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 School Updates
• Hooks School Updates
• Kelly School Updates
• Sokolowski School Updates
• Browne Middle School Updates
• Wright Science & Technology Academy Updates
• Chelsea High School Updates
• Chelsea Opportunity Academy Updates
• Messages from Community Partners

A special visit to Chelsea Public Schools!

On Tuesday, we were honored to welcome Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez to the Berkowitz Elementary School where he learned about the name, strength and story of our school district!

The visit brought together educators, families, students, and community leaders — including Superintendent Dr. Almi G. Abeyta, the Chelsea School Committee, Chelsea Teachers' Union, State Senator Sal DiDomenico, State Representative Judith Garcia, and City Manager Fidel Maltez — to celebrate teaching, learning, and collaboration across our district.

Commissioner Martinez visited classrooms, met with students, and listened to educators discuss a variety of topics including the importance of collaboration in their work to support every student and using student data to understand and support every learner.

From thoughtful poetry to hands-on math lessons and more, the day showcased the incredible learning happening every day at the Berkowitz and for students across the school district!

Three CPS students attended Wednesday night's School Committee meeting for special Hispanic Heritage Month themed presentations. Two Chelsea High School students performed three songs including one original piece and a Browne Middle School student Darianny Galicia Gonzalez read an original poem. Thank you for these students for showing off your talents!

On Wednesday night, two Chelsea Public Schools staff members received Name, Strength and Story Awards. Congratulations to Crossing Guard Zuleika Sala and Chelsea High School Administrator Michael Talbot!

Chelsea Public Schools Cross Guard Zuleika Sala

Chelsea High School Operational Leader Michael Talbot

Third grade students at the Berkowitz and Sokolowski Schools participated in International Dot Day this week at the Shubert Theatre in Boston!

International Dot Day is a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration inspired by “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds! The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”.

These CPS students enjoyed a wonderful live celebration of International Dot Day with the author himself, Peter Reynolds! Our third graders enjoyed a live reading of Dot Day and a special few even got up on stage and designed their own dots with Peter himself! Afterwards, students received autographed books and took pictures with Mr. Reynolds too.

Experiences like this bring what students are learning about in the classroom to life!

Students and staff from across the district attended a free Boston Landmarks Orchestra Concert on Thursday at Chelsea High School to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! Chelsea High School Students in the CHS Orchestra under the direction of Ali You, performed with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra too! Our orchestra students truly shined alongside this prestigious group of professional musicians.

Also at Wednesday's School Committee Meeting, four schools received recognitions for their performance, gains made and evidence of learning growth on MCAS. A special shout out to the Hooks Elementary School on its School of Recognition status! Accepting a plaque of recognition was Principal Dr. Kim Crowley, Assistant Principal Randy Grajal and Principal Clerk Bryan Pinales.

The four schools honored were:

• Hooks Elementary School (School of Recognition)
• Berkowitz Elementary School
• Browne Middle School
• Clark Avenue Middle School

Staff from the Hooks Elementary School were presented with a recognition for earning School of Recognition status

Staff from the Browne Middle School were presented with a plaque in recognition of the school's performance on MCAS.

The HR Team went to Gordon College for their annual team retreat to reflect back on last year, set goals for the year, and bod together as a team. We are grateful and excited for this year to serve CPS.

Chelsea Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) hosted a well-attended co-presentation with Cindy Rosenberg, Administrator of Special Education & Pupil Personnel Services, and Leslie Leslie, Project Director at MASSPAC, Federation for Children with Special Needs. The session focused on Parents’ Basic Rights: Notice of Procedural Safeguards, offering families clear, practical guidance on navigating special education processes and advocating for their children. We’re grateful for the strong turnout and invite all families of students with disabilities to join our next SEPAC meeting on December 2, 2025. Together, we build knowledge, partnership, and inclusive practices across Chelsea Public Schools.

