Deer Families
Deer Hill School News . December 2, 2021
Dear Deer Hill Families,
Due to an all-day obligation tomorrow, our newsletter is a day early. . . happy almost Friday!
Mrs. Clark, a 3rd grade teacher, recently shared the following with Deer Hill staff.
"Sometimes the greatest resources we have are a part of our own school family.
I feel that we often are looking outside of this building to find experts that can teach us something and overlook the "experts" that live right here."
This statement was made in response to a visit to her class from Ms. Dorian, a 5th grade ESP who shared her Native American culture in a lesson on wampum, Native American moccasins, and jewelry. Another part of our school family that serve as experts are our students' families. Examples of this are recent visits by a parent who presented to Mrs. Holland's 3rd grade about the culture, economy, and geographical features of her native Brazil, and another who shared his experience as the pilot of Blackhawk helicopters (thank you, Heine and Wagner families!).
Mrs. Clark's insights reflect key initiatives in our CPS Strategic Plan, most notably Compass Point #4 Communication and Engagement and the initiative to "increase learning opportunities for students through partnerships with community" as well as Compass Point #1 Teaching and Learning in regard to rigorous, relevant, and culturally responsive curricular content. In turn our Deer Hill School Improvement Plan further aligns and targets these points and initiatives with our second goal to foster family and community engagement. Moving forward, we're so excited about happenings at Deer Hill that will target these areas and will always keep Mrs. Clark's wise words at the forefront of our minds.
All the best,
Alexandra L. Sullivan
Principal, Deer Hill School
P.S. Our next newsletter will be published in two weeks on December 17, 2021.
P.P.S. Follow me on Twitter @DeerHillSchool for ongoing info and joy throughout the week.
Need to Knows
- At last night's School Committee meeting, our 2021-22 Deer Hill School Improvement Plan was approved. Our School Council, with both school and community representatives, worked efficiently and collaboratively to set goals that align with the CPS Strategic Plan. We're excited to implement these goals.
- You recently received an important email from Assistant Superintendent Scollins that outlined our new elementary progress report. This information can also be found on our district website. Please note that in her letter Dr. Scollins shared information for a Zoom chat on this topic that she is holding Tuesday, December 7 at 10:30 am. (You will need to access the original letter for the Zoom link). The presentation will be recorded and placed on the website for those families who cannot attend.
- In anticipation of the publication of our progress reports on December 10, please check to make sure that you remember your Aspen family portal login credentials. You may reach out to our secretary, Collette McElhinney, at cmcelhinney@cohassetk12.org if you have any difficulty.
- Beginning with Unit 2, teachers will be sending home Bridges math unit assessments (you may already have received your child's). Attached to this assessment is this explanatory letter written by our math specialist, Mrs. Thonet. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter as Bridges assessments do not follow a mastery model of right/wrong answers. This can be confusing if you see incomplete or incorrect work from your child. To help better understand this, please review this video from Mrs. Thonet that was previously shared in our newsletter. If you continue to have questions, you are encouraged to reach out to Mrs. Thonet or your child's teacher.
- Additionally, as we work to communicate our curriculum to families, here is more information from Mrs. Thonet, this time on the topic of differentiation of instruction in Bridges (we certainly keep her busy!): "One of the important pieces to the Bridges math program is the Workplaces that are in each unit. Workplaces are engaging math exploration activities that reinforce key skills. While students are in Workplaces, the teacher observes and interacts to address students’ need for support and enrichment. Please watch Ms. Thonet's video on how teachers differentiate using Workplaces."
- With vacation season upon us, please understand that teachers are not expected to provide work for students who are absent due to travel. You may read the full policy on p13 of the Deer Hill Handbook which is linked above.
Keeping the Joy (happenings at Deer Hill)
- On November 16, 4th graders were treated to an in-person interactive assembly with Neal Nichols who hosts the Geography Gameshow. Mr. Nichols has an amazing talent for drawing elaborate maps from memory all while building student knowledge in geography and social studies standards. We're thankful to the PSO for providing this enrichment opportunity!
- On November 18 & 19 it was 4th grade's turn to have a visit with an artist in residence from the South Shore Art Center. With a theme of "Art Builds Community", the SSAC defined the lesson as one where students learned "about how the street art movement and murals in cities like Bogota, Columbia, the South Shore, and Boston, has become a powerful force in promoting the arts, culture, and economic development." Please check out this link to the Art Builds Community presentation of student work.
- Recently, several students participated in Make a Difference Day, an event sponsored by our PSO where they raked leaves for neighbors in need. Deer Hill is proud of the community service efforts of our students!
- Leading up to Thanksgiving, Ms. Schneider's and Ms. Jordan's 5th grade classes collaborated with Mrs. McPhillip's and Ms. Carabba's 1st grade classes on a "disguise the turkey" project that included a shared writing activity. Their work together culminated in an opportunity for the Deer Hill classes to host their 1st grade friends for a cozy outdoor reading of their published stories.
Deer Hill Dates
Last day of term 1: 12.3.21
Progress reports published in Aspen: 12.10.21
Half day, professional development: 12.13.21, 1:15 (lunch is served)
Winter break, no school: 12.23.21-12.31.21
Classes resume: 1.3.21
School Council: 1.13.22, 4:00, DH Library
Half day, professional development: 1.14.22, 1:15 (lunch is served)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, no school: 1.17.22
School Council: 2.10.22, 4:00, DH Library
February Break, no school 2.21.22-2.25.22
Flyers of Interest
Deer Hill School
Alexandra L. Sullivan, Principal
Email: alsullivan@cohassetk12.org
Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/
Location: 208 Sohier St., Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781-383-6115
Twitter: @DeerHillSchool