CPS Superintendent's Update

Dear CPS Community,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and were able to enjoy some well-deserved rest over the long weekend. Although the calendar change to December starts today, in just three short weeks, another school break will commence with our annual winter vacation that leads us into the new year. Amazingly within this short time frame, the month is packed with many activities and events for students leading up to the winter break. Please be on the lookout for correspondence from the schools related to upcoming event information.

Speaking of upcoming events, December is a very busy concert month in our schools. Our talented performing arts students have been working hard and are looking forward to showcasing their many talents this month. I hope you will attend a concert (or two!) to share in the joy of music. However, there is no need to fret if your calendar does not allow for your in-person attendance, as the crew from Chelmsford Telemedia will record each concert for your viewing pleasure. As concert recordings become available, they will be highlighted in each week’s newsletter.

As you fill your calendars with upcoming events, I want to inform you about an important change to our current 2023/24 school calendar. Last December, the current calendar was established to include professional development days. At the time of the calendar creation, the 2024 presidential primary election calendar was not established. Since the McCarthy Middle School is one of the town’s centralized voting locations, professional development days are typically scheduled on election days to minimize access to the McCarthy building and to alleviate parking and traffic congestion that may potentially impact the function of the school day. The March 2024 presidential primary does not align to the scheduled professional development half-day in March. I requested and the school committee approved and change to the March 2024 professional development half-day to be in alignment with the presidential primary to minimize disruption to the McCarthy school day.

The School Committee voted at the November 21st meeting to amend the 2023/24 school calendar to move the previously scheduled Wednesday, March 6th professional development day to Tuesday, March 5th. You will find the updated school calendar on our website. Please be sure to adjust your personal calendars to reflect this change. As we get closer to the date, you will receive reminders from your child’s school about this and all other professional development half-days for the remainder of the school year. Thank you for your patience and flexibility regarding this change.

As a reminder, next Thursday, December 7th is an early release day for all schools and is the second day of parent-teacher conferences for elementary and middle school students. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy this week’s highlights below.

Yours truly,

Jay Lang, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

• Athletics Schedule
• CHIP PTO Meeting, 12/4, 6:30 p.m.
• School Committee Meeting, 12/5, 6:00 p.m.
• Early Release, 12/7, See school release times

• Campus Bound Live Webinar: Completing the FAFSA, 12/7, 6:30 p.m.

As is customary, Chelmsford High School held a pep rally ahead of the football team’s annual Thanksgiving tilt against the Billerica Indians; this year’s rivalry game will be held Nov. 22 as part of the Football at Fenway series. Please visit our website to view the picture gallery of all the fun!

Six seniors were recently honored as Chelmsford High School named its Lions Pride/Rotary Student of the Month recipients for November, announced CHS Principal Stephen Murray. Seniors receiving recognition were Garrett Russell and Gemma Bardouleau from Emerson House, Naomi D’Souza and Delia Schiefen of Hawthorne House and Benjamin Redding Cooper and Maria Kesablyan from Whittier House. Please visit our website to read more about our CHS Students of the Month.

Twelve Chelmsford High School student-musicians — representing band, orchestra and chorus — have qualified for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Northeast Senior District Music Ensemble. On Saturday, Nov. 18, those students auditioned alongside over 1,100 other students from public and private schools across the northeastern part of Massachusetts, and only about 40% of those who auditioned were selected to participate in this prestigious MMEA event. Five musicians earned first chair honors including Keya Upadhyay (flute), Ethan Jiang (tenor saxophone) and Ryan Blaine (French horn). Meanwhile, seniors Jack Tallent (tuba) and Kyle Pinto (trombone) both earned first chair honors for the second straight year. Six CHS students received MMEA All-State recommendation, including Blaine, Jiang, Tallent, Upadhyay and Kyle Pinto, as well as vocalists Adam Pinto (tenor) and Cailin Deutschmann (soprano). Please visit our website to read more about these performing arts students.

