Superintendent's Weekly Updates

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

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• District Updates
• Athletic Department Updates
• Extended Learning Updates
• Early Learning Center Updates
• Berkowitz Elementary School Updates
• Hooks Elementary School Updates
• Sokolowski School Updates
• Clark Ave. Middle School Updates
• Browne Middle School Updates
• Wright Middle School Updates
• Chelsea High School Updates
• Chelsea Opportunity Academy Updates
• Chelsea Virtual Learning Academy Updates
• Messages From Our Community Partners

Congratulations to the over 60 students at Chelsea High School who were honored this week at CHS' Seal of Biliteracy Recognition Ceremony!

These students will graduate from CHS with the prestigious Seal of Biliteracy, which is presented to students who demonstrate advanced proficiency in two or more languages. By earning the Seal of Biliteracy, the students are eligible for college credit and have increased access to career opportunities. It signifies that bilingualism is a superpower!

The ceremony included special speeches by recent alumni and current students who shared powerful words on the importance of dual language and the value of earning the Seal of Biliteracy. We would like to recognize Ariana Baires, Jamielee Deodaness, Hazel Hatleberg, Kendra Morales, and Dariel Medina for their work and leadership. During the celebration, Dariel spoke passionately about his journey through Caminos and shared the importance of earning the Seal of Biliteracy, inspiring everyone in attendance. “Caminos no solamente me enseñó a leer y escribir en dos idiomas.

The ceremony also included the reveal of a new logo and medal, designed by an eighth grade student in CPS' dual language Caminos program!

We are grateful to the families in attendance, Dr. Almi G. Abeyta, Dr. Blake-Canty, Adam Deleidi, Malik Howshan, Michael Sullivan, Dr. Jody Klein, Alan Beausoleil and our Parent Liaisons. We want to express our deepest gratitude to Ana Romero for leading and supporting students in earning their Seal, from communication, to administering the assessment, and collaborating with others to make this recognition possible.

We are so proud of all our dual language students and educators throughout the school district! Congratulations on this significant accomplishment.

On Tuesday, May 5, Chelsea Public Schools was presented with the Discovering Justice Torchbearer Award in recognition of CPS' implementation of the Children Discovering Justice (CDJ) curriculum. CPS educators Laura Hubert, Katie Schubmehl, Jenelyn Santos and Superintendent Dr. Almi G. Abeyta attended the Discovering Justice 25th Anniversary Gala last Tuesday to accept the award.

The honor recognizes CPS for leadership in embedding civic education and serving as a model for districts across the Commonwealth!

Two photos from the gala with CPS receiving the award (Photos courtesy of Discovering Justice) as well as two pictures of the CDJ curriculum in action at the Sokolowski School!

Middle School District Chorus

Chelsea's Middle School Chorus, featuring singers from all three of our middle schools, performed last week at the Music in the Parks Festival at Westfield State University. This was their first time competing and they did a phenomenal job, achieving a rating of Excellent and ranking 3rd in their division! The Middle School Chorus is under the direction of Ms. Melanie Carubia, who started the ensemble this past fall.

CHS Artwork at DESE Conference and Upcoming Arts Night Out Event

25 pieces of CHS student artwork were recently featured at last week's Partners in Equity Conference, hosted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The pieces included various paintings, photographs, and sculptures celebrating themes of belonging, resilience, identity, and community. Many of these works will be featured at next week's Arts Night Out at Chelsea High School on May 19. Arts Night Out will begin with a film festival at 4:30, the art gallery will open at 5:00, and the concert will begin at 6:00. Admission to the concert is $5 per person, or a maximum of $10 per family.

Congratulations to Chelsea Public Schools Chief of Staff Dr. Aaron T. Jennings on his recent graduation from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Influence 100 program!

Influence 100 is a two-year fellowship for rising district leaders to prepare them for the superintendency through monthly system-level leadership training and ongoing coaching and support in key aspects of the superintendency.

Congratulations, Dr. J!

This week, Brenda Ortiz McGrath, Director of Social Work, SEL, and Specialized Student Supports, presented alongside Danny Rodriguez, Transportation Coordinator, to provide training for transportation drivers and monitors. The session focused on supporting students with disabilities, understanding behavior and communication needs, maintaining confidentiality, responding to safety concerns, and reviewing mandated reporting responsibilities. The training reinforced the important role transportation staff play as trusted adults and as the first and last point of contact for many students each day.

