Did you know that Mel the Meerkat is Cole School's Mascot? In 2017, the school community worked together to brand our school with a motto, mascot, and name for the weekly newsletter. The motto Dream Big, Dare Greatly, and Shine Brightly and Mel the Meerkat came to life thanks to the many ideas and suggestions from the community. Liliana MacDonald, a current senior at NHS, created the winning design for the mascot. The original picture is hanging in the main entrance. The name for this newsletter, Cole Miners' Dig, is a play on the word "coal" since our mascot is dressed as a miner and is always looking for gems. That's why each class has a gem jar too! More information on the history of Mel the Meerkat can be found on Cole School's webpage.

On that note, starting next week, we'll be highlighting Magnificent Meerkats in the Cole Miners' Dig. We'll highlight students that consistently demonstrate expected behaviors consistently every day, make good choices, put in strong effort, go above and beyond in relationships with peers, or stand out in some positive way? All students and staff can nominate students by name with specific reasons for the nomination. Our hope is that we'll be recognizing more and more students each week as this idea grows!

Thank you to all of our families for being mindful of student attendance. Currently, only 5% of our students have been absent 10% or more of the school year.

Norwell HIgh School Peer Educators came to Cole on Wednesday to teach a lesson to fourth and fifth grade students on the importance and helpfulness of goal setting. Be sure to check in with your 4th or 5th grader to talk about what goals they have set for themselves.

Valentine's Day is such a fun day in elementary school! Students truly love getting simple Valentines from their friends and teachers. If your child decides to be part of a Valentines exchange in their class, please refrain from including any candy or food items and ensure one for every child in the class. We will not be able to send candy or food items home with students as it is not permitted. However, the true joy in the day is really found in the sentiment behind the Valentine. Handmade Valentines or special notes are heartfelt and appreciated and can be a fun screen-free activity to make at home.

This year, Mrs. Uhlman and Mr. Roberge are working with the Student Government Representatives to revitalize the school motto, "Dream Big, Dare Greatly, Shine Brightly." Earlier this year, Mrs. Uhlman and Mr. Roberge led the representatives in a school-wide activity where the students were encouraged to think about ways to help Cole School shine brightly.

This week, the group met again to focus on another segment of the motto. With inspiration from Dr. Brene Brown, the representatives led their classmates through an activity where they had to think of ways to dare greatly. Their ideas could be either in or out of school. Some of their thoughts are listed here - including others, using kind words, reading more challenging books, trying a new sport, learning a new game, raising my hand more often, and doing chores around the house without being asked. The activity is posted in the hallway for the whole school community to appreciate.

January

No upcoming dates

February

week of February 5-9 - National School Counselor Appreciation Week

February 5 - Connections Meeting

February 7 - 100th Day of School (if no other weather related days out)

February 7 - Early Release Day - 12:20 dismissal for all students

February 12 - Community Meeting - Grade 3 Students Hosting/Families Welcome 9am

February 14 - School Council Meeting 3:30-4:30pm

February 15 - School Resource Officer Appreciation Day

February 19-23 - February Vacation Week

February 26 - Sheryl Faye presents Queen Elizabeth - PTO Sponsored Enrichment for all grades

Mark Your Calendar

March 7 - Literacy Night 5:30-6:30pm

May 9 - Cole School Variety Show at NHS

June 7 - Field Day

June 13 - Grade 5 Celebration 6-8pm (Grade 5 Students and Parents only)

June 14 - Tentative Last Day of School

This week in SEL, we talked about having empathy and how it can drive us to include others- inclusion is an action word! We played cooperative musical chairs, crossed a "toxic swamp" as a team, and worked in small groups to discuss the story "The Invisible Boy."

Massachusetts Department of Public Health COVID-19 Guidance for K-12 Schools (Summary)

• • The rapid antigen test, such as a self-test, is preferred over a PCR test in most situations.

  • Those who choose to wear a mask, including those who are at higher risk, should be supported.

  • MDPH encourages all individuals to stay up to date with vaccination.

  • Individuals who report they were exposed to COVID-19:

  • May attend school, as long as they remain asymptomatic.

  • If an individual tests positive for COVID-19:

  • Isolate for 5 days.

  • Return to school on day 6 if asymptomatic, or symptoms improved and fever-free (without the use of fever-reducing medication) for at least 24 hours.

  • Day 0 is the first day of symptoms or a positive test whichever is first

  • If you do not test negative on day 6, Wear a high-quality mask day 6-10 or until testing negative in that window of time.

  • If an individual has symptoms of COVID-19:

  • If symptoms are mild they may attend/remain in school if they have a negative test.

  • MDPH recommends that symptomatic individuals have a second test within 48 hours if the initial test is negative.

  • MDPH strongly recommends symptomatic individuals who have a negative test return to school.

  • If the symptomatic individual cannot be tested, they should stay at home and return if they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and symptoms are resolving, or if a medical professional makes an alternative diagnosis.

  
  

In PE/Gym kindergarteners/first graders warm up with Line Tag and grades 2-5 showed off their dance moves in Dance Noodle Tag. All grades worked in teams in a great cardio game called Cone Flip.

HAVE USED OR UNWANTED MARKERS, PENS, WOODEN OR MECHANICAL PENCILS?

Last year the Norwell Recycling and Sustainability Committee successfully initiated a project to recycle crayons and continues to collect used or unwanted crayons. We are now adding markers, pens, and wooden and mechanical pencils to our collections for recycling. We are working in partnership with Staples, which has recently added them to their list of materials that can be recycled.

Collection boxes are located at-

Grace Farrar Cole School

William G. Vinal School

Norwell Middle School

Norwell High School

New Nursery School

First Parish PreSchool

Ridge Hill School

Nature Center PreSchool at the South Shore Science Center

Bright Horizons

Norwell Public Library

Norwell Recycling Center

The NORWELL SOFTBALL SEASON is here!

Please visit our website at www.norwellgirlssoftball.com and follow the link to our registration page.

The season runs from early April through mid-June, with girls second grade and older playing 2 games during the week. Divisions are based on the 2023-24 school grade.

For the upcoming 2024 season we will follow the same format as last year. We will be offering a K-1 Program, a Grade 2-3 (Division 1) coach pitch program and a traditional program for grades 4-8 (Grades 4-5 Division 2 & Grades 6-8 Division 3).

K1 Program:

(Kindergarten – 1st Grade) - $95

Plays Friday evening – starting after April School Vacation

All games are played in Norwell

Tee Ball format

Division 1

(2nd Grade - 3rd Grade) - $165

Plays Tuesday and Thursday from 6-8 PM

Games are played in Norwell, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, or Hull

Practice likely to be 1X/week

Coach Pitch format.

Division 2

(4th Grade - 5th Grade) - $215

Plays Monday and Wednesday from 6-8 PM

Practices are typically held 1-2 day/week and scheduled by coaches

Games are played in Norwell, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, or Hull

Division 3

(6th Grade - 8th Grade) - $215

Plays Tuesday and Thursday from 6-8 PM

Practices are typically held 1-2 days/week and scheduled by coaches

Games are played in Norwell, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, or Hull

Additionally, a $50 discount will be automatically applied for the third or fourth child registered in the D1-D3 divisions. Please consider registering early so we can get an early read on how many teams we will have for the year to ensure we have enough coaches in place and get our uniform order in.

Thank you!

Norwell Girls Softball