CHS student Lani Petrova art pieces was accepted into the Umass Lowell 3rd Annual Juried High School Exhibition. Lani's piece called "Identity" is a mixed media self-portrait. Lani is currently a senior at CHS and is in the Studio Art 3 course at CHS. Please see the following brochure to learn more about this art exhibit.

On a late September afternoon, Chelmsford senior Kyle Wilder asked a question no 17-year old should ever have to utter. “Am I going to die?”Now nearly two months later Kyle is at home with a semblance of peace, using the same qualities that built him into a varsity quarterback to overcome a life-altering two weeks and find hope in his future. “Always believe and never give up,” Kyle said. “I always believed and I never gave up and I am here today smiling.” Please continue reading about Kyle's story at bostonherald.com.

Please enjoy fall edition of the CHS student run newspaper, The Voice on our website.

The Bionic Project visited McCarthy Middle School on Monday 11/27 and Tuesday 11/28. The Bionic Project engaged McCarthy students in 4 different assemblies on Monday and worked with 2 eighth grade physical education classes that afternoon. They came back on Tuesday to spend the entire day working in the seventh and eighth grade physical education classes at McCarthy giving students the opportunity to participate and play a game of amputee soccer where they used crutches and only one leg in the game. The Bionic Projects mission "aims to create a more inclusive world for everyone, regardless of physical ability." They work to dismantle disability bias, build empathy, and foster connection through education, story, and sport. Their presentations and work in the physical education classes provided our seventh and eighth grade students with an opportunity to learn, reflect, and experience what it would be like to have a physical disability and how and what it looks like to be an ally.

Next week is the official Hour of Code and Harrington students will be participating during their computer classes. The Hour of Code is a movement to get kids all over the world on computers coding through fun activities and videos for learners of all skill levels. This year's celebration of both coding and AI is supported by over 400 partners, 20,000 educators, and 58,000 volunteers in over 180 countries. If parents would like to check out any of the free coding activities, please visit the Hour of Code website.

South Row Extended Day students created ornaments for their tree this year, which is part of the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship’s Annual Tree Hunt. This year the students chose a "Grinch" theme.

Center school staff participated in a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training on 11/29. The staff successfully completed the course and received certification for CPR certification from the American Heart Association (AHA). This course teaches adult and child CPR/AED use, Infant CPR, and how to help in a choking emergency in adults, children and infants. Knowledge is power and becoming CPR certified teaches the skills necessary to help in the event of a cardiac emergency and saves lives! Thank you to the staff at Center School for being trained and ensuring a safe learning environment for our school community! The class was taught by our CPS Nursing staff Peggy Gump, M.Ed BSN RN and Lisa Kamenides MSN RN

Chelmsford Community Education is seeking a long-term substitute childcare supervisor. To learn more and apply, please see the job posting using the following link.

Chelmsford High School has a cashless system for admittance to its regular season home athletic events. To get your tickets, CHS has partnered with GoFan.co, a digital, cashless ticketing app used by more than 10,000 schools, for fast and convenient payments for regular season home games. CHS fans are encouraged to download the GoFan app. For Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association postseason tournaments, the MIAA also utilizes GoFan.co as its own ticketing system. Visit the MIAA Ticket Information page.

The CPS Health Services Department is committed to providing evidence-based/ best practice holistic nursing care to the unique, culturally diverse students of Chelmsford Public Schools. In collaboration with all stakeholders, we advocate for their safety and healthcare needs. We are dedicated professionals who are committed to bridging health care with education and making a positive impact on the present and future wellness of Chelmsford’s school community. Please visit Health Services.

The mission of the Chelmsford Public Schools is to educate, engage, prepare, and empower well-rounded and knowledgeable learners who PERSEVERE through challenges, demonstrate RESPECT and INTEGRITY in their words and actions, are DEDICATED to their community, and display EMPATHY as global citizens while discovering and pursuing their full potential.

Email: information@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://chelmsfordschools.org
Location: 230 North Road, Chelmsford, MA, USA
Phone: (978) 251-5100
Facebook: facebook.com/chelmsfordpublicschools
Twitter: @ChelmsfordPS