The CHS Visual and Performing Arts Departments are proud to present our Arts Night Out extravaganza! This special event starts with a student film festival in the cafeteria at 4:30pm, followed by an art gallery showcasing student work beginning at 5:00 PM, and a concert in the auditorium which will begin at 6:00 PM. Tickets to the concert are $5 (or $10 per family). Admission into the film festival and art gallery are free. Please join us!

National Speech-Language-Hearing month is a time to raise awareness about communication disorders while celebrating and acknowledging the influence and dedication of individuals within the field of speech-language pathology. We proudly recognize our incredible Speech-Language Pathologists for their commitment, expertise, and impact on our students. Thank you to Maria, Mercy, Emma, Katie, HeeEun, Caroline, Cassie, Molly, Elizabeth, Sarah, Brianna, Laura, Brielle, Hannah, Katie, and Lexi for the remarkable difference you make in the lives of our students and school community!

Join us for Youth Mental Health Day, an afternoon focused on wellness, connection, and community care. Together, we will uplift youth mental health and share resources to support our students and families.

Acompáñenos al Día de la Salud Mental Juvenil, una tarde enfocada en el bienestar, la conexión y el cuidado comunitario. Juntos apoyaremos la salud mental de nuestros jóvenes y compartiremos recursos para estudiantes y familias.

Join us for Chelsea High School’s first-ever Relay For Life on Saturday, May 16 from 4:00–10:00pm at CHS.

Relay For Life is a powerful and inspiring community event where participants come together to celebrate cancer survivors, remember the memories of loved ones lost, and raise funds to fight back in support of cancer research and essential patient services.

The event will feature:

🔹 A community walk around the track

🔹 Student and community member-led activities, performances, and entertainment

🔹 Food, games, and family-friendly fun

🔹 The Survivor Lap, which recognizes those who face cancer

🔹 The Luminaria Ceremony, a moving tribute to loved ones

Learn more and sign up to participate here: relayforlife.org/chsma

We are less than one month away from the Class of 2026 Commencement Ceremony!

Join us as we celebrate our graduates from Chelsea High School, Chelsea Opportunity Academy and Chelsea Virtual Learning Academy.

The ceremony will be outside at CHS on Friday night, June 12, from 6:00-8:00pm at Chelsea Stadium.

Stay tuned for more details!

Check out next week's games.

Volleyball-Joshua Alvarado, Vladimir Hernandez

Flag Football-Ashley Vasquez Perez

Baseball-Felipe Garcia

Softball-Olivia Clark

Track & Field-Hazel Hatleberg, Kevin Romero

Schedule for the 2026 Spring Season

Third and fourth graders in Ms. Caceda and Ms. Molina’s Discovery Academy group completed engineering their solar-powered ovens using pizza boxes. Next week, they will be making s'mores in the hot weather using their homemade ovens.

In Art Studio with Ms. Gilmartin, students have been completing some excellent work! With a week left in extended learning, they've been fine tuning, gluing, paper-mache-ing, using clay (ready for the kiln!), and completing projects that show their self-expression!

In Expressive Art Club with Ms. Kenney and Ms. Kay, students have been working for a few weeks on creating wind chimes! They're coloring and creating final details to be able to take them home by the end of next week and make beautiful music all summer long.

A picture says a thousand words... and the CAMS Yearbook will say a thousand more! In the Yearbook Committee with Ms. Waxman and Ms. Metsky, students have been going overtime on finishing up final details for this year's book!

Chelsea Public Schools is excited to partner with For Kids Only (FKO) for the 2026 “Adventures Together” Summer Program, an engaging summer experience for students entering grades 1–7.

The program will be hosted at the Mary C. Burke Elementary Complex and will run Monday through Friday from June 29 through August 23, with programming available from 7:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Students will enjoy outdoor adventures, exciting field trips, special on-site events, healthy meals and snacks, and fun daily enrichment activities designed to build unity, connection, and togetherness.

Program tuition is $60 per day or $275 per week. EEC vouchers and DCF referrals are accepted.

To learn more or register, click here or call (978) 740-5437.

Our brave Kindergarten Caminos students in room 347 ended their Entomology Unit by completing a firefly art work this week by trying crickets and honey today! They were pretty impressed with how they tasted and we are so proud of them for being brave and trying new things !

Today in Math class with Mr. Mungillo, Mrs. Loussedes, and Ms. Viviana in Room 403, our students had a fun hands-on activity sorting snacks by 2D and 3D shapes!

The children explored geometry in a playful and engaging way while practicing shape recognition, sorting, counting, and teamwork. Turning learning into a fun Friday activity made math extra exciting for everyone! We are so proud of their participation, creativity, and enthusiasm while learning about geometric shapes.

