THE NAVIGATOR
School Edition, January 24, 2020
Newsletter
Important Upcoming Events
1/27/20 - 1/31/20 - Distractology (CHS)
1/31/20-End of Read-A-Thon Osgood
2/5/20- Read-A-Thon Closing Ceremony
2/14/20-Read Your Heart Out Day at Deer Hill
2/17/20- February Break
School Start and Ending Times Confirmed for 2020 - 2021 School Year
Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast a big success
"Distractology" comes to Cohasset High School
Courtesy of Principal Scott and the CHS Newsletter
"It seems like every day we hear about teens getting into accidents or even dying due to distracted driving. The Arbella Insurance Foundation along with McSweeney and Ricci Insurance Agency and Cohasset High School are committed to help put an end to this problem.
A mobile simulator experience is designed to show new drivers exactly how dangerous it is to text and drive. Our new drivers will get first hand experience through car simulation and will be able to react on the road, see hidden hazards, and avoid accidents while safely behind the wheel of a driving simulator.
CHS will proudly host this program January 27-31. Juniors and Seniors can sign up in guidance. The program is free to our students thanks to Mc Sweeney and Ricci and the students who complete the program will receive a $15.00 gas card along with a chance to win a $500.00 scholarship.
For additional information visit Distractology.com"
Cohasset High School Independent Study Projects
Congratulations to Steve Rotondi on being selected as the Cohasset High School Varsity Boys Lacrosse Coach
Molly Greer becomes the first Cohasset Girls Basketball player to score 1000 Points!
HERE IS MOLLY'S 1000th POINT SHOT
Cohasset Students to Present Little Women on February 27 & February 28
Reading Fun at Osgood's Read-A-Thon!
Cohasset Safe Schools Committee
At last night’s Safe Schools Committee meeting we discussed the role of the team for this year going forward. We determined that, in line with our sub-committee goals, each team would work to produce one product this year. Here are the planned products:
Social-Emotional Learning and Wellness Subcommittee: Communicating resources that can be used to help students with stress and mental wellness
Building Security and Protective Measures Subcommittee: Creating and potentially finding funding for a “Safety Bag” for each classroom in the event of an emergency
Promoting a Safe and Inclusive Culture Subcommittee: Creating a bridge workshop between the high school (diversity club, AP classes etc) and Deer Hill around a to be determined topic (word choice, empathy, civic discourse, etc)
Safe Schools Bullying Procedure and Safety Policy Review Subcommittee: Reviewing and clarifying the Bullying Incident Reporting Form. The goal is to inform staff of the procedures for reporting such incidents and the process of the investigation.
Communication and Action Planning Subcommittee: Creating and sending out an edition of The Navigator Newsletter to Cohasset families that highlights national trends, school initiatives and resources in each of the subcommittee areas: Bullying Prevention, Social Emotional Learning and Wellness, Inclusive Cultures and Building Safety
We plan to meet in April to review progress and to finalize work products in a May meeting.
Thank you to everyone on this team for their great work!
From the Director of Finance and Operations...Michael MacMillan
FY21 Budget Update
The process for determining the town and school budget for the next financial year (2020/21) continues and School Principals recently presented their budget priorities at a workshop with the Cohasset School Committee. These priorities included increasing resources for teaching math at the elementary schools, literacy at the middle school, and social studies at the high school. There were also requests for additional social and emotional learning support for students at all levels.
The Town Accountant, Don Piatt, also provided an overview of the Town's five year financial plan at the Town's Fiscal Forum on December 19th. This included draft figures for the FY21 budget. Although these numbers might change over the coming months as more information becomes available, the envisaged 3.02% increase for the schools will not be enough to fund all the priorities requested by Principals and some difficult decisions will have to be made before the budget is finalized and presented at Town Meeting.
We have updated the Business office website to include more information on the budget process and relevant documents, including the budget workshop presentation and the Town's draft five year plan: https://www.cohassetk12.org/domain/207. We will continue to update the community through the website and with information in the newsletter . In the meantime, if you have any questions about the budget or require additional information, please contact Michael MacMillan, the Director of Finance and Operations, mmacmillan@cohassetk12.org or Superintendent Patrick Sullivan, psullivan@cohassetk12.org.
Capital Plan Update
The district recently submitted twelve requests to the Town's Capital Planning committee. These are:
- School Bus Lease
- Replacement of the High School Gym Roof and roof top units.
- Replacement of the Deer Hill School roof top units.
- Funding for classroom furniture and technology
- Replacement of Deer Hill School windows
- Plumbing for additional science lab at the High School
- Repairs to the sidewalk at the Middle High School (alongside Alumni field)
- Painting of the High School corridors
- Painting of High School auditorium (by the gym)
- Replacement of corridor floor tiles at Deer Hill.
- Installation of padding at Joseph Osgood School gym.
- Installation of AC for the music room and band room at Deer Hill
The district will be discussing these priorities with the Town's capital planning committee on January 27th. More information on these requests and our capital process is also available on our website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/Page/4149
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Compass: Assistant Superintendent Leslie Scollins, Ed.D.
RTI/MTSS
I met with Jennifer Madden, from the School Committee to discuss how RTI is being implemented in the district and shared some ideas. DESE is hosting a 2-day workshop on February 11 and 12 on Multi-Tiered Support System (MTSS). We are bringing a team to the workshop. We will bring an RTI/MTSS team together next year to look at our district practices.
Elementary Math Pilot Update
The Elementary Math Committee met last week to discuss the pilot process so far and determined that extending the pilot would give teachers more opportunity for a deeper dive into the program materials. We have extended the pilot from April to early June.
The Leadership team continues to work with Dr. Borstel and participate in Learning Walks at the schools. We have had a learning walk at every school. We walked through the middle school earlier this week. Thank you CMS staff for welcoming us into your classrooms!
PD January 24
Osgood
Cassy O’Brien facilitating a workshop called Creating your Own Personal Learning Network. Deer Hill will have the same workshop in February.
CHS
CMS
Deer Hill
From the Office of Mary Buchanan, Director of Student Services
Office of Student Service:
Peer Preschool Applications
Preschool Applications for morning and afternoon sessions are now available at the Office of Student Services or on Cohasset Public Schools website. There will be a lottery, if there are more students who register for preschool than seats available.
SEPAC Presentation on Practical Social Strategies
Please join Cohasset SEPAC as they welcome Amy Gordon, Director of Second Nature Social Skills Company on Thursday, February 6th, 2020 at the Paul Pratt Memorial Library located at 35 Ripley Road, Cohasset. The presentation will be focused on practical social strategies for all ages from 6:30pm-8:00pm. The attached flyer provides additional information about the presentation as well as contact information for SEPAC.
METCO UPDATE FROM METCO DIRECTOR MS. ALEISA GITTENS-CARLE
Feel free to contact Ms. Aleisa Gittens-Carle or Ms. Atisha Winslow at (781)383-6117 with any additional questions.
On Saturday, February 1, 2020, Safe Harbor will be partnering with Lenny’s Hideaway for the first ever ’18 & Under Open Mic Nite.’ The event is open to all ages, but you must be 18 or under to perform. The goal is to increase community connectedness, which has been shown to reduce risky behaviors.
We are excited for Cohasset's 250th Celebration
Here are some pictures from today's Deer Hill spirit day, "Reading Through the Decades"
Trivia
No Trivia this week...short week...will pick up again next week.
Have a great weekend.
Please follow me on Twitter for daily updates from the Cohasset Public Schools
Email: psullivan@cohassetk12.org
Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/
Phone: 781 383 6111
Twitter: @SuperCohasset