CPS Superintendent's Update

Dear CPS Community,

Have no fear this Friday the 13th as the much-anticipated warm spring weather is finally here! It truly feels like spring. It is great to see kids playing outside on the ball fields and in their neighborhoods this time of year. However, I do want us to remain mindful of how important it is for us to be back in-person full-time for our students and staff. We have worked extremely hard to have a successful school year and still have a lot to accomplish as the year winds down, let’s all do our part to close out the 2021/22 school year on a positive note.

We have unfortunately seen an uptick in the number of positive COVID-19 cases reported on our dashboard this week. The majority of our positive cases in school can be attributed to exposures in the home. However, the good news is that due to our high vaccination rates, the symptoms experienced in most cases have been relatively mild and most individuals testing positive can recover safely at home. As we look forward to many important and fun events to end the school year on a high note, we must remember to protect the health of our school community. I am again asking for your help to follow best practices to ensure a safe learning environment for students and staff. I cannot stress enough the importance of remaining vigilant in our efforts to decrease the spread of illness in our schools.

We will continue to implement our mitigation strategies that we know will decrease the spread of COVID-19. We strongly encourage those who are eligible to be vaccinated and to receive the booster. Our mitigation strategies include the following:

• Weekly Pool Testing
• Weekly At-Home Rapid Antigen Testing
• Promoting good hand hygiene – frequent hand washing
• Masking (recommended) for those who are unvaccinated and/or have significant health concerns
• Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces
• Monitor your child for symptoms daily before sending them to school
• Stay home if unwell and test for any symptoms of COVID-19
• Follow the appropriate quarantine and isolation guidelines

It is required that positive individuals isolate for 5 days from symptom onset, or if asymptomatic, for 5 days from the date a positive test was collected. A positive individual may be released from isolation on Day 6 if the following conditions are met:

• Fever free for 24 hours (without taking fever-reducing medications); and
• Experienced improvement in other symptoms; and
• Following the 5-day isolation period, individuals must strictly mask for 5 additional days when around others, except when eating, drinking, or outside.
• Note: Return to school should be based on time and symptom resolution.
• Please notify the school nurse and your healthcare provider of a positive test result to ensure appropriate guidance and follow-up.

We have reviewed our current protocols and our positive cases with the MA Department of Public Health, the Chelmsford Health Department, and our school physician to ensure our public health response is in-line with current recommendations. The public health experts maintain it is vitally important to receive the COVID-19 vaccine if eligible, to stay home if not feeling well, and to test if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Following the mitigation strategies mentioned above will go a long way in protecting our collective health. As always, I thank you all for your cooperation and continued efforts to protect the health of our school community.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay safe!

Yours truly,

Jay Lang, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Next week:

• View complete athletics schedules here

• McCarthy Idol, 5/14, 7:00 p.m.
• Center Elementary Kindergarten Screening, 5/16-20, By Appointment

• CHS Junior Job Shadow Day 5/17, All-day
  

• School Committee, 5/17, 6:00 p.m.

• McCarthy Middle School Orchestra Concert, 5.17, 7:00 p.m.

• McCarthy Middle School Band Concert, 5/18, 6:30 p.m.
• CHS Mock Car Crash, 5/20, 9:00 p.m.
• Byam Walk-A-Thon, 5/21, ??
• Lime 24-hr Relay, 5/21, All-Day

Six seniors were recently honored as Chelmsford High School named its Lions Pride/Rotary Student of the Month recipients for the month of April, announced CHS Principal Stephen Murray. Seniors Siya Gunda and Rahil Patel were named from the Emerson House while Lily Daigle and Nicholas LaCava were honored from the Hawthorne House, and Griffin Hart and Mahamaya Pai from the Whittier House. To read more about the CHS Students of the Month, please visit our website.

The McCarthy Middle School presents the 2022 edition of McCarthy Idol Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m. at the McCarthy Auditorium. McCarthy Idol consists of students, teachers, and individual and solo acts. The show will consist of two acts and an intermission. Concessions and candygrams will be available before the show and during intermission (must be consumed in the lobby). Admission is $10 per person. Tickets can be purchased right up to showtime. For more information, contact the McCarthy Middle School at (978) 251-5122.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Paper offers free 24/7 tutoring for over 200+ subjects. Help your child prepare for tests by reminding them that they have access to free, 24/7, expert tutoring support from Paper Learning. Log on to Paper through your student CLEVER account. To learn more about PAPER, please visit our website.

Chelmsford Public Schools is thrilled to announce that our long-awaited French and Spanish exchange programs will be back up and running this Fall, of 2022. We will be welcoming a group of students and teachers from Málaga, Spain September 8-20th, and a group of French students and teachers from La Rochelle, France, October 13-21st. We are looking for Chelmsford families to be host families for these groups while they are here. You do not need to speak French or Spanish yet in order to participate.

If you are interested in being a host family for a visiting student or teacher, please fill out this Google Form: https://forms.gle/tVEfHDLJewLonobH9

It's also not too late to enroll your student in the exchange program! CHS students will travel to France and Spain during February vacation, 2023. See itineraries below for information on how to sign up. If you have questions, please contact Jess Nollet, World Language and Cultural Exchange Coordinator at nolletj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us.

Chelmsford High School will be partnering with the San Estanislao de Kostka school in Málaga, Spain, for a student exchange program. This exchange will occur in the 2022-23 school year. We will need Chelmsford families to host Spanish exchange students in September of 2022, and our CHS students will travel to Spain from February 15-26, 2023 during the vacation week. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Ms. Nollet at nolletj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us or visit our website.

Did you hear the news?! Byam students who raise more than $250 for the Walk-A-Thon will be entered into a chance to win a “Ride to School with Officer Ozzie” and School Resource Officer, Dan Sullivan. Donations can be made by visiting http://givebutter.com/nRG82M

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