Our 3rd grade zoologists in Ms. Lauzonis’ class (B101) have been exploring animal traits, adaptations, and life cycles through hands-on learning! After reading An Earthworm's Life by John Himmelman, students learned about the life cycle of a worm, as well as the special inherited traits and adaptations that help red wiggler worms survive in their environments. Students then had the opportunity to carefully observe and hold live worms while making real-world connections to their science learning. It was an exciting way to bring science to life in the classroom!

First graders wrapped up their learning on shapes and telling time this week and began exploring the exciting world of money! Students practiced identifying coins and their values, sorting coins by type, and practiced counting coins.

Students in Grade 3 are SO happy to be done with MCAS!! They made posters of important math concepts that they've learned throughout the year.

Students in 305 are working hard to review 4th grade math concepts from this year! We are finding groups of friends with unlike fractions and using all the tools in our toolbox to compare and order the fractions from least to greatest. They are ready to rock the test!

Soko parent Max Corona and Chelsea City Councilor Deron Hines visited the Art room to collaborate with Ms. Martyn's students on the "WE ARE..." section of their ongoing, large-scale collaborative mural. Within this, students created visual inspiration surrounding their culture, heritage and individual identity. We can't wait to show you when it's done! Stay tuned.....

At the Browne, on May 12 and 13, teachers led the staff meeting and PLTs to train teachers on best dual language practices. This photo was Bailey Cruger and Jen Barborek leading out the strategy: reciprocal teaching.

Visiting author and comic artist Katy Doughty presented to our 8th graders about her new book How To Survive the End of the World. Students brought the knowledge from their climate change unit in ELA into her presentation. Ms Doughty also taught an art workshop focused on comics art processes. Thank you Katy Doughty, Mr Bennington and Ms Gilmartin for this great day!

"In Ms. Trigg's science class at the CAMS, students have been working with Youth Astronet, a program designed by Harvard to use telescopes to request images of celestial bodies, use lighting, color, magnification, shifting, and blending techniques to create powerful images of space! They are now working on their capstone projects where they choose and present their favorite three completed images.

Today at WSTA our 8th grade buddies played math games, read stories and danced for Fun Friday!

The high school had hype week this week to garner attention and support for the Relay for Life happening this Saturday. On Tuesday it was character day. By complete coincidence, one of my students in my ML Biology classes and I both dressed up as Mario!

This past week, COA seniors have been working hard to finish up their course work, start their capstones and wrap up their final tasks. Students who complete their coursework moved on to their capstone projects, and we have started capstone season with students presenting this week! We can't wait to see our seniors do their final presentations in the coming weeks. COA also celebrated COA Instructional Coach's Week this week and we would like to give our coach, Melissa, a huge shoutout for everything you do for our community!

Last Saturday, Chelsea Virtual Learning Academy students were recognized at Polar Park during the National Baseball Poetry Festival hosted at the home of the Worcester WooSox over the week. Four students won the festival's Youth Poetry Contest! Two students attended the event in-person where they read their award-winning.

The students are part of CVLA’s Creative Writing class, which is co-taught by CVLA teacher Audrey Aka and CVLA’s Artist-in-Residence Roberto Germán, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Multicultural Classroom. The class is offered to students through funding from La Colaborativa's Youth-Led Cultural Empowerment Mini Grants.

Our ambassador CHELSEA was so excited to set up the dressing room for PROM 2026!!

In a partnership with the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, Chelsea Police Department presents "Chelsea's PROMise" to our high school students who are looking for a dress to attend Prom this year!

There are aready some beautifully donated dresses and we are actively accepting donations at our CPD wishing well! We have sizes 0-28! Please peek at the flyer below to sign up for an appointment at the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. You can make an appointment to check out the dresses or also email Ofc. Nicole McLaughlin at:

NMcLaughlin@chelseama.gov for appointment or donation questions.

Link for Appointments: https://forms.gle/57cZCMZ1PE9QedRC7

Mark your calendars for the Chelsea Research Festival, taking place on Monday, May 18, 2026 at the Chelsea High School Gym!

Community members are invited to attend one of two sessions: 1:30–3:00 p.m. or 4:30–6:00 p.m. Stop by to explore student-led research projects, connect with local organizations, and learn from universities, hospitals and community partners.

This family-friendly event will feature food, games and activities—and is a great opportunity to support Chelsea student presenters and celebrate learning across our community. We hope to see you there!

Learn more and get involved by visiting ChelseaResearchFestival.com or by contacting chelsearesearchfestival@gmail.com.

Check out the Youth & Adult Program Guide online at www.recreation.chelseama.gov