Sokolowski Weekly Memo (3/9/26)

This weekend we spring forward as the clocks move ahead for daylight saving time. That means one less hour of sleep but it also means longer days, more sunlight in the afternoons, and hopefully some warmer weather ahead as we move closer to spring. Hopefully the extra daylight and some milder temperatures this week help us all shake off the winter rhythm and enjoy the start of the spring season.
Supporting Strong Attendance

Attendance continues to be one of the strongest predictors of student learning and engagement. Over the past few months, our Attendance Team has been reviewing patterns across classrooms, and we want to share a few bright spots that we are seeing across the school.
At the beginning of the school year, we reviewed our DESE accountability data together. One data point that stood out for us was that we did not secure any points in the chronic absenteeism (18+ absences) category last year. While this indicator is part of the accountability system, the goal here is not to frame attendance as a compliance issue. Instead, it is a reminder of how closely attendance is tied to student success. When students are consistently present, they have more opportunities to engage with learning, participate in discussions, and build strong academic habits over time.
Sharing Bright Spots
In classrooms with the strongest attendance, teachers consistently build strong communication with families and address attendance patterns early. These teachers tend to notice small changes quickly and follow up with families in a supportive and natural way. Often, the conversation is framed around student learning, participation, and success in school rather than focusing only on the absence itself.
Some examples of Tier 1 practices we have seen working well include:
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Maintaining regular communication with families about student progress and engagement
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Checking in with families when patterns begin to emerge (for example, frequent absences or repeated late arrivals)
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Framing conversations around how important consistent attendance is for student learning and classroom participation
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Addressing concerns early before patterns become more significant
These early conversations often help families address challenges before attendance becomes a larger concern.
When to Loop in the Attendance Team
While many attendance concerns can be addressed through Tier 1 communication, there are times when additional support is helpful.
If a student reaches approximately 15 absences or you notice a consistent attendance pattern (for example, a student is out every Friday, or significantly late every Monday), please reach out to the Attendance Team so we can support the next steps.
Teachers can email the team directly at: soko_attendance@chelseaschools.com
When reaching out, please include any steps you have already taken and patterns you have noticed. This helps the team understand the situation and allows us to follow up with families to identify potential barriers and determine what additional supports may be helpful.
Our goal is to work together so that families receive consistent support and communication.
[Action Needed] Documenting Attendance Communication in Aspen
Another important part of supporting strong attendance is making sure communication with families is documented in Aspen.
Each morning the office calls all families of students who are absent. Occasionally, families share that they already notified the teacher about the absence. When the office does not have that information, it can create confusion or frustration for families.
To help us keep communication clear and organized, please make sure that any attendance-related communication you receive from families is documented or shared with the office.
Teachers have two options:
- Document directly in Aspen: When posting attendance, you may add a brief comment describing the reason for the absence and include your initials (Medical appt per mom CM). A short note is all that is needed.
- Forward the communication to the office: You may also forward any communication you receive about a student absence (emails, PS messages, notes) to the office so it can be documented before attendance calls are made. Forwarding these messages allows the office to document the information in Aspen before making calls to families.
Why This Documentation Matters
One important data point the Attendance Team monitors is how many absences were not communicated to the school. This includes situations where families did not notify the school or when the school was unable to reach the family.
This information becomes particularly important when attendance concerns move into Tier 2 or Tier 3 support, as it helps the team understand patterns and determine the most appropriate next steps.
Timely documentation helps us maintain accurate records and ensures we are able to provide the right level of support to students and families.
Thank you for the many ways you support our students and families each day. Your strong communication and early outreach play an important role in helping our students stay engaged and present for learning.
Spring Parent Conference Signups using Parent Square
Conferences will take place Tuesday, March 31 from 4:00 to 6:00pm. Teachers will use ParentSquare to set up appointment slots for families to sign up.
- How to: Use these step-by-step directions from the Digital Literacy Coaches.
- Timeline: Create and post your ParentSquare sign-ups by Friday, March 13 in order to give families plenty of time to schedule.
- Monitoring Sign-Ups: You can track who has viewed or signed up for a slot on slide 9. Follow up directly with families who haven’t signed up or seen the post.
- Family Notifications: Sokolowski will send a ParentSquare notification reminding families to look for your sign-up post.
- Support: If you have questions or need support with the PS sign up slots, please contact Mercy.
Sokolowski Weekly Memo (3/2/26)

