Chelsea Intermediate School
February Newsletter 2026
Dear Chelsea Families,
Third quarter has officially begun! We would not have successfully reached this point without your support. Your partnership is the key to ensuring that all our Tigers reach their full potential!
In February, we will celebrate Black History Month throughout all our Chelsea classrooms. On the announcements each week, we will highlight quotes from prominent African Americans in history as well as interesting facts connected to Black History Month. Each teacher will read a different book to their students every week, written by an author who is a person of color and/or featuring diverse individuals. Our Encore and PE classes will also make Black History Month connections throughout the month. While we continue to strive to teach the importance of celebrating diversity and acceptance in our school on a daily basis, we are proud to include these focused teachings during the month of February to celebrate Black History Month.
On February 4, we will be celebrating World Read Aloud Day, and what better way to celebrate that than to read? Each class will have a Tic Tac Toe board with a variety of reading activities to choose from that day. If the class earns a Tic Tac Toe by completing activities from the board, they will be rewarded with an extra recess!
Our second Parents in PE event will be held this month as well. Stay tuned for detailed information from the PE team. We are looking forward to welcoming you into the building to participate in the Kids’ Heart Challenge with your Chelsea Tiger!
We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a party on Friday, February 13. This is an early release day (dismissal at 12:05). All students are welcome to bring valentines for their classmates on the thirteenth if they would like. Please remember, although treat bags are welcome, they must not include any food items.
During the week of February 23, Chelsea will be hosting our spring Scholastic Book Fair. We will be inviting all families to a special STEAM and Family Book Fair Night on Thursday, February 26. In coordination with our theme of “Lights, Camera, Action,” each station at STEAM Night will be inspired by a movie. Stay tuned for more information coming soon!
There are so many wonderful things on the horizon for our Tigers. We are excited for a fantastic February!
Sincerely,
Rachel Newcomb
Principal
Paula Paymaster
Assistant Principal
Ricky Innocenti
Dean of Students
February is American Heart Month, a time to celebrate the amazing work our hearts do everyday and to practice habits that keep our hearts strong and healthy. The American Heart Association developed Life’s Essential 8 for kids that highlight eight important areas to focus on to support our healthy hearts.
1. Super Fuel – Try adding at least one fruit or vegetable to each meal or as an after-school snack this month.
2. In Motion – Aim for about 60 minutes of movement each day through play, sports, dancing, or family walks.
3. Clean Air – Chose smoke-free spaces and enjoy time outdoors to give hearts and lungs plenty of fresh air.
4. Sleep Tight – Create a calming bedtime routine, such as brushing teeth, a glass of water, reading, and turning off devices about 60 minutes before bed.
5. Balanced Bodies – Focus on balanced meals (protein, whole grains, fruits, and veggies) and plenty of fun, active movement instead of numbers on a scale.
6. Sweet Talk - Swap one sugary drink or sweet treat for a lower-sugar option, like water, milk, or fruit most days.
7. Building Blocks - Support healthy cholesterol by offering more fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains, and saving fried foods for once in a while.
8. Don’t Be Pressured – Help blood pressure stay healthy by encouraging active play, limiting salty snacks, and practicing calming strategies like deep breathing.
We finished January with over 16,000 check-outs from the library this school year! The library has a Theme Section that changes monthly to highlight special subjects. February’s theme shelf will include books celebrating Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day and winter sports in honor of the Winter Olympics!
The Bluestem Reading Challenge is still going! In January, we read two Bluestem books together – Butt or Face? by Kari Lavelle and Escape at 10,000 Feet: D. B. Cooper and the Missing Money by Tom Sullivan.
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.
● I encourage you and your child 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!
An email was recently sent to parents of students who have overdue books. Please ask your student to return overdue books to the library. If the book is lost, you have 2 options to replace the book:
- Replace the book with a new copy that you have purchased. Your student can bring that to the library.
- Pay for the book by using MySchoolBucks. Once you navigate to the “Pay for lost/damaged books” option, you can enter the price of the book, which should be in the email. Ms. Fracassi will be notified when payment is made.
Parents are always welcome to volunteer in the library. Please contact Ms. Fracassi to learn more.
Tara Fracassi
Chelsea Intermediate School Librarian
In January, Chelsea students kicked off the new year by working on their floor hockey skills. They learned the basics of stick handling, passing, and shooting. We wrapped up the hockey unit with mini games, allowing students to apply the skills they practiced while beginning to work together as a team.
We then transitioned into our dance unit. All the favorites were a hit, including the Electric Slide, Aaron’s Party, Cha-Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, and Macarena. It looks like our students will be lighting up the dance floor in the future!
January also marked the kickoff of our big heart-healthy event, the Kids Heart Challenge. Students learned all about this year’s event from a representative of the American Heart Association. We look forward to continuing to educate students on how to keep their hearts healthy while keeping them active through heart-healthy activities in Physical Education.
If you would like to help our school collect lifesaving donations, please visit the Kids Heart Challenge website or download the app. Be sure to keep an eye out for a Parents in PE letter coming home with details about our Kids Heart Challenge jump rope event.
