CPS Superintendent's Update

Dear CPS Community,

Our first full week of October is complete with today marking the 27th school day of the year. Fall is in full swing with the autumnal equinox officially beginning across the United States with much of New England at near peak leaf-peeping season. Although the weather has been warmer this past week, everyone is celebrating the “fall mood” with traditional events in our schools and throughout town.

We are entering a long weekend with no school on Monday, October 9th. The second Monday of October has been a national holiday for close to a century commonly known as Columbus Day, and this will be the second year that Indigenous Peoples Day holds the designation for observance. Although the federal government officially designates Monday as Columbus Day, many cities and towns will hold celebrations and events to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day to honor Indigenous Americans and commemorate their histories and cultures. In this week’s newsletter, please see the Town of Chelmsford Land Acknowledgment Proclamation signed by the Chelmsford selectboard members.

On September 19th, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the official results of the spring 2023 MCAS test administration. Our district received individual student reports for children in grades 3 - 10 who took the spring MCAS. The reports were mailed today, and families should be on the lookout for their child’s report in their mailbox over the next few days. Please contact your child’s principal if you do not receive it by the end of next week.

Please enjoy this week’s highlights and have a wonderful long weekend.

Yours truly,

Jay Lang, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

• Athletics Schedule
• No School, 10/9, All Day
• McCarthy & Parker MS PTO Meeting, 10/11, 7:00 p.m.
• Campus Bound College Webinar, 10/11, 7:30 p.m.
• Rob Surette - Amazing Hero Art, 10/12, 7:00 p.m.
• CFROM Bottle Drive, 10/14, 10:00 a.m.
• South Row Pumpkin Fair, 10/14, 11:00 a.m.

Chelmsford Public Schools is partnering with Remedium Pharmacy to offer a Flu Clinic for STUDENTS grades 5-12 on Wednesday, October 18th. The flu clinic will be on-site at each school. If you would like your child to receive the flu vaccine, please pre-register for the clinic using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13574DB0FA1CEE9C0A90-chelmsford5. The access code to sign up is CHELMSFORD (all caps). Please note, that there are 3 tabs to select for the school your child attends, CHS, McCarthy, and Parker. Be sure to select the school your child attends under the correct tab. Please see the following times below:

CHS: 7:30am-9:30 a.m. (CHS Learning Commons)

Parker: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ( Parker Conference room)

McCarthy: 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (McCarthy Conference Room)

The online registration for the Student Flu Clinic will close on Sunday, October 15th at 6:00 p.m. in order to allow time to process the registrations. Please register by 6:00 pm on Sunday October 15th! It would be helpful to inform your child that they are signed up for the Flu Clinic on October 18 and to inform them of the time of the appointment that has been selected. Please remind your child to wear a short-sleeved shirt on the day of the clinic! Thank you for keeping our school community safe by getting a flu shot!! Please contact Peggy Gump M.Ed BSN RN at gumpp@chelmsford.k12.ma.us with any questions.

The Chelmsford High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame Committee has announced its selections for the 32nd class of inductees. They are Christopher Chew, Class of 1990; Sherill Erickson, Class of 1995; Alycia Belle (Garrigan), Class of 1995; and Jonathan Morris. Class of 1998; William Moseley, Class of 1976; Thomas Peterson, Class of 1990; Kathleen Ralls, Class of 1996; Erica Stone, Class of 1999; and Patricia Wojtas, Class of 1970. The induction ceremony is moving back north this year with festivities scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Sheraton Nashua. A social hour begins at 5:45 p.m., dinner at 6:45 and the induction at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person and are available by calling Lucy Simonian at 978-256-3100 or email at lucy.simonian@gmail.com, or Lauren Cochran at 978-250-3780 or email at lcochran@chelmsfordma.gov. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Please visit the Lowell Sun to read more about the inductees.

Special Congratulations to CHS student Sophia Roy for winning 3rd Place in Informative Speaking at the 31st Annual Yale Invitational High School Tournament, in New Haven, CT., this past weekend. Her hard work and dedication to Speech and Debate have paid off. The National Speech and Debate Association has announced the Chelmsford High School Speech and Debate Team has earned a spot in the association's 100 Club. According to the NSDA website - Top 100 SchoolsEach year, the 100 chapters with the largest number of new degrees receive the Top 100 Schools designation. Nice job all around for the CHS Speech and Debate Team!

