Students of Chelsea Public Schools returned to summer engagement in 2021, partaking in in-person summer programming for the first time since 2019. 

From July 6-29, Chelsea Public Schools offered 10 separate programs at three locations across the district. The Early Learning Center (ELC) featured the ELC Summer Reading program as well as the ELC Extended School Year (ESY) program. At the Mary C. Burke Elementary Complex, students enjoyed Elementary General Education, English Language Learner (ELL) and Elementary ESY programs. Chelsea High School housed all of the District’s middle and high school students participating in programming that offered a variety of opportunities including the 8-9 Transition Program for new high school students as well as ESY and ELL programming for both middle school and high school. There was also a middle school General Education program in addition to Credit Recovery.

The Chelsea REACH Program also held a six-week summer program located within Chelsea High School, which was an in-person experience. About 60 students participated in tutoring, mentoring, literacy through hip-hop writing workshops, project adventure, entrepreneurship, book club and more. The entrepreneurship workshop was particularly successful as students mentored the middle school students. They listened to each other's ideas, strategized, created, and develop multiple businesses from scratch. The program culminated at the REACH "From COVID to Entrepreneurs" event held on August 4th, 2021, where students presented seven fully executed businesses.

In total, the programming served over 800 students in the District. Over 130 staff members worked for CPS’ summer programming including 77 teachers and 33 paraprofessionals. Summer School Program Manager Julie Forry understood that summer programming in 2021 would have a unique twist to it.

“We know that the goal of having kids come in for summer school is to certainly reinforce any of those learning objectives that can be extended from the school year, but we also heard a very consistent message from the District that we want people coming in and feeling good,” Forry said. “Smiles on faces, recognizing that the community has gone through a lot over the last year, and really wanting to make sure that the school community relationship and connection was built on and enhanced.”

In the months of April and May, CPS opened its doors to its students after over a full year of remote learning, but parents had the option to keep their children in remote learning for the remainder of the school year. Summer programming, however, provided mostly in-person instruction with a handful of remote offerings, which continued the process of acclimating the District’s students back to in-person instruction. 

“It seemed like people felt good about coming into the building, and felt secure about the way that we were responding to COVID circumstances.  We really wanted to make sure that the families felt comfortable and confident with coming to school,” Forry commented.

The results were a successful summer. The District’s summer programming staff was able to provide enrichment and support services to its students, maintain strong lines of communication with parents and families and put smiles on the students' faces. Unique projects included third grade students enjoying “hands on” learning tasks such as making video game controllers and using coding to create digital music. 

Malik Howshan, the District’s new Coordinator for Extended Learning, added that the participants and their families felt a sense of optimism and excitement throughout the duration of the programming. 

“Kids are happy. They are coming to school every day, and attendance is really good. The kids have been happy, the teachers are happy and when we go outside and meet the parents, they’re all happy and thankful. I think in the end that’s, whether it’s 10 kids or 100 or 1,000 kids, that’s the goal of summer programming. Let’s make this fun, let’s learn something, let’s be interactive and that’s the goal of summer enrichment.”

The opportunity to participate in enrichment activities and enjoy the social environment that summer programming offers are significant beneficiary elements of CPS’ summer offerings. The District’s programming even served a community purpose as well, with students receiving grab-and-go meals for breakfast and lunch. Families were also encouraged to take meals home for additional family members. 

The hope for the future is to continue to build off what summer programming represented in 2021 - a continuation of the CPS’ return to its educational mission. Summer enrichment is a critical component of the bridge to future success for Chelsea students, and the opportunity to return to an in-person atmosphere this past July was a much-needed symbol of how important these experiences are. 

“Service learning. Teaching to the whole of the student. Making them a well-rounded person. Making them a positive member of the community. Civically engaged,” said Howshan. “That goes within Chelsea and within the schools. I can’t wait to see high school kids helping out first graders with reading. Using these programs to build a positive school community.”