Chelsea Public Schools Expands PK–12 Mental Health and Social-Emotional Supports

CHELSEA, Mass. – Through new partnerships that will provide individualized school-based therapy for students, Chelsea Public Schools (CPS) continues to demonstrate its deep commitment to the whole-child approach, ensuring that every student (PK-12) has access to high-quality social, emotional, and mental health supports. 

New partnerships that will serve CPS students beginning this school year include services provided by Northeast Health Services (NEHS) and The Home for Little Wanderers. Both partners will provide critical social and emotional services to students in CPS. NEHS will serve students at the Morris H. Seigal Clark Avenue Middle School, bringing licensed clinicians into the school building to provide on-site counseling and therapy services for students requiring individualized mental health support. The Home for Little Wanderers will extend access to high-quality and school-based therapeutic services for students with more intensive social-emotional needs at Chelsea High School. 

These partnerships complement existing collaborations with Pariva Health & LEGO Foundation, South Bay/Mentor, MindEaze, Roca, Healthy Chelsea, Berklee Center for Music Therapy, and Chelsea HUB, ensuring a seamless network of care across the district.

“In Chelsea, we believe that every student deserves to be seen, heard, and supported,” said Superintendent Dr. Almudena G. Abeyta. “These partnerships reflect our unwavering commitment to knowing each student by name, strength, and story - - and to surrounding them with the care they need to succeed both in school and in life.

“Our students’ well-being is foundational to their learning,” said CPS Director of Social Work, SEL, and Specialized Student Supports Brenda Ortiz McGrath. “From Pre-K through high school, Chelsea Public Schools has built a system where every student receives the right level of care—universal, targeted, or intensive—when they need it most. These partnerships and programs ensure equitable access to compassionate, high-quality mental-health supports across our entire district.”

These additional partnerships build upon a comprehensive amount of SEL and mental health services available to Chelsea students. CPS coordinates services through a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework. The district’s robust offering of services meets the needs of the three tiers of the MTSS Framework: Tier 1 (Universal Supports), Tier 2 (Targeted Supports) and Tier 3 (Intensive Supports): 

• Universal Supports (Tier 1) promote resilience, regulation and belonging for all students. Tier 1 initiatives include TRAILS to Wellness, WhyTry, the Alongside App, Panorama SEL Surveys, PBIS and Restorative Practices. Universal mental-health screenings (Grades 3–12) and staff Safety-Care de-escalation training further ensure proactive prevention and early intervention.
• Targeted Supports (Tier 2) include Group-based interventions like Bounce Back (3–5), CBITS (6–12), and Newcomer/Acculturation Groups (K–12) address trauma, social skills, and cultural adjustment. Partnerships such as MGH’s IDECIDE and Pariva Health & LEGO Foundation provide restorative and play-based supports for neurodivergent learners.
• Intensive Supports (Tier 3) are available to provide individualized services. These include school-based clinical counseling, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), crisis intervention and safety planning, and 24/7 telehealth access through Cartwheel Care and the Alongside App. The Gaggle ReachOut Hotline offers direct after-hours crisis support.

This framework and allotment of services is informed by the district’s SEL infrastructure that includes 11 SEL Lead Administrators, 11 SEL Leads, and 44 SEL Team members who meet monthly for professional learning and coordination. This collaborative structure ensures consistent, data-informed implementation and ongoing responsiveness to school and community needs.

In order to truly know students by name, strength and story, Chelsea Public Schools is committed to making sure that students have access to a wide variety of support systems that meet every need. From our youngest learners walking the halls of the Early Learning Center to our high school students preparing to graduate, CPS is dedicated to ensuring that students’ social-emotional wellness and mental health is prioritized and supported.

Chelsea Public Schools students have access to a variety of mental health and social emotional learning (SEL) resources at school. Wright Science & Technology Academy students are pictured here using the Alongside App, an example of a Tier 1 support universally available to CPS students.
 

CPS students wearing Chelsea Cares t-shirts and volunteering at the school district’s Youth Mental Health Day, an annual celebration of mental health and wellness each May. The “Chelsea Cares” campaign has resulted in increased access to mental health resources for CPS students.

The school district has named community members “Mental Health Champions” who embody the meaning of the Chelsea Cares campaign. Pictured her from left to right: Jay Velez, Brenda Ortiz McGrath and Rebecca Lowenhaupt 

Annual events such as Youth Mental Health Day and Self-Care Fairs have emphasized the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing at school. Chelsea High School students are pictured here at a Self-Care Fair at CHS where activities such as baby animal petting zoos encourage students to destress and prioritize their wellbeing.