We're super excited to launch our ParaPro and MTEL Prep Workshops! The first ParaPro session was held on October 2nd, where educators learned about effective test taking strategies, and took a mock ParaPro exam to assess where they were at. The first MTEL Prep session was held on October 9th, where educators learned about effective test taking strategies, content related to their MTEL exam, and answered practice problems. Led by Ayelia Ali, the two groups follow a study schedule with whole group study session meetings, and asynchronous independent work. Our goal is for our educators to have the knowledge and content to pass their exams - whether that is ParaPro or the MTELs!

Our Annual Title 1 Parent Involvement Policy Meeting, "Ways to get involved and support your child's learning", is coming up next week on Thursday, October 16, at the Clark Avenue Middle School.

The meeting is from 8:30-10:30. All families are invited to learn about how to support your child's learning!

Check out next week's upcoming games for our fall sports teams!

For more information email: atheletics@chelseaschools.com

Shout out to Soccer Stars Michael Pomar Camacho & Kim Estrada Mazariego, and to Cheer Star Lily Marra, and Cross Country Star Sebastian Molina.

We are so excited to be able to partner with the Special Olympics for Unified Basketball at Chelsea High School! Unified Basketball gives our students with and without intellectual disabilities the opportunity to play basketball together, foster friendships, understanding, and a sense of community. Thank you Coach Joe and Coach Greg for pulling it all together.

Here are a few pics from our first practice.

Join Chelsea Athletics on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Chelsea Memorial Stadium for a morning of fun and fitness while supporting a great cause. Choose between a 5K run ($30) or a 3K run/walk ($25), and don’t miss the free 400m kids’ run for children 10 and under (starting at 9:30 a.m.). Proceeds benefit the J. Barry Dwyer Memorial Scholarship and the Chelsea High School track, field, and cross-country programs. Register by November 6 to receive a T-shirt!

This week intramural games began officially. Students can be seen here practicing and taking advantage of the beautiful New England weather as the boys games were moved outside at the Williams.

Thank you to our amazing families for coming out to our Open House and supporting your child’s learning journey!

First grade students at the Berkowitz Elementary School have been learning about Earth’s place in the universe by observing patterns in our sky. They explored how Earth and the Moon both orbit and rotate in different ways, and discovered how these movements create the changing phases of the Moon. Students were amazed to learn that the Moon’s glow at night comes from the Sun’s light and that it takes about a month for the Moon to complete one full cycle!

Fourth grade students at the Berkowitz Elementary School have been learning about weathering and how natural processes slowly change the Earth's surface over time. As part of their study, students took their learning outdoors to observe real examples of how plants and roots can break apart rocks and pavement—a process called root wedging. This hands-on investigation helped students see how even small forces in nature can shape the landscapes all around us!

Berkowitz staff proudly represent their new banner for their DESE School of Recognition award in 2024 for MCAS growth. The Berkowitz school continued to show growth and were also recognized at this week's School Committee meeting.

We had a wonderful visit from the BU Dental Program, who came to share the importance of good dental hygiene with our students and staff! Everyone learned helpful tips for keeping those smiles bright and healthy.

A big thank you to our BU Dental friends for the fun and informative presentation and for the goodie bags filled with toothbrushes, toothpaste, and treats!

The Hooks School was recognized by DESE as a School of Recognition for their substantial growth in their MCAS scores. The Hooks was presented with a special plaque and banner by the Chelsea School Committee to share their pride.

Grade 1 has been working hard in their Read to Grow groups doing many different activities on subjects like letter recognition fluency, changing onsets and rimes to make real and nonsense words, and in making silly sentences using a subject and predicate!

Third graders in 106 have been learning strategies to read multisyllabic words. We've practiced with five out of the six syllable types. Next week we move on to 'Bossy R.' They're reading rock stars!

Students in H301 celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival as part of our "Read and Write Together" unit, which includes the text Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional holiday celebrated in many Asian cultures to give thanks for the harvest and to enjoy the full moon with family and friends. Students learned about the lunar calendar and created phases of the moon using Oreo cookie cream.

