Dear Chelsea Parents and Guardians,

An important opportunity to provide feedback regarding your family’s experience at Chelsea Intermediate School is happening right now! The Illinois 5Essentials survey is currently open and will remain open through March 28.

We hope that all Chelsea families will take the time to participate in the survey and share your thoughts on important indicators of school effectiveness. To take the survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select parent survey to begin.

We appreciate your willingness to take time out of your busy day and share your thoughts about our school. We always strive to be our very best, and your feedback helps us to do just that.

Thanks, as always, for your support and partnership. We are looking forward to a marvelous March!

Sincerely,

Rachel Newcomb

Principal

Paula Paymaster

Assistant Principal

Ricky Innocenti

Dean of Students

Hello Chelsea Families!

A big thank you to everyone for your incredible support during this week’s Chelsea Book Fair! It has been such a fun and successful event, and we truly appreciate your involvement.

If you weren’t able to attend the fair in person or if you missed out on some books, don't worry! You can still shop the Book Fair virtually through March 6th. Your purchases will still count towards our event!

Simply visit the Chelsea Book Fair website at https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/ChelseaSpring2025, scroll to the bottom, and click “Shop the Book Fair Experience”. Then click “Shop Now” and remember—25% of your purchase will come back to Chelsea!

Thank you again for your ongoing support. Happy reading!

~Family School Partnership (FSP) 157C

Due to a scheduling conflict at HCMS during the last week of May, we will be switching hot lunch dates with them that week. This will enable all our Frankfort Tigers to have the opportunity to enjoy hot lunch that week. The hot lunch that was originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 27, will now take place on Wednesday, May 28. We will send out reminders about this change as the date gets closer but wanted to make everyone aware now.

Fifth graders will be graduating from the DARE program in a special ceremony on Thursday, March 13 at 10:30 am in the North Gym. If you are a fifth grade parent and plan on attending graduation, please return the RSVP form (located below) to your child’s homeroom teacher by Friday, March 7. We look forward to celebrating our fifth graders on March 13!

As you may know, Ramadan begins on February 28 and ends on March 29. If your child will be fasting during this time, accommodations for lunch and recess are available should your child require them. Please contact Ms. Newcomb at rnewcomb@fsd157c.org for information regarding these accommodations.

Here are the new themes for March and April. A hard copy of this flyer was sent home with your Chelsea Tiger as well.

The district continues to partner with our parent organizations to provide fundraiser hot lunches to our school population via MySchoolBucks. In an effort to improve the accuracy of ordering and ensure all students are provided with their accurate order, the monthly deadline will switch to the 10th of each month. Families will receive a reminder on the 7th of each month.

Has your child had a special event or accomplishment outside of school? A performance, competition, or recital? If you would like to have your child's team, troupe, or company celebrated at school, please fill out the form linked below. We are happy to celebrate with you!

We will do our best to be timely in our recognition, but please know there may be a slight delay due to the volume of requests on any given school day.

In addition to appearing below, this "Family Shoutout” link will be posted on the Chelsea webpage so that you can access it at any time. We look forward to celebrating your child’s wonderful accomplishments with our Chelsea learning community!

Thank you to all drivers who continue to comply with our "Right Turn Only" sign at Chelsea's main exit on to 80th Avenue. Your cooperation in turning right during arrival and dismissal has significantly improved the speed and efficiency of our drop-off and pick-up lines.

We respectfully request that all drivers comply and turn right out of the Chelsea parking lot during arrival and dismissal. We know this may be a minor inconvenience, but when drivers turn right, it has a major impact on our car rider lines in the best possible way.

Looking for ideas to keep your third, fourth and fifth graders active over spring break? You’ve come to the right place! The Chelsea Special Education Teachers have put together a list of fun-filled “boredom busters” that will keep you well equipped when you hear, “I’m bored,” over Spring Break.

Music in Our Schools Month

The National Association for Music Education raises awareness of the importance of music in our schools. Every March is Music in Our Schools Month. Use this time to share music with your children at home, too.

· Attend a musical at a local children's theatre and/or introduce your kids to the world of musical theatre by listening to a soundtrack or watching a musical movie.

· Put on music from different genres and hold a dance party at home.

· Attend a family music class that introduces young ones to harmonicas, tambourines, maracas, and drums. If your kids are older, a family drumming circle can be fun.

Youth Art Month

The National Art Education Association began Youth Art Month in 1961 to encourage everyone to support all school art programs. You can also encourage creativity through artwork at home during the month of March.

· If the weather is nice, let your kids try creative outdoor painting and display their artwork when they're finished.

· Visit a local art museum or gallery and discuss what piece of artwork is each family member's favorite.

