Chelsea Public Schools officials told the School Committee the district is on pace to improve several success indicators compared with the prior year and students shared recent achievements and events.

Adam Delaney, chief academic officer, said daily attendance for most grade levels is on pace to beat last year’s percentages and that, for November, the district’s dropout rate stood at 1.9 percent compared with 2.41 percent in November 2024. He broke out subgroup numbers: multilingual learners showed a 4.8 percent dropout rate for the month, students with disabilities 1 percent, and dually identified students 2.5 percent. Delaney also reported mobility statistics (31 students in and 44 out for the month; year-to-date 255 in, 137 out) and subject-failing rates (ninth-grade failing any subject at 43.4 percent, down from 46.5 percent the prior year).

In questions, members asked whether mobility trends and fewer newcomer students (Delaney said the district had two ninth-grade newcomers this November versus about 65 last year) were skewing indicators; district staff said the in/out counts are roughly similar but that the mix of incoming students differs and likely has a modest effect on performance metrics.

Student representatives reported two recent donations (from Sen. Sal DiDomenico and Robert Hildreth), volunteer plans including a toy drive with Sen. DiDomenico, and celebrated Ahmed Sheriff’s selection through QuestBridge National Match and a college match with Yale. Students also described the Katie’s Closet ribbon-cutting and upcoming CHS events (National Honor Society induction, winter formal, school play Rumors).

Provenance: topicintro SEG 1029; topfinish SEG 1246.