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Chelsea School Committee hears district plan to expand social and emotional supports for students
Summary
District staff outlined a multi-tiered social and emotional learning (SEL) program, staffing increases since 2019, partnerships with local providers, and digital mental‑health tools including the Alongside app and CartwheelCare telehealth.
Chelsea School Committee members heard a presentation from district staff Tuesday on the Chelsea Public Schools’ approach to social and emotional learning and student mental‑health supports.
The presentation, led by Chief of Staff Dr. Erin Jennings and Director of Student Supports Brenda Pena, described a multi‑tiered framework that district leaders said is intended to provide universal supports, targeted interventions and individualized crisis services across pre‑K–12 classrooms and school buildings.
District staff said the work has been funded in part with Student Opportunity Act dollars and other district funds. “We invested heavily into mental health, SEL,” Dr. Jennings said, and the district has increased staff capacity since 2019: school counseling staff total 19 counselors, the district has 21 social workers and the schools recently added four elementary counselors and two social workers focused on IEP‑related services.
Brenda Pena described the district’s MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports). Tier 1 covers universal supports available across classrooms, tier 2 provides targeted interventions for about 15 to 20 percent of students, and tier 3 is individualized crisis intervention and connections to outside providers. Pena said the district uses Panorama SEL surveys and TRAILS curriculum, and has begun classroom rubrics and walkthroughs to embed SEL in daily instruction.
Staff described technology and community partnerships used to extend services. Pena said the district uses the Alongside app for student journaling and coaching and that “we are in year 3 with Alongside and 89% of our students are using it actively and they've participated in the last 3 years in over 25,000 activities.” The presentation said just over 1,000 Chelsea High School students used Alongside this year. CartwheelCare provides telehealth sessions after school, and staff said safety procedures route severe alerts to 988, family contacts and, when needed, Chelsea Police Department dispatch; staff receive nonurgent reports the next school day. Pena said the district has seen safety alerts for about 1–2 percent of app users.
Pena and Jennings listed external partners that come into district schools for after‑school programming and therapeutic groups, naming North Suffolk Mental Health, Mind These program, South Bay Mentor, Healthy Chelsea, Mass General Hospital (MGH), Harbor Cove and Youth Elemental. They announced a district mental‑health fair set for May 29 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the middle‑school complex and said they plan more family engagement events and supports for educators, including an Alongside offering for staff.
Parents and community members in the meeting's Q&A praised the district’s work, asked about family participation and how partners are selected, and described classroom practices — for example, a parent said their child now uses breathing strategies learned at school. Staff said they are building peer‑to‑peer coaching among educators and working to normalize SEL language across classrooms.
No formal committee action was taken on the presentation. Staff said the district will continue implementing the SEL rubric and expanding family engagement and community partnership activities.