It was awesome to close out the week seeing so much joy and pride during our first Personal Best on the Test Room. Students who met their mid-year iReady goals walked in excited and walked out even prouder! Watching them celebrate their own growth was a strong reminder that progress, effort, and focus truly matter.
Thank you to all the teachers who supported students in working toward their personal best and pushing toward grade-level expectations. And a big thank you to the ILT for decorating the room, analyzing the data, and coordinating the logistics. This was our first round and we are already looking forward to round two after the final iReady diagnostic at the end of the year.
And as we begin March, Happy Women’s History Month! There is a reason this profession has long been dominated by women. It demands patience, empathy, and the ability to hold high expectations while leading with care. Those qualities shape our classrooms every day and directly impact the lives of our students. Thank you for the work you do!
Looking forward to a strong week ahead as we move into a busy and important stretch of the school year.
♀️ Celebrating Women’s History Month!

March is Women’s History Month!
It’s a time to recognize the achievements, resilience, and contributions of women throughout history and in our own community. What began as Women’s History Week in 1980 has grown into a month-long celebration of the women who have paved the way for progress and those who continue to shape our world today.
The National Women’s History Alliance has chosen the theme “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future” to honor women building a more resilient and equitable future.
At Soko, we celebrate the strong, inspiring women who support and uplift our students every day. We encourage our school community to learn about the impact of women in history, engage in meaningful discussions, and find ways to honor the women who make a difference in our lives. Let’s take this time to reflect, appreciate, and celebrate the power and achievements of women in the past, present, and future!
Additional Resources:
HOMie News! (February 2026)

MCAS Technology Updates
Hello 3rd and 4th grade Teams,
MCAS is coming up! How to prepare your students:
- Please book me at a time to come in and review the MCAS tutorial on the MCAS platform. Please check out this list to preview some of the tools and question types students see on the testing platform.
- MCAS tutorial student slides for demoing the tools
Online Practice:
- Online practice tests are available. For the practice test, students should use the MCAS app on the chromebook, NOT the testing website.
Next Steps and Resources: It would be beneficial to get students on MCB Typing Club (on student launcher page) more frequently in the upcoming weeks. This can remove the barrier of navigating the keyboard during the test.
- Create opportunities for students to practice typing by digitizing writing tasks. Focus on revising word processing tasks – such as using capital letters and punctuation. Use Google docs for typing tasks. Practice punctuation and grammar activities are also available on the Seesaw District Library

- Student kiosk updates – to review updates
- MCAS Item Library for practice
- Practice Tests and Other Resources Access resources to prepare students for testing.
If you have any questions or need support, please reach out. If your class can benefit from some mice – I should have some I can distribute.
Mercy
Sokolowski Weekly Memo (2/23/26)
We hope everyone had a restful February break and found at least a little time to disconnect, relax and recharge.
New England mantra as you shovel round 3…
Well… just when we thought we were heading back from break, New England reminds us who is in charge. ❄️ Tomorrow is officially a snow day. Based on the forecast and what happened last time, Tuesday may also be doubtful, but we will have to wait and see.
All jokes aside, I hope everyone stays safe, warm, and shoveled out without too much back pain. We will regroup once the snow settles and adjust as needed.
Enjoy the unexpected extra day!
Personnel Updates
We are excited to share that Asherah Adler-Eldridge will be joining us starting Tuesday, 2/24 as our new Building Sub. Asherah has been working as a substitute with ESS since 2023 and is very familiar with Soko, having covered classrooms across multiple grade levels and specialists. She will be working in 311 to support the special education caseload while Julia is on parental leave.
Please join us in welcoming her to this new role.
New Baby Shark Alert
We are excited to share that Harrison Pedro Falci was born on February 21, weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Mom and baby are healthy, and Lucia has officially been promoted to big sister. ❤️
Please join us in sending Julia and her family lots of love as they settle into life as a family of four.

