Dear CPS Community,

The end of October is here, and it’s hard to believe we are already a quarter of the way through the school year, today was the 41st day of school! There have been many events leading up to Halloween this weekend; our schools have been celebrating today with activities and costumes that you will see highlighted below in this week’s newsletter.

As we turn our calendars to November, I would like to draw your attention to a discussion around our school buildings and the upcoming School Visioning Session at the Chelmsford Elks beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9th. During the 2015 - 2016 school year, the district engaged the services of Dore & Whittier Architects to assist with the development of a short-term 10-year capital plan, in addition to a long-term new school building construction plan for the Chelmsford Public Schools. As a result of that engagement, the district was provided with a roadmap for annual capital improvements to our schools that are funded and conducted by the Town.

Where it has been five years since the original Dore & Whittier study, it is timely to have them come back to the district and examine the work we have completed over the first five years of the 10-year capital plan we embarked upon. We need to ensure we have completed what we set out to do and examine if we need to reprioritize the remaining projects given current facility conditions. Dore & Whittier is also examining whether it still makes the most sense to try and move a long-term capital project at the high school level forward or look at other alternatives at the elementary or middle school levels.

I would like to encourage you to attend the upcoming visioning session facilitated by Dore & Whitter. Dore & Whittier will provide an overview of their current work in the district and facilitate a discussion on short- and long-term usage of our school buildings, including optimal grade-level configuration. If you are available and interested to share your thoughts, I welcome them along with Dore & Whittier.

Please enjoy this week’s feature pictures, take notice of upcoming events in our district, and have a wonderful weekend.

Yours truly,

Jay Lang, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

• View complete athletics schedules here

• School Committee Meeting - 11/2, 6:00 p.m.

• Chelmsford Booster Club Open Meeting @ The Establishment (2nd floor), 11/4, 7:00 p.m.

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.