· Check out books on drawing from the library. Compare anime or classic comic strips and practice your drawing skills.

National Nutrition Month

This is the perfect time to teach your children about healthy eating habits. Use health and nutrition printables to help your kids learn about eating vegetables, taking good care of themselves, and more.

· Host a fruit and vegetable taste test by cutting up colorful produce and trying each piece to see which is each person's favorite.

· Explore ethnic cuisine by cooking a special meal from another culture together.

· Ask your kids to draw their favorite fruit or vegetable to create a gallery of healthy foods. Hang up the art in the kitchen or use it to inspire your next grocery store trip.

Women's History Month

Both boys and girls can benefit from learning about Women's History Month. Encourage kids to understand the various roles women have played throughout history.

· Do science experiments that illustrate the principles discovered or researched by female scientists.

· Create a scrapbook that celebrates all the women in your family's lineage with photos and journaling about how they have contributed to both your family and society.

· Research how women lived 100 years ago, including how they dressed, what sort of jobs they held or roles they played in society, and what they legally were and were not able to do. Discuss how women's lives differ today.

American Red Cross Month

Help kids understand the rich history and the importance of the American Red Cross while also teaching them how to keep both themselves and others safe.

· Teach young children important safety tips, such as how to call 911, how to avoid dog bites, and how to get out of a house that's on fire.

· Enroll a teen in a Red Cross babysitting course to prepare for babysitting jobs.

· Learn about what the American Red Cross does in the U.S. and make a family donation to support a cause.

March is National Reading Month! Chelsea’s library has something for everyone to celebrate reading, including chapter books, nonfiction books, audiobooks, and graphic novels.

In March the library’s theme shelf celebrates Women’s History Month and St. Patrick’s Day. Special monthly themed books are on a special shelf all month and can be accessed online using Destiny Discover from every student’s Classlink page.

We finished February with over 19,000 check-outs this school year!

Students had fun with puzzles in the library last month!

The Bluestem Reading Challenge is still going! In February, we read Caves by Nell Cross Beckerman and illustrated by Kalen Chock.

What to know about the Bluestem Reading Challenge at Chelsea:

· Participation is optional.

· After reading 4 titles, students are eligible to take part in voting for the book they believe should be the Bluestem award winner. We will read 4 books during library.

· If your child chooses to participate, they will be rewarded for every 4 books they read on this year’s Bluestem nominee list.

· Upon completion of 18 books, your student will be invited to the Bluestem Bash in the spring (details TBD).

· Chelsea’s library has copies of each book available. Public libraries in our area also have copies available.

· You and your child are encouraged to look at the list together to choose which Bluestem nominated books your child will read this year.

Tracking progress is easy using the Beanstack app on your child’s laptop!

Parents are welcome to volunteer in the library. Please contact Mrs. Schubert at kschubert@fsd157c.org to learn more.

In February, students worked on their cardiovascular endurance by participating in the jump rope unit. They learned over a dozen jumps such as the double bounce, single bounce, and a crisscross jump!

We then kicked off our Kids Heart Challenge event with the American Heart Association. Students were encouraged to take a heart healthy challenge during the days leading up to our jump event. Students were challenged to drink water instead of sugary drinks, get 60 minutes of daily physical activity, or simply be kind to others. During PE we talked about all these positive habits and how they lead to good heart health. Students also had the opportunity to raise lifesaving donations for research with the American Heart Association. Chelsea did an amazing job and has already raised over $21,000! The event was filled with heart healthy jump ropes skills, jump rope contests, and raffles.

KEEP SAVING BOX TOPS for EDUCATION!

**Many food labels have started using box tops that need to be scanned. If you would like to continue to support our school, you need to download the Box Tops for Education app. Make sure you select Chelsea Intermediate School before you begin scanning your box tops!**

3rd grade students have been learning about eighth notes, quarter notes, quarter rests, and half notes. They played many of these rhythms using body percussion and classroom percussion. Students also learned the importance of bar lines. 3rd grade students began studying timbre. They have been participating in various interactive listening activities as they study instruments of the percussion and string families. Students participated in listening activities to learn about Jazz and Scat Singing and were introduced to Ella Fitzgerald.

In March, 3rd graders will be introduced to dotted half note, whole rest and beamed 16th notes and will learn to read and perform them. Students will continue to sort instruments into families and will identify the main instruments of the orchestra by sight and sound. This month’s focus will be the brass and woodwind families. Students will learn about dynamics and tempo. Students will continue to study performers and composers of various cultures.

4th Grade students have begun studying pitch and began playing simple melodies on mallet instruments. 4th graders have reviewed and performed rhythms using quarter notes, beamed 8th notes, quarter rests, beamed 16th notes, half notes, and half rests. Students are learning to count rhythms as opposed to using rhythm syllables. They also wrote a 4-measure melody to play on their recorder in March.

