Chelsea Intermediate School

Dear Chelsea Families,

Wow! It's hard to believe that March is coming to a close and we are headed into Spring Break! As March ends, so does our IAR testing. We are extremely proud of the diligence our Chelsea Tigers demonstrated during these annual assessments. Our Tigers worked very hard to show all they’ve learned this year, and we know that your encouragement is an essential factor in their motivation and success. Thank you for your partnership not only through testing, but throughout the school year.

Upon returning from Spring Break, our fifth graders will be taking the Illinois Science Assessment. This assessment is only administered in fifth and eighth grade and contains three testing sessions. Our sessions will take place on April 14, 15, and 16. We are confident our fifth graders will do a wonderful job demonstrating all they have learned in science.

On April 10 at 10:30 am, our fifth graders will be graduating from the DARE program. We are very proud of their accomplishment, and grateful for Officer Mineo’s time and effort in guiding our students through DARE.

We look forward to the final push of the fourth quarter; please let us know if we can support you or your child in any way!

Sincerely,

Rachel Newcomb

Principal

Paula Paymaster

Assistant Principal

Ricky Innocenti

Dean of Students

Dear Families of 5th Graders,

Now is a good time to contact your child’s doctor’s office to schedule the required health appointments for 6th grade. Before the first day of 6th grade, students must have:

A current physical exam completed within one year prior to the first day of school
1 dose of Tdap (in addition to the previous series)
1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine given on or after the 11th birthday
A dental exam

Please send the completed forms to Nurse Maria at Chelsea.

On April 2nd every year, we celebrate Autism Awareness Month. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. During this month, you will be given opportunities to gain a better understanding of this amazing disability. You might see people wearing more blue throughout this month or wearing t-shirts with puzzle pieces. This is because blue is worn to show your support of autism, and the puzzle pieces are worn as a symbol that represents the complexity of the autism spectrum.

Here are some interesting facts about the puzzling disorder of autism according to the Lurie Center of Autism: The term autism literally means “alone”; autism is one of the fastest growing disorders in the United States; boys are 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls; people with ASD can continue to improve- autism is not a degenerative disorder; hyperlexia is the ability to read above ones age or grade level and often accompanies ASD; many people with ASD are living a normal life who are working and contributing throughout their community.

During this month, I encourage you to branch out and find more opportunities to expand your knowledge on Autism Spectrum Disorder. Have a conversation with someone about this disability or better yet, have a conversation with someone who HAS this disability. They are the most interesting and most brilliant people you will ever meet. You can also donate to our local Autism Center- Tinley Park Autism Center (byyoursideac.com) or to a national organization such as Autism Research institute (autism.org). If you are a parent of a child with autism, My Autism Team (myautismteam.com), is a great social network for parents to connect and ask questions.

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Tinley Autism Skate.pdf

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April is National Poetry Month and National D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) Month! We also celebrate Arabic Heritage Month. When students log into their Classlink page, they can use Destiny Discover to search our shelves from home to find poetry books, a book for D.E.A.R. time, or a list of Arabic Heritage Month titles.

In April, we also celebrate National Parks Week from April 18-April 26! In the library, our celebration includes all 4th graders receiving their own National Parks Pass through the National Park Service’s Every Kid Outdoors Program. You can print a pass and learn more about how this program helps 4th grade students across the country explore the great outdoors at http://www.everykidoutdoors.gov.

BLUESTEM READING CHALLENGE DEADLINE

The Bluestem Reading Challenge ends on April 17th! Students who finish 8 or more books of the reading challenge earn prizes and anyone who reads 18 or more titles will be invited to the Bluestem Bash in May!

SPRING READING CHALLENGE

Your student can read or listen to the reading challenge books. A list and more information is available from Ms. Fracassi in the library, or on Destiny Discover on Classlink.

An all-school reading challenge is happening in April! Students will keep track of the number of minutes they read and compete against the other classes in their grade level. More info to come!

Tracking progress is easy using the Beanstack app on your child’s laptop! Beanstack is used to track Bluestem Challenge reading as well.

So far this year, there have been over 21,000 checkouts in the library!

Parents are welcome to volunteer in the library. Please contact Ms. Fracassi to learn more.

Students continued building their skills in net/wall games this month. They practiced their handshake grip and learned how to hit both forehand and backhand shots. Students then learned the underhand serve and were introduced to the game of pickleball. They used their underhand serves along with their forehand and backhand hits while competing in modified pickleball games.

During our volleyball unit, students practiced the fundamental skills of serving, bumping, and setting. They wrapped up the unit with fun mini games of volleyball.