The second grade is learning about landforms and they used playdough to make landforms.

The Kelly School appreciates a donation of soft, fluffy socks from Bombas! Here, 3rd graders from K106 celebrate SOCK-tober with a silly sock day and their new Bombas socks!

Students and staff at Sokolowski showed their Bruins spirit by wearing black, yellow, and their favorite Bruins gear to celebrate the team’s first game of the season. It was a great day full of school pride and excitement!

Here’s some short vowel Mavens in 102! We’re reviewing our 1st phonics unit and brainstormed a list of words we hear the short vowel in for each one

Following a lively discussion surrounding one's community and viewing of artwork from around the world, including maps of Chelsea, Grade 3 Artists are applying their knowledge of proportion, depth, texture, form and more to create their own vision of their community. Students create a rough draft with pencil, and add details with colored pencils, markers, sharpie, and paint. Students hone their inner Stellar Storyteller further when, at the conclusion of their community works, students discuss what they chose to represent in their community, and why, and begin composing their very first official Artist Statement!

Browne Middle School’s Caminos Program held the Voices of Caminos: Hispanic Heritage Festival, where students and families celebrated culture, language, and identity through a gallery walk of projects. Highlights included Travel Without Borders, My Language Journey, Traditional Recipes and Family Histories, Beyond a Flag, poems and letters to the future self with AI generated pictures of their future selves, and responses to Hispanic female scientists. Families also joined interactive stations, creating a starry mural of letters and capturing memories in a photo space, making it a night of pride and community connection.

Ms. Cruger’s 6th grade history students at Browne Middle School created their own cave art while learning about the Paleolithic Era.

WSTA held its first School Site Council meeting, marking the beginning of a great partnership between home and school.

Girls on the Run – Middle School Edition is Here!

CHS students proudly represented the school as delegates at the Model United Nations Conference held at Suffolk University Law School. This was their first conference, where they represented the nations of Somalia and Guatemala and engaged in discussions around the global resolution “Promoting Girls’ Education.” Their participation marks the beginning of a journey toward developing strong preparation, diplomacy, and leadership skills to address international issues through dialogue and collaboration.

Three new Student Representatives from Chelsea High School participated in their first School Committee meeting of the year this week. This trio will report out monthly on happenings at CHS to the School Committee and share their insights on important topics about the school district. Congratulations!

It was a busy week at COA! Students visited Bunker Hill Community College this week and got an insight into different career and college options. Wednesday night was Family Night at COA, with parents and guardians of COA students coming in to discuss their students' progress in school and connect with the staff members, as well as participate in the School Site Council. Outdoor Experiences continued this week with COA's first overnight trip of the year to Ponkapoag campground, where students camped, went canoeing, cooked great food and enjoyed the serenity of the outdoors.

The Cities of Chelsea and Revere and Town of Winthrop (North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative) are partnering with Stop & Shop to host a regional vaccine clinic on Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chelsea Senior Center, located at 10 Riley Way. This is a walk-in only clinic; there is no pre-registration required.

The following vaccines will be available during the clinic:

• Flu (ages 5+, no insurance required)

• COVID (ages 12+, no insurance required)

• Shingles (ages 50+, insurance required)

• Pneumococcal (ages 50+, insurance required)

• RSV (eligible patients ages 50+, insurance required)

Chelsea Pride Football & Cheer is hosting their annual mini golf fundraiser on October 11th at Carter Park.

The Chelsea Pride Youth Cheerleading program is back and looking for students ages 5–14 to join the team! Whether you’ve cheered before or are brand new, this is a great opportunity to build school spirit, make new friends, and learn fun routines. The program fee is $125 and includes a uniform.

Sign-ups are happening at Carter Park (Chelsea High’s Baseball Field) Tuesday through Friday from 5:00–7:00 PM. For more information, call 617-212-0500 or email chelseaprideyouthsports@gmail.com