Teachers will then lead their classes to their room where they will spend the day getting to know one another and learning the routines and expectations for each area of the building. It is going to be an amazing year of teaching and learning!

I have included the Arrival/Dismissal procedures for any families that are going to be dropping off or picking up their child(ren) at school. Please be familiar with the traffic flow chart and the rules for the pick up/drop off line. That document is in the next document section of the newsletter.

THANK YOU for helping us get Pick Up Patrol up and running. We are doing very well with the number of registered parents and I have been working to ensure that we have at least one parent registered for every family. We're almost there! While we are not using Pick Up Patrol to collect absences, it is an option for families to use if preferred rather than calling or emailing - just click the "Absent" option and it will let us know.

Many thanks to the two outgoing parent representatives on the School Council - Mr. Hamory and Mr. Martin. We are so thankful for their time and input over the last two years.

We are now in need of two new Cole School Council Parent Representatives who will join our current parent representatives, Mr. Steven Fantes and Mrs. Lauren Maloney, to help guide our school as we move forward to implement the goals in the Cole School Improvement Plan. This position holds a 2-year commitment with a monthly meeting from 3:30-4:30pm. Interested parents can learn more about School Councils and their roles in school improvement here.

If you would like to nominate yourself or another Cole School parent, please send Mrs. Burns (eliza.burns@norwellschools.org) the name and a brief bio introducing yourself to the community. This bio will be used for the ballot as these are elected positions. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, September 18th. An Google Form election ballot with all nominated parents will be sent home via email the following week in preparation for the first School Council Meeting on October 14th.

Please check out the Cole PTO facebook page for pictures of happenings during the school week. In order to join the Cole PTO facebook page, you must answer the question. If the question is left blank, the request will be denied.

Mark you calendars for the upcoming Open House/Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 24th. Students and families are welcome to come visit the classroom and specialist areas, meet the teachers, learn more about the grade level curriculum, and see the classroom. This year, please join us in the gym for the first 10 minutes to hear important information from a School Committee representative.

• 5:00-5:10 Grades 1 and 2 Families Convene in the Gym for School Committee Speaker

• 5:10-5:45 Open House/Curriculum Night in 1st and 2nd Grade Classrooms

• 6:15-6:25 Grades 3-5 Families Convene in the Gym for School Committee Speaker

• 6:25-7:00 Open House/Curriculum Night in 3rd-5th Grade Classrooms

We will be reviewing expected behaviors with the students before Open House/Curriculum Night, but please also preview the expected behaviors with your children before entering the building:

1. Children MUST stay with their family for the duration of the event (no running through halls)

2. Visit your child's current classroom and specialists only so previous year's teachers can focus on their new students and families

We're excited to continue our weekly tradition of celebrating nominated students this year! There's something powerful about recognizing kids who consistently show up with kindness, integrity, perseverance, and hard work—it makes Cole School a better place for everyone, and our students truly light up when their efforts are noticed.

Nominations come from all corners of our community: teachers and staff who see students doing the right thing every day, classmates who look out for one another, and even community members who take the time to email us about a Cole School student they saw doing something wonderful.

We can't wait to celebrate this year's students together!

Please Return Last Year’s Library Books

As we begin a new school year, this is a friendly reminder that some students still have one or more library books checked out from last school year.

Please take a moment to look around at home and return any library books that may still be there. It would be wonderful if the books could be returned before regular book checkout resumes the week of September 21. I will be sending reminder slips out next week.

A Reminder About Book Checkout This Year

This year, we’ll be encouraging students to return their library books before checking out another book. If a student needs more time with a book, they can simply renew it for an additional two weeks.

This system will help us keep our library books circulating and ensure that all students have access to the books they would like to read.

If you are unable to locate a missing book or a book is damaged throughout the year, please reach out to me. A replacement book may be purchased, or you may write a $15 check payable to the PTO. lora.rantz@norwellschools.org

September

September 7 - Labor Day

September 8 - First Day of School for Grades 1-5

September 8 - Kindergarten Open House

September 9 - First Day of School for Kindergarten

September 9 - PTO Meeting 9am in Cafeteria

September 15 - First Day of School for Preschool

September 17 - Constitution Day

September 21 - Yom Kippur

September 24 - Norwell CARES Day

September 24 - Open House/Curriculum Night

September 25 - Room Parent Meeting

September 27 - Cole vs. Vinal Moms' Kickball Game

October

October 5-9 - Fire Safety Week

Are you interested in becoming a Room Parent this year? If so, please complete this form.