Dear CPS Community,

Although it doesn’t seem like it with the weather we have been experiencing, spring is right around the corner and due to arrive on March 20th. With the pending change to the spring season from winter comes another change – to “spring forward” our clocks. This Sunday, March 13th marks the annual daylight savings ritual of moving our clocks ahead one hour. This annual event dates to as early as 1908 in Canada and then was adopted in the US on March 19, 1918, to save energy and get the most out of our natural daylight. Though, I look forward to the brighter evening hours, the adjustment and losing an hour of sleep this weekend is a tough one this time of year. Be sure that you take the time to set all your clocks ahead an hour this Sunday – I don’t want you to be late for school on Monday. This change will allow for some much-needed outdoor time later in the evening this spring.

On a positive note, since the height of the Omicron surge during the winter break and into early January, our positive COVID-19 cases have steadily declined each week. The number of positive cases after the February break, coinciding with our transition to mask optional for students and staff, has decreased for the past two weeks. Also encouraging is the surveillance data from our weekly pool testing initiative positivity rates. Positive pool test results have continued to decline each week as well. With the decrease in the number of positive cases, we are getting back to a sense of normalcy in our schools and community at large. We do however need to be mindful the virus is still present, and we must maintain the mitigation strategies in place to keep our learning environment safe. These strategies include weekly at-home rapid antigen testing, participating in our weekly pool testing initiative, staying home if not feeling well, following isolation and quarantine protocols as required, and practicing good hand hygiene. We continue to strongly recommend individuals get vaccinated and, if eligible, receive the booster to prevent severe illness and to reach a collective state of immunity. Please refer to our COVID-19 and Pool Testing Dashboards for up-to-date numbers for our school community.

I wish you a wonderful weekend and a “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” for those of you celebrating. Stay safe.

Yours truly,

Jay Lang, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

• View complete athletics schedules here

• Daylight Savings, 3/13, 2:00 a.m.

• Pi Day, 3/14, All Day

• CHS Career Exploration Breakfast, 3/15, 8:30 a.m.

• School Committee Meeting, 3/15, 6:00 p.m.

• Byam Paint Night, 3/15, 5:15 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

• St. Patricks's Day, 3/17, All Day

• Choralfest, 3/19, 1:30 p.m.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

San Diego County Office of Education

PBS SoCal

Education Week

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.