Before spring break, students focused on developing their basketball skills. They learned how to shoot using proper form. Ask them about “BEEF” and see if they remember what it stands for! Students also worked on dribbling and ball-handling while practicing teamwork through bounce passes and chest passes.

To finish the unit, students put their skills into action with games like Around the World, Shooting Knockout, and mini half-court games.

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 a place where creativity comes to life! We celebrate the process of making music by trying new things, making mistakes, sharing a few laughs, and growing with every beat. Music class is a space for creativity, self-expression, and teamwork, where students experience the joy of making music together.

Here is what our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade musicians have been exploring so far during Quarter 4:

🎵 3rd Grade
Third graders have been busy building their rhythm skills! Students are learning how to read, write, analyze, and perform rhythmic patterns using eighth notes, quarter notes, and quarter rests. Through singing games, movement activities, and percussion instruments, they are developing a strong sense of beat while having fun making music together.

🎵 4th Grade
Fourth graders are taking their rhythm and pitch skills to the next level. They are performing patterns in simple meter while also exploring the science of sound. Students are learning how pitch is created and how it is organized in music. Our classroom has been full of great questions, discoveries, and plenty of “aha!” moments.

🎵 5th Grade
Fifth grade musicians are exploring more complex rhythms, including syncopation, and applying their skills through composition. Students have started creating original music, and we are looking forward to some exciting projects in the weeks ahead.

I am so proud of the growth I see in our musicians every day, beat by beat and note by note. Be sure to ask your student what they have been learning in music class! As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting music education at Chelsea.

The third, fourth and fifth graders finished up the third quarter of STEM strong. The third graders engineered parachutes and timed their descent to the target. Third graders also explored the Makey Makey devices to see what objects around the room were conductors and which ones were insulators. Some fun end of the quarter challenges were to engineer a tool to retrieve items that fell out of my purse into a storm drain, a marble maze and toothpick towers that can survive an earthquake.

Fourth graders engineered a pvc pipe claw machine. Students worked in groups to increase their communication and collaborative skills. Fourth graders also finished up the quarter working with those same groups to create an invention that could help the world around them. Students used materials of their choice from our Makerspace, planned a design, engineered, tested it and shared their projects with the class.

Fifth graders finished up the quarter in STEM by working on their own or with a partner to create an invention that can make life easier in some way. Students brainstormed ideas, planned out one of those ideas with a diagram and materials list from our classroom Makerspace. Fifth graders engineered, tested and redesigned as needed. Finally, the students shared their projects with the third and fourth graders in the Makerspace Showcase! I’m so incredibly proud of the perseverance, ability to problem solve and the joy the students exhibited as they engineered their own design. Way to go fifth graders!

I am excited about fourth quarter classes. Get ready to discover the Engineering Design process through many fun and exciting challenges!

The STEM lab is always looking for donations like dowel rods, lids, cardboard tubes, shoe boxes, craft items, Styrofoam, felt, material, straws, clay, plastic containers, etc. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure!

A new month is here, and somehow it has arrived faster than expected! Time really does fly when we’re busy creating in the art room. Third quarter has been full of learning, experimenting, and lots of artistic fun through our boot camps. Boot camps are focused learning days where artists explore a specific skill or medium—giving them time to practice, take creative risks, play, make mistakes, and learn from the process. Our students have been working incredibly hard and creating some truly fantastic artwork, and there is still so much exciting art-making ahead!

Be sure to keep an eye on Instagram to follow along with all the #TigerArt fun happening in the art room.

Art is about so much more than the finished piece—it’s also about the thinking, experimenting, and conversations that happen along the way. Talking with your student about their artwork can help them reflect, build confidence, and feel proud of their creative choices. If you’re looking for ways to start those conversations at home, try asking questions like these:

Ask rather than assume

“Tell me about what you made.”
“What’s the story behind this?”
“Which piece would you like to display?”

Talk about the process

“Why did you choose those colors or shapes?”
“What part did you enjoy the most?”
“How did you feel while you were creating?”

Looking at artwork

“What do you notice?”
“How does this artwork make you feel?”
“What do you think happened before or after this moment?”
“What would you title this artwork, and why?”

As the weather begins to warm up, encourage your student to take their creativity outdoors—drawing from observation or creating sculptures with natural materials are great ways to explore art in a new setting. You’ll also find a spring art challenge included below that your student can complete at home. Be sure to send me photos of their creations—I love seeing what they make!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our art program.

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Happy 4th Quarter!

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 and 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

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

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Theme Thursday March April 2026.pdf

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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!

Chelsea Family Shoutouts