Cory Elementary School

Cory Caregivers,

Thank you to everyone who joined our Bullying & Online Safety Parent Education Night. We appreciated the chance to share our preventative approach — skill building through TSEAL, our restorative processes for addressing harm, and practical ways families can reinforce expectations at home. A special thank you to Mr. D for his helpful presentation on online safety and tips for supporting kids in digital spaces.

At Cory, we cultivate a safe, inclusive school where students learn and practice respectful, responsible behavior through restorative approaches and social‑emotional skill‑building. Education and supportive measures are central to this work: teaching skills, providing opportunities to practice them, and intervening early so every child can grow academically and socially. 

We use restorative circles to repair harm and rebuild relationships, and teach explicit SEL skills (self‑regulation, empathy, problem‑solving, communication) across grades so students can manage emotions and make positive choices. We foster empathy and perspective‑taking, provide structured lessons plus real‑world practice (including recess and transitions), and run targeted small‑group coaching for students who need extra support. School‑wide, we maintain clear expectations and consistent, graduated consequences that preserve dignity and promote learning. Finally, we partner with families and staff to model, reinforce, and coach these skills for continuity between school and home.

Our goal is that students leave Cory not only academically prepared but emotionally literate—able to repair harm, build healthy relationships, and contribute positively to their communities. Education coupled with consistent, supportive measures is what helps students internalize these skills and reduce incidents like bullying.

Below are the resources we shared during the evening:

• Presentation - 25-26 Cory Anti-Bullying Parent Presentation

• Parent handouts and resources - Cory Parent Anti Bullying Resources

Thank you for partnering with us to keep Cory safe, respectful, and supportive for every student.

🎉 Cory Teacher Shoutouts - Is there a Cory staff member you would like to recognize? Send them a celebration! With just a few kind words, you can brighten an educator's day and remind them how much their hard work means. After you submit your message, we will find the best way to share the celebration. Let’s make the end of 2025 extra special for our educators! 🎉

• Dec 8th - Winter Band Concert @ 6:00

• Dec 10th -  Dec 17th - Student Council - St Francis Center drive - Toilet paper, laundry pods, & Canned soups 

• Dec 10th - 2nd Grade Music Performance @ 5:00

• Dec 11th - CSC Meeting at 4:00 Agenda

• Dec 11th - 3rd Grade Music Performance @ 5:00

• Dec 15th - Spirit Week

  • Monday 12/15: Cory Colors

  • Tuesday 12/16: Crazy Socks

  • Wed 12/17: Kids Dress Up, Teachers Dress Down

  • Thurs 12/18: Anything But a Backpack

  • Friday 12/19: Pajama Day!

• Dec 18th - Rainbow Club meeting @ 3:20

• Dec 19th - Coffee with the Principal and Assistant Principal @ 8:30

• Dec 21st - Jan 5th - Winter Break

• Jan 6th - Welcome students back to school

Food for Families

We are partnering with the Merrill Middle School food pantry/ backpack program to ensure all families have access to food. If you are in need of food during this time for your family, please read below! If you would like to receive extra groceries one-time per month, please complete this private and anonymous survey, so we can provide the food items that your family likes to eat and match your preferences.  Anonymous survey 

Food will be anonymously dispersed on: Friday, December 12 / Friday, January 16 / Friday, February 6 / Friday, March 6 / Friday, April 10 / Friday, May 8

Our lost and found area is growing. Please stop by to check to see if your student has anything in the area. We will be donating all items left after Winter Break 

Mental Health Corner: 

What is TSEAL? Transformative Social Emotional Academic Learning

“Transformative SEAL” is a process whereby young people and adults build strong, respectful, and lasting, relationships that facilitate co-learning to critically examine root causes of inequity, and to develop collaborative solutions that lead to personal, community, and societal well-being.

This form of TSEAL is aimed at redistributing power to promote social justice through increased engagement in school and civic life. It emphasizes the development of identity, agency, belonging, curiosity, and collaborative problem solving

It's critically important that school wide TSEAL implementation intentionally nurtures an environment in which educators gain social and emotional competence by learning, collaborating, and modeling their social and emotional skills. Along with these social and emotional skills, schools must also fold in conversations about race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, language and ability so that the conversation about TSEAL takes into account the student’s fullest identities. It is recommended that schools do a deep dive into understanding how educators, students, and community can navigate conversations about race, sex, gender, ableism and other social identities in order to establish systems and supports that strengthen both adult and student Social Emotional Academic Learning.

Come along on our Cory TSEAL journey! 

• Unit 1: Positive School Culture and Classroom Community  - Value of the month is Caring  

• Unit 1 Part 2: Sportsmanship - Value of the month is Caring  

• Unit 2: Self-Awareness - Value of the month is Caring  

• Unit 3: Self-Regulation and Management  

• Unit 4: Unit 4: Social Awareness & Gratitude - Value of the month is Inclusion 

Unit 5: Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making: Bullying Prevention and New Value of the Month: Respect - starting Monday, December 1st!