Dear CPS Community,

Happy Juneteenth, and Happy first day of summer break!

I hope that you will have a moment to read this final newsletter of School Year 2018-19, which celebrates the many accomplishments of our faculty, students, and district. Last week I had the honor of celebrating the achievement of our 2019 Cambridge Rindge and Latin School graduates.

Looking out at these promising students in their caps and gowns, I was filled with a sense of gratitude for all those people who stand behind them. While paths have been different, each student -- and each of us -- have gotten where we are thanks to a support system of family, friends, mentors and teachers. I urged the graduates:

May you celebrate tonight and throughout your lives for the many milestones you achieve. But also, remember to pause and reflect on those people who have supported your happiness and your success. In turn, may you become great role models and serve as supporters for your family, friends and for our whole community.

The CPS community is fortunate to have such remarkable young people in our schools, and they are fortunate to benefit from such a caring community. Thank you for the part you play in our students’ success.

Enjoy your summer!



Year One of Biogen STAR
The Biogen STAR (Science, Teacher support, Access and Readiness) program seeks to strengthen and support the educational landscapes in Cambridge and Somerville by increasing access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) opportunities for students most underrepresented in STEM careers. A recent event celebrated the first year of equity-driven collaboration between public schools and community-based non-profits made possible through this grant. Full Story >>



Growth of Computer Science in CPS
Computer Science is gaining momentum across the district. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released new guidelines and expectations for Digital Literacy & Computer Science learning in public schools. Among the expectations are that students will develop computational thinking and computer science literacy, and the Educational Technology (Ed Tech) department has been hard at work on building new programs in this arena. Full Story >> 



Food & Nutrition Services Recognized for Farm-to-Cafeteria Approach
Food Service Director magazine recently profiled the CPS Food & Nutrition Services program. Among the features highlighted in the story are a commitment to freshly prepared meals (as opposed to heat & serve), and developing menu items based on recipes gathered from our diverse community of families. Read the story >>



Media Arts Studio Fair
On May 22, the Media Arts Studio welcomed students and families to celebrate the year's video and audio productions. Read on to view the "2019 Media Arts Real," which features student news teams, sports and fine arts events, podcasting, video essays and footage of a world-record-setting face-pie-ing of a popular CRLS teacher. Full Story >> 



Scratch Night 2019
On May 16, members of the CPS community gathered to enjoy our second annual Scratch Night. Scratch, a program developed to introduce younger students to computer programming, is used in many CPS schools and was developed here in Cambridge. Read on >>