Superintendent's Weekly Updates

ENGLISH: Need translation? Just click "Translate" at the top of your screen!

ESPAÑOL: ¿Necesita traducción? Haga clic en "Translate" (traducir) en la parte superior de la pantalla.

PORTUGUÊS: Precisa de tradução? Clique em “Translate” (traduzir) no topo da tela!

🎉 Scroll to read information and news from the school district, our individual schools, and information from our community partners! 🎉

If you are viewing this as an email and can't see the entire newsletter, click "view entire message" at the bottom or "view in browser" at the top.

• District Updates
• Extended Learning Updates
• Athletic Updates
• Berkowitz School Updates
• Hooks School Updates
• Kelly School Updates
• Sokolowski School Updates
• Morris H. Seigal Clark Ave. Updates
• Wright Science Academy Updates
• Chelsea High School Updates
• Chelsea Opportunity Academy Updates

At the MCB Elementary Complex, the science and technology teams collaborated to bring fun, engaging STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Science) activities to 1st and 2nd grade students during the Winter STEM Fair! Students created the longest paper chains, built the tallest towers with cups, assembled vehicles and bridges, played hopscotch coding, balanced holiday pencils, coded robot mice and more!

Next week five more schools will have their Winter Concerts:

Berkowitz School Winter Concert, Dec. 17 at 9:30 AM, Berkowitz/Kelly Cafetorium

Hooks School Winter Concert, Dec. 18 at 9:00 AM, Hooks/Sokolowski Cafetorium

Williams Middle School Winter Band Concert, Dec. 18 at 6:00 PM, Williams gymnasium

Kelly School Winter Concert, Dec. 19 at 9:30 AM, Kelly/Berkowitz Cafetorium

ELC Sing-A-Long, Dec. 19 throughout day, ELC gymnasium stage

BCC Elementary and Middle School Holiday Showcase, Dec. 19 4:00 PM, Kelly/Berkowitz Cafetorium

This week, our incredible social work team took innovation to the next level by diving into the world of AI with ChatGPT!

From refining referrals to utilizing pre-post assessments and cutting-edge assessment tools, they’re enhancing their practice in groundbreaking ways.

A HUGE thank you to the amazing Dr. Marina-Badillo Diaz, NYU Professor and Executive Board Member of the National Association of Social Workers, for sharing her expertise and empowering our team. Together, we’re redefining how we support our students and families.

Ms. Jackie Boyd was the recipient of the Name, Strength, & Story award at last week's School Committee Meeting.

New Teacher Developer, Ayelia Ali attended AASPA last week, a national conference focused on professional development for school leaders. Ayelia's presentation at the conference was titled "Grow Your Own Programs (GYOs) as a Key Recruitment and Retention Strategy," which highlighted the amazing work of the New Teacher Academy (NTA) program and the Teacher Pathway Program (TPP). It was humbling for Ayelia to highlight the work in Chelsea, and to provide a framework for other school districts to build their own programs in order to recruit and retain a diverse, and high-quality teacher workforce.

In our after-school program, students learned about worms' role in composting and worked in teams to create compost buckets. These will help our school gardens thrive in spring and summer, promoting teamwork and sustainability.

Our Extended Learning programs have been busy creating meaningful experiences for students! The Interact Program embraced the holiday spirit by volunteering at Chelsea’s annual tree lighting, where students braved the weather to spread cheer and give back to their community. If you’re interested in joining Interact or learning about other community volunteer opportunities, reach out to merrye@chelseaschools.com or floresa@chelseaschools.com. Additionally, our Newcomer English Language Development program has been a welcoming space for new students to build connections, develop their English skills, and engage in fun, interactive tasks. Both programs are great ways to get involved, grow, and make a difference!

For questions, email: athletics@chelseaschools.com

The Berkowitz School’s third and fourth graders have been working together to create a community mural for the upcoming winter concert.

They also created 8 large scale decorative evergreen trees to add some cheer to the ELC’s annual sing- along festivities. This group project highlighted our school core value of Collaboration. Together we are better!

The First and Second Graders did different STEM activities. They built the Tallest Tower. They also learned about balance while balancing a pencil on their finger and much more!

Students in 301 have been learning about wildfires in our Natural Disasters Fishtank unit. They had the honor to receive a visit from Braintree Firefighter Jack who responded to several wildfires this summer just south of Boston. Our 4th Graders learned about his experience and even got to try out his firefighter suit.

Mr. Rice and Mrs. Rowley's students worked within heterogeneous groupings to analyze a series of nonfiction texts. They responded to text-based questions, practiced citing evidence from the text, and further deepened their knowledge through collaborative discussions. Additionally, they caught sight of one 302 student narrowly escaping a natural disaster!

Hooks Staff got into the Holiday Spirit with the “Do you have a snowman in your pocket?” activity. It got competitive at times, but ended it up with everyone bonding and having a great time! Here are your winners!!!

Kelly students performed in "Viva Latina" at the Boys and Girls Club! An amazing bilingual performance!

So excited that Nurse Katie is permanently at the Kelly

During the professional learning day, teachers engaged in a collaborative assessment protocol, examining student writing in English and Spanish to identify similarities, differences, and opportunities for transfer.

The Sokolowski School Winter Concert was Thursday! Students in First-Fourth grade sang and performed holiday songs in front of family and friends. In addition to the beautiful voices, the Sokolowski Violin Ensemble opened the concert and students played songs on the recorder at diferent points during the concert. The entire school sang Feliz Navidad as the Finale. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Spirit Week at the Sokolowski was sharktastic, with crazy hair, holiday sweaters, PJ Day, and more!

Soko 3rd grade students dressed fancy for their winter concert. In addition, they have been working on informative writing detailing the impact Pilgrims had on the native people of New England.