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!**
At Chelsea, we believe every student is a musician and our music room is where magic happens! We celebrate the process of making music: trying new things, making mistakes, laughing a little, and growing with every beat and note. Music class is a space for creativity, self-expression, and teamwork, where students get to explore the joy of making music together.
Here’s what our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade musicians have been up to so far during Quarter 3:
🎵 3rd Grade
Third graders have been rocking the rhythm! We’ve been learning how to read, write, analyze, and perform rhythmic patterns using eighth notes, quarter notes, and quarter rests. Through singing games, movement, and percussion instruments, students are building a strong sense of beat while having a blast making music together.
🎵 4th Grade
Fourth graders are taking their rhythm and pitch skills to the next level! They’re performing patterns in simple meter and exploring the science of sound, learning how pitch is created and how it’s organized in music. Lots of great questions, discoveries, and “aha!” moments happening in class.
🎵 5th Grade
Fifth grade musicians are diving into more complex rhythms, including syncopation, and putting their skills to work through composition. They’ve started creating original music, and we’re gearing up for some exciting projects in the weeks ahead.
I am so proud of the growth I see in every student, beat by beat and note by note. Be sure to ask your musician what they’re learning in class. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting music education at Chelsea!
Our STEM students wrapped up the second quarter on a high note! They worked hard following the engineering design process—thinking critically, problem solving, and persevering. We are so proud of their accomplishments! I’m looking forward to working with the third-quarter students!
5th Grade Makerspace Inventions
Fifth graders became true innovators as they planned, designed, and built their own Makerspace Inventions. They even invited 3rd and 4th graders to explore their creations and listen to their invention pitches. What a fun way to celebrate creativity and collaboration!
4th Grade Makerspace Projects
Our fourth graders teamed up in collaborative table groups to design, choose materials, and build Makerspace inventions that solved real-world problems. They wrapped up by presenting their creations to classmates—showcasing creativity, teamwork, and innovation!
3rd Grade STEM Adventures
Third graders became engineers as they designed and tested their own parachutes! Using rip cords, they discovered whether long or short strings made a parachute fall more slowly. They also tackled exciting hands-on challenges: building towers that could withstand an “earthquake”, engineering a tool that retrieves items lost in a storm drain and difficult marble mazes! What an amazing way to learn through creativity, problem solving, and fun!
We have somehow already made it halfway through the school year! Time really does fly when you’re having fun—and that is exactly what we’ve been doing in the art room: creating, exploring, and learning together. Our 2nd quarter artists learned so much and produced some truly fantastic work.
Students were introduced to a variety of artists during our Meet the Artist days, including Stefan Bucher, Bisa Butler, Romero Britto, Kehinde Wiley, and many others. Through drawing, painting, and collaging boot camps, they practiced new skills and techniques while building confidence in their artistic choices. All grade levels wrapped up the quarter with printmaking projects, which quickly became a favorite! Fifth grade explored mono printing, fourth grade created collagraph prints, and third grade worked on relief prints. I am so proud of the creativity, effort, and growth shown in all of their work.
I am excited for my 3rd quarter artists to dive in, have just as much fun, and create even more beautiful works of art. Please encourage your students to keep up their hard work. If you’re looking for ways to keep your Tiger creating at home, be sure to check out the Art Challenge and idea prompts. Feel free to tag me on Instagram or email me photos of finished projects! As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Happy 3rd Quarter! We started our new quarter on January 20.
- 3rd grade students started learning Spanish basics (greetings, introductions, common courtesy, farewells) along with numbers 0-20.
- 4th and 5th grade students reviewed their knowledge of Spanish basics. 4th and 5th grade students will continue building on their Spanish language repertoire, practice asking and answering questions about themselves.
- As the quarter continues, students will continue developing their Spanish vocabulary to describe their daily lives.
- Vocabulary themes will include:
- Introductions, greetings, farewells
- Weather, seasons and clothing
- Numbers, telling time, giving age, counting
- Calendar: days of the week, dates months of the year
- The Spanish alphabet
- Geography
- Sports
- Animals
- Foods
- Students in Spanish 3rd Quarter: if possible, please donate the following for our shared materials:
- 3rd graders: a black Expo marker
- 4th graders: regular pencil (not mechanical)
- 5th graders: colored pencils
February Dates to Remember
February 3
- Hot Lunch (Education Foundation)
- FSP General Meeting at 9:30am
February 4
- World Read Aloud Day
February 5
- Theme Thursday - Football Fandom
February 6
- Fastbridge Reports Sent Home
February 10
- Hot Lunch (FSP)
February 11
- Kids' Heart Challenge during PE (Parents in PE)
February 12
- Theme Thursday - Feel the Love
- Kids' Heart Challenge during PE (Parents in PE)
February 13
- Valentine's Day Parties 11:00am - 11:45am
- SIP Day - Dismissal at 12:05pm
February 16
- Holiday - No School
February 17
- Hot Lunch (FSP)
- Board of Education Meeting at 7:00pm
February 18
- Tiger University
February 19
- Theme Thursday - Disney Day
February 23 - 27 - Spring Book Fair
February 24
- Hot Lunch (Band Boosters)
February 26
- Theme Thursday - Music to My Ears
- STEAM and Book Fair Family Night 5:30 - 7:00pm