In March, 4th graders will put their knowledge of the treble clef staff to the test by reading and learning simple melodies on the recorder!

5th grade students have been reading and playing syncopated rhythms using body percussion and classroom percussion. 5th graders have studied song form and are able to distinguish different sections within a piece of music by listening. Students did composer studies on Scott Joplin and Louis Armstrong and learned about their significant impact on American music. 5th Graders had the opportunity to improvise over the 12-bar blues progression using mallet instruments.

In March, 5th Grade students will be exposed to 16th and 8th note combination rhythms. Students will continue playing simple melodies of increasing difficulty on mallet instruments. Students will be exposed to major vs. minor tonalities and learn the power of music in the movies. They will also continue to study performers and composers of various cultures.

A lot has been happening in STEM! All students are continuing to follow the Engineering Design Process to complete some exciting challenges. If you have any craft items, dowel rods, wood scraps, cardboard, caps, etc. please feel free to donate them to our Maker Space. The final project for 4th and 5th graders will be to create a product that will fulfill a need or solve a problem. Students will be allowed to select their own materials and create their own design!

Lots of things were going on in Fifth grade! Students worked collaboratively to build a rollercoaster with a giant drop, turns, hills, and loops.

Fifth graders designed a package that could protect a single Pringles potato chip. They completed the Shake, Rattle and Roll test. The packages that passed the test and weighed the least will be shipped off to Ms. Jozaitis’s daughter in college to see how the packaging handles the US Postal System. Let’s see if it makes it there with no breaks or cracks.

Air powered Jet toy cars were engineered by reading procedural text and then tested on 3 surfaces: carpet, tile and wood.

Fifth graders designed, created, and tested hot rod racers with a budget of $700.

Fourth graders discovered the pH levels of candy and liquids around the house. They created a campaign to teach third graders why it’s important to take care of your teeth.

Fourth graders also did some product testing to determine which brand of diaper was the best!

The third graders were engineering parachutes, measuring string precisely, and then testing to determine which parachute would fall to the ground the slowest.

Here we are again at the beginning of another month! I don’t know how this keeps happening, probably because we are having so much fun in art. I have been having a great time in the third quarter with my friends learning so much through boot camps. Boot camps are where our artists focus on a particular skill or medium to practice, experiment, take risks, play, make mistakes, and learn from them. They have been working so hard and created some pretty fantastic art, and I am looking forward to all the amazing fun we still to come. Keep a look out on Instagram to keep up with all the #TigerArt fun.

There is so much more to making art that just the final product. Part of the fun is talking about the work during and after the process. If you’re looking for ways to engage with your student about their work, try some of these questions below and watch their faces light up as they talk to you about what they created.

Ask rather than assume what they made.

• "Tell me about what you made."
• "What is the story behind this?"
• "Which piece would you like to display?"

Talk about process.

• "Why did you choose the colors and shapes you added?"
• "What part did you enjoy the most?"
• "How did you feel while you made this?"

Looking at others art.

• "What do you see or notice?"
• "How does this make you feel?"
• "What do you think happened before and after what you see in the picture?"
• "What would you name this artwork and why?"

As the weather begins to warm up, encourage your student to head outside to draw or create sculptures with natural objects. Below you will also find the spring art challenge your student can complete, make sure to send me photos! There are so many ways to be creative!

It's hard to believe that we are in the last stretch of 3rd quarter! Throughout the month of March, students in Spanish class will be using conversational skills to talk about the weather, clothing, and travel. Though each grade level is working on the same topic, each grade is completing different tasks and building on the previous year's knowledge to expand language skills.

March 4 - Hot Lunch (Chorus Boosters)

March 6 - Theme Thursday - Decades Day

March 7 - 5C Field Trip to JJC

March 11 - Hot Lunch (Athletic Boosters)

March 12 - 4th Grade Field Trip to Governors State University

March 13 - Theme Thursday - Luck of the Irish

March 13 - DARE Graduation @ 10:30am and 5th Grade Pizza Party during lunch

March 14 - Smoothie Day

March 17 - 27 - IAR Testing

March 18 - Hot Lunch (FSP)

March 18 - Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00pm

March 20 - Theme Thursday - March Madness

March 21 - End of Quarter 3

March 21 - LWSRA Popsicle Sale

March 24 - LWSRA Assembly

March 25 - Hot Lunch (LWSRA)

March 27 - Theme Thursday - Batter Up

March 24 - LWSRA Basketball Game at HCMS @ 6:30pm

March 28 - Report Cards Sent Home

March 28 - One-hour early dismissal @ 2:30pm

March 31 - April 4 - Spring Break - No School