Admin Team Feedback & Growth
Thank you again to everyone who filled out the mid-year survey. In addition to the individual feedback, Linda also shared the themes from the questions about me and D as a team. You named many strengths that we care deeply about: being student-focused, responsive when issues arise, and working together to keep Soko a positive place for kids and adults.
A few clear areas came through that we will be working on together:
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Making it clearer who to go to for what
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Tightening and aligning our approach to behavior and discipline so expectations feel consistent for students and staff
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Spending more visible time in classrooms and shared spaces together
We appreciate the honesty and trust behind your feedback. We are committed to growing as a leadership team while keeping expectations high, because our students deserve our best. As always, our doors are open if you would like to talk more or share additional ideas.
Schoolwide Expectations
As we move further into the second half of the year, this is a great time to revisit and reinforce our schoolwide expectations. We will be tightening consistency across spaces in the building and increasing reinforcement of expectations in classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, and shared areas.
Please take time this week to review the Schoolwide Expectations Slides with your students. Thank you for helping us stay aligned and consistent as a school.
Staff Meeting 2/24
Our upcoming staff meeting will focus on Increasing Writing Opportunities for students, building on feedback from our recent Instructional Rounds visit.
Please come with one lesson in mind where you could intentionally increase student writing. This can be selected individually or as a grade-level team. There will be time during the meeting to apply the learning right away, so thinking ahead will help you make the most of the work time.
[NOTE]: We are scheduled to have a staff meeting on Tuesday. If weather forces school to be closed on Tuesday, our March 10 faculty meeting will automatically become a two-hour meeting (per contract), 3:00–5:00pm. We will confirm plans once we know more about the week ahead.
Coverage Notice: March 1–March 8
Please note that ESS will not be available from March 1–March 8, and we will not be able to secure any external substitutes during that week. If you are able to schedule non-urgent appointments or personal days outside of that window, it would be greatly appreciated. This will help us maintain stability for students and minimize internal coverage adjustments. Thank you for planning ahead and supporting one another during that week.
Black History Month Timelines (Due 2/27)
A reminder to add your Black History Month posters to the Soko Timeline outside the office by Friday, February 27th. Resources, timelines, and examples can be found HERE.
Personal Best on the Test Room – Friday, 2/27
Our Personal Best on the Test Room celebration will take place on Friday, February 27 from 1:30–2:30pm. Coaches will come to classrooms to pick up students who met their individual i-Ready growth targets and bring them to the prize room. Students will select their prize and return to class shortly after. We are excited to honor and celebrate the students who worked hard to meet their personal goals. We intentionally scheduled this at the end of the day on a Friday to minimize instructional disruption and to be mindful of students who may not have met their targets this time.
As a reminder, this is not a one-time opportunity. We will repeat the Personal Best on the Test Room celebration following the final diagnostic at the end of the year. You can continue encouraging students to work toward their next growth target between Diagnostic 2 and Diagnostic 3.

PLTs This Week
Now that we are done with testing, PLTs will focus on i-Ready Midyear Diagnostic Analysis – Informing Instruction (ELA). Teams will review data, identify trends, and determine next instructional moves. PLTs will take place on their respective days with regular coverage (pending Tuesday, depending on weather).
Monday’s PLT with paraprofessionals and specialists will be rescheduled. We will share a new date and time once we have clarity on what the next couple of days look like.
Important Dates
- 2/23–3/4 — CWA ELA Testing Window (Grades 3–4)
- 2/24 — Staff Meeting, 3:00–4:00pm
- 2/26 — SEL / Kindness / HOMies Night, 5:00–6:30pm
- 3/5 — Hosting Instructional Rounds at Sokolowski
- 3/6 — February Red Triangles School Meeting
- 3/10 — Soko Staff Meeting
- 3/13 — Grade 2 Field Trip
- 3/13 — Trimester 2 Ends / Grading Window Opens in X2
- 3/17 — District Art Show, 5:00pm
- 3/18 — Early Release Day for CPS
- 3/20 — Trimester 2 Grades Due in X2
- 3/20 — HOMies and World Down Syndrome Day School Meeting, 1:45pm
- 3/24 — Soko Staff Meeting, 3:00pm
- 3/26 — Trimester 2 Report Cards Go Home
- 3/31 — Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4:00 – 6:00pm
Update, Elevator & Kindness Cards
Good Morning Sharks!
Just a couple of updates for you:
The Elevator has returned – please note that the snacks are for staff only. In the event you have a curious student, please assist us in redirecting them. I will do the same!
Due to the full schedule this week, we are moving Kindness Cards during Community Time to the week after break! Let’s keep the momentum going for a full Kindness month!
You can check out the slides here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WqqOIwk0O5LdP-ILPvGuCgTO0aNRk3WXcvenSdAzodg/edit?usp=sharing
Please reach out any time if you need anything or have questions!
Thanks so much,
Cari



