Chelsea Center

The Chelsea Center has many community partners dedicated to the growth and development of Webster Groves High School students. We couldn’t do this work without them! Are you interested in partnering with us? We’d love to have you! Please utilize the Get Involved–Community form on our website or email Dr. Kerry Arens, arens.kerry@wgmail.org to get in touch.

Recently, a team at Children’s Hospital & KVC Health extended a warm welcome to a group of 25 students who have an interest in exploring careers in mental health. The students participated in a thoughtful and impactful panel discussion with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and other medical professionals. The panel was meaningful in ways that extended far beyond a typical career exploration visit, and the practitioners’ varied lenses on different methods of treatment sparked important conversations.

Students also participated in learning walks through Goldfarb School of Nursing, Washington University School of Medicine, and the mental health research spaces. Being able to physically step into those environments helped our students envision their own possible futures in healthcare and research. Seeing the spaces where learning, collaboration, and innovation happen made their aspirations feel tangible and attainable. Students left feeling energized and affirmed, with many commenting that they felt truly seen and valued during the conversations.

We’re deeply appreciative of the time and expertise shared by Dr. Wenzinger, Dr. Neha, Angela Williams, Ashley Moss, and their extended team at Children’s Hospital, Washington University, and KVC Missouri.

Summer school through the Chelsea Center is part of the WGHS summer school program, but has a different operations model. We offer our standard internship, independent service learning, passion pursuit, and travel credit courses. But additionally, the Chelsea Center offers the opportunity for students to pair attendance at a chosen regional summer experience with goal setting, engagement with three assignments, and reflection. Together, the experience and the reflective coursework create the eligibility for WGHS academic elective credit to be earned. In many cases the Chelsea Center can sponsor the cost of the experience. See last week's newsletter (linked below) for a listing of regional experiences; students may access details through their GivePulse accounts.

The general process for Chelsea Center summer school registration is:

1. Student registers interest in the chosen experience on GivePulse (see us if assistance is needed)

2. Student comes to the Chelsea Center to receive our paper summer registration packet

3. Student takes the packet home, then returns it with parent/guardian signatures

This process for requesting coordination and funding for a regional experience must be completed no later than March 25, 2026. Arrangements for Chelsea Center standard internship, independent service learning, passion pursuit, and travel credit courses must be finalized no later than May 1.

Reminder: We can help students who are pursuing their A+ hours find connections to service learning that include the mentorship or job shadowing components the A+ program requires. Have your students stop by to talk with us, or independently explore their GivePulse account opportunity listings by using their school google email credentials at wgsd.givepulse.com.

For more information please contact Dr. Kerry Arens, Coordinator of the Chelsea Center

Email: arens.kerry@wgmail.org
Website: https://hs.webster.k12.mo.us/programs/chelsea-center
Location: Webster Groves High School, Room 200
Phone: (314) 918-4181