CPS Superintendent's Update

Dear CPS Community,

The much-anticipated vacation week is here, and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season are upon us. Many families began observing Hannukah celebrations on the eve of December 18th, others will be celebrating Christmas on the 25th, Kwanza on the 26th, and New Year’s is right around the corner. Whether or not you are celebrating, I hope you will be able to take some time to rest and spend time with family and friends this week and have a wonderful start to the new year.

As you are thinking about turning the calendar over to January, I would like to inform you of a small adjustment to the current 2022/23 school year calendar. In preparing for 2023, it was noticed that our April 13, 2023, professional development half-day needs to be adjusted. Since McCarthy Middle School is one of the town’s centralized voting locations, professional development days are typically scheduled on election days to minimize access to the McCarthy Middle School building and to alleviate parking and traffic congestion that can potentially impact the function of the school day. Currently, our April professional development day for the 2022/23 calendar is not in alignment with the annual town election day on April 4, 2023. After discussions with the administration, we decided that the April professional development half-day day should be changed to align with the annual town election day and requested the school committee adjust the current year’s school calendar. This change for the current school year calendar was voted on and approved by the school committee at the December 20, 2022 meeting. The new date for the professional development half-day in April will be Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Please see the updated 2022/23 school calendar reflecting this change on our website.

While you are weathering the storm, please enjoy the highlights in this week’s newsletter. I will be back in touch after the new year. As a reminder, schools will reopen on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Yours truly,

Jay Lang, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

• View complete athletics schedules here.

• No School 12/26-1/2. All Day

• Schools Reopen 1/3, All Day

• School Committee Meeting, 1/3, 6:00 p.m.

Congratulations to the Chelmsford High School Speech and Debate Team for a 7th place finish at the 60th Annual Holly Speech Festival Saturday at Natick High School. Sophomore Sophia Roy, competing in five events, placed 1st in Informative Speaking and 6th in Declamation Speaking. Freshman Arianna Parks named Top Novice Speaker in Dramatic Performance. Freshman Millan Sondhi won Novice Debate speaking award and tied for 2nd in Novice Public Forum Debate with freshman Josh Wolman. Well done coach Peter Zopes!

Five Science, Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing (STEM) professionals representing different companies and roles appeared at the Chelmsford High School Career and College Readiness Center Thursday, Dec. 15 to speak about their careers and offer advice to a full audience of CHS students. Please see the gallery of pictures from this event on our website.

Members of the STEM panel included:

• Axel Martinez, Physics Educator at Chelmsford High School
• Fang Zhang, Senior Scientist at Pfizer
• Eric Busalacchi, Principal Site Reliability Engineer at QuickBase
• Jim McNally, Chief Scientific Officer at BioAgilitix
• Jon Morris, K-12 Science Coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools

CHS hockey coach. Kevin Leonard and about 22 boys on the team visited Project Kompass, a Chelmsford-based transitional housing program for young women and their children experiencing homelessness or displacement, on Monday night to hand deliver gifts to the residents who live there. The team themselves purchased blankets, hats, gloves, gift cards, gas cards, car safety kits, and more, wrapping and placing them under the Christmas tree at the home. By giving back to those in need, Leonard said his team can have a positive impact on their community while also gaining a “different perspective.” To read more about this story, please view it at the Lowell Sun.

Thank you to the Concord Fire Department firefighters for collecting and delivering gifts to donate to Chelmsford Public School Students. This donation will help support those families in need this holiday season.

Chelmsford Community Education's Winter Spring 2023 class schedule begins on Monday, January 23rd and registration opens on Monday, December 19th!

This season we have many new classes like:

• Baking
• Photography
• Reiki
• Self Defense
• Home Organization

along with favorites like:

• SAT Test Prep
• Chess
• Cooking
• Art for Children and Adults
• Yoga

Trips are back! We are so pleased to be partnering with Best of Times travel to bring trips back to the Chelmsford Community. To see all the programs we have to offer during our winter-spring session, go to: ChelmsfordCommunityEd.com. Be sure to check our website often and like us on Facebook (Chelmsford Community Education) and Instagram (commedwestlands) for announcements as they happen.

Chelmsford Public Schools has partnered with Paper to provide unlimited access to trained tutors so every student can ask questions, work through problems, and grow their confidence—at no cost to families.

Paper is an online, on-demand tutoring service that provides students with unlimited, 24/7 academic support. Whether they’re stuck on homework, studying for a test, or need someone to read and make suggestions for their writing, there will always be experts available online to assist students one-on-one in all subject areas and in more than four languages. See Paper FAQs to learn more.

Please use the following link to access the K-12 CPS Family and Student Handbook and CHS Handbook Addendum for the 2022/23 School Year.

The CPS Health Services Department is committed to providing evidence-based/ best practice holistic nursing care to the unique, culturally diverse students of Chelmsford Public Schools. In collaboration with all stakeholders, we advocate for their safety and healthcare needs. We are dedicated professionals who are committed to bridging health care with education and making a positive impact on the present and future wellness of Chelmsford’s school community. Please visit the Health Services page on the website for all your health services needs.

The Chelmsford Public Schools utilizes School Spring to advertise job postings and the online application process. To apply for any of our positions, please visit our website.

The mission of the Chelmsford Public Schools is to educate, engage, prepare, and empower well-rounded and knowledgeable learners who PERSEVERE through challenges, demonstrate RESPECT and INTEGRITY in their words and actions, are DEDICATED to their community, and display EMPATHY as global citizens while discovering and pursuing their full potential.

Email: information@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://chelmsfordschools.org
Location: 230 North Road, Chelmsford, MA, USA
Phone: (978) 251-5100
Facebook: facebook.com/chelmsfordpublicschools
Twitter: @ChelmsfordPS