Although many schools award both merit and need-based Aid, institutions use different criteria to assess eligibility and amounts can differ significantly even from like schools. Curious about how each is awarded? Want to learn how to build eligibility into your school search or make sure you have a variety of schools on your target college lists?

Please join the College Affordable community for their second webinar of the 2023-2024 academic year to learn about these topics and how they will affect your financial aid eligibility.

TOPIC: Merit vs. Need-Based Aid

DATE: Thursday, October 12, 2023, 06:30 PM

LENGTH: 60 Minutes

LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom

REGISTRATION: If you haven't registered for the webinar series, please visit our school's landing page and complete the Family Registration Form.

The Chelmsford Middle School PTOs are offering families a FREE evening of entertainment on Thursday, October 12th from 7-8pm in the CHS Performing Arts Center (PAC).

Perhaps your student has come home in the past raving about this amazing speed painter they got to see at an assembly in their school? Now's your chance to see what all the hype was about! Join us for an hour-long mesmerizing performance by ROB SURETTE and his AMAZING HERO ART!

Rob hails from Andover and is a Top-Tier Master Fine Artist for Disney and STAR WARS. He's had guest appearances on numerous television shows and at celebrity functions. He's created art from LEGO bricks, gumballs, lipstick, Lite Brite pegs, and more!

For the Chelmsford Middle School community, Rob will be performing his award-winning "BE SOMEBODY!" speed-painting show. Thirty years ago, Rob created this show hoping that he could flood kids' minds and hearts for one hour with awe, hope, beauty, love and self empowerment: inspire them to aim at the highest possible good in life; and change the way they look at the world. Since then, he has performed it over 4,000 times!

Join us for this amazing feel-good hour: Reserve your seat now with this link: https://signup.com/go/GvXSPjm

NOTE: Concessions will NOT be sold at this event.

If you have any questions, please reach out to PTOParker@gmail.com or PTO.McCarthy@gmail.com

Chelmsford Friends of Music Bottle & Can Drive Is Back for Another Year!!
The Chelmsford Friends of Music (CFOM) is pleased to announce another year of our ongoing fundraiser and community service event -- CFoM's Bottle & Can Drive! For over 30 years, CFOM has collected MA-redeemable bottles & cans and worked with local redemption centers to recycle them. Our drives are held on the 2nd Saturday of each month from April - October... and this year in November, we are joining Chelmsford's "Zero Waste Day" sponsored by the Chelmsford Recycle Committee & Chelmsford DPW.

NEXT CFOM Bottle & Can Drive Saturday, Oct. 14th, 10am-2pm

Drop off Clean MA Redeemable bottles & cans at the "CFOM Trailer" in the McCarthy Middle School parking lot. Most Carbonated beverage containers are MA redeemable (no still water bottles, please). IMPORTANT: For the safety of our student sorting crews, Please Separate Glass Bottles for drop off.

Get A Jump On Community Service Hrs!! URGENT!! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!

CFoM's Bottle & Can Drives can't happen without the help of Chelmsford Music Students and families. We welcome all Chelmsford-area students and their families to come help us greet attendees, unload donation bags, and sort bottles & cans at our events. Students can earn up to 5 hours toward community service requirements for any organization. We especially encourage students who plan to apply for CFOM Camp & College Scholarships and/or student service awards to take advantage of the Bottle & Can Drive volunteer opportunity to meet the CFOM-specific requirements.

Let us know we can count on you by signing up at: http://signup.com/go/chelmsfordfriendsofmusic

What Does CFOM Do With Funds Raised?

CFOM uses all funds raised from Bottle & Can Drives (and other fundraising events) toward over $10K in annual assistance & awards for Chelmsford music students and ensembles. This includes awarding annual scholarships to graduating senior musicians, assisting students attending music enrichment camps, subsidizing the registration fees for school choruses/orchestras/bands to compete in local music competitions, and hosting music enrichment events like Stringfest & Jazzfest each year. Want more info about CFOM & our work? Check us out at: https://www.cfom.org/

Thank you in advance for your support & service toward the continued excellence of music in our Chelmsford Schools!

Chelmsford High School has a cashless system for admittance to its regular season home athletic events. To get your tickets, CHS has partnered with GoFan.co, a digital, cashless ticketing app used by more than 10,000 schools, for fast and convenient payments for regular season home games. CHS fans are encouraged to download the GoFan app. For Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association postseason tournaments, the MIAA also utilizes GoFan.co as its own ticketing system. Visit the MIAA Ticket Information page.

Apply now for free and reduced lunch.

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 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 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