With performances from the Cub Band, 316 Band, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Band and Cougar Band, students at the Morris H. Seigal Clark Avenue Middle School performed at the school's Winter Concert on Wednesday night in front of a packed crowd of family and friends. Congratulations to all involved including students and staff on a wonderful evening of music!

We had an amazing time at our Annual Family Game Night this week.

We played games to help create a fun and exciting educational experience with our students, families and staff.

Families in attendance received a game to take home to promote collaboration, teamwork, problem solving and decision making skills while introducing new concepts.

Today faculty and staff at CAMS expressed appreciation to each other in a Blizzard of Kindness. Staff sent over 600 notes of kindness to each other. We also shared cookies at lunchtime!

Fifth graders played balance games this week in Art!

CHS student, Jay Velasquez, painted a mural titled "Our Story in the Sky" that was unveiled in a special ceremony this afternoon in the CHS Library. The mural's powerful message will be inspiring for fellow CHS students. Congratulations on this wonderful accomplishment, Jay!

Exciting news from the CHS School Counseling Department! THREE of our seniors have been awarded a full, four-year QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship! Diana Salinas Garcia will be attending Amherst College, Brandon Ossa Barrientos will be attending Wesleyan University and Alma Alla will be attending Tufts University.

Out of over 25,500 applicants, QuestBridge selected 7,288 Finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship (Match Scholarship).This year, QuestBridge’s 52 college partners matched with 2,627 Finalists, who are recognized as Match Scholarship Recipients. This is the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date for QuestBridge.

Match Scholarship Recipients are admitted early to QuestBridge college partners with full four-year scholarships provided by the colleges and universities, ensuring for these students and their families that an education at a top college is affordable. The Match Scholarship is made up of a generous financial aid package provided by the college partner that covers the full cost of attendance, including tuition, housing and food, books and supplies, and travel expenses. The Match Scholarship does not include loans or a parental contribution.

We are SO PROUD of them! Congratulations Diana, Brandon and Alma!

The Chelsea High School Cantare, Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Percussion Ensemble showcased their musicianship in the CHS Winter Concert on Tuesday.

Students in the Postgrad, Social Communication, and FA Classes enjoyed the sensory friendly showing of the Nutcracker at the Boston Ballet. The adapted performance was an amazing opportunity for individuals with social and sensory sensitivities to experience theater arts in a comfortable and welcoming way. We would like to give a shout out to the staff, Boston Ballet, and Claudia Lawry for, as a student said, "a perfect way to start the Holidays!"

On 11/26/24, a professor from Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology visited Chelsea High School to deliver a special presentation to a select group of students. The professor, an expert in electric vehicle (EV) technology, shared his knowledge about the components, factors, and skills required to work with electric cars.

During the session, students learned about key elements of EVs, such as lithium batteries, which power the vehicles and keep them running efficiently. The professor also introduced students to the Tesla Model 3, explaining its various functions and highlighting how EVs contribute to a reduced carbon footprint. Additionally, he discussed the pros and cons of owning an electric vehicle and the importance of having skills in both automotive and EV technology. This presentation offered students valuable insights into the growing EV industry and the opportunities available in this field. Thanks to Jacquelyne Corbaci and Carina Lawrence for coordinating this post secondary event

On Saturday, the Chelsea High School Percussion Ensemble performed at Washington Park for Chelsea’s annual “Santa on a Fire Truck” celebration.

Chelsea High School's Percussive Grooves class performed for their invited guests on Friday morning. The students did a wonderful job with their performance of the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy from the Nutcracker.

Students from Chelsea high school’s Data Pathway, Python and AP Computer Science classes, went on a field trip to MassRobotics on Monday, December 9. They took part in a workshop focused on

• Engaging conversations about robotics and gaining experience with industry robots
• Solving robotic based challenges
• Working hands-on programming a robot!

Thank you to the team that organized the trip: Carina Lawrence (School Counselor), Jackie Boyd (AVID/Internship Manager) and Jackie Corbaci (Early College and Career Pathways Coordinator).

Chelsea High librarian Trent Bordok and his student interns are transforming the library into a holiday wonderland! Check out their creativity when you walk in!

We are proud to celebrate Mohamoud Osman, an 11th-grade student, who recently earned a national award in the FEV National Contest for Fall 2024! Mohamoud’s dedication and outstanding performance in the program earned him the prestigious "Champion Status."

As a reward for his hard work and perseverance, Mohamoud will receive a Jansport backpack, a Stanley water bottle, a pen set, and an official FEV contest certificate.

Well done, Mohamoud! Your Chelsea High School family is proud of you! Mr. Coughlin and Ms. Kessaris couldn’t be happier!

Parent Teacher Conferences at Chelsea High School are scheduled on Thursday, December 19 from 5:00-7:00pm. Parents and families can come at anytime to speak with your child's teachers and learn about your child's academic progress, wellbeing and more.

The Class of 2027 is excited to be hosting a Chelsea Movie Night open to all of Chelsea on December 17th! We are hoping to have a lot of the community join us for this event!

Support our young parenting/expecting students by donating either to their diaper/essentials drive, or a Holiday Toy Drive.

Please see the link below for the most recent edition of the CHS Family Newsletter:

• CHS Family/Community Newsletter

On Tuesday, several COA students took part in a focus group with Principal Adam Aronson to give feedback and insight into the renovations for the future home of COA!

On Thursday, ESL and W2C teacher Sela Kenen hosted the Carpentry Union to discuss job and training opportunities for COA students!

On Friday, students visited the National Aviation Academy to learn about this opportunity from presenters, including COA alum Gabe Rosado!

Chelsea Public Schools is a gateway school system that welcomes and educates ALL students.

Email: superintendent@chelseaschools.com