About Our School
Welcome to Chelmsford High School, located in the Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, established in 1927. It serves as the public high school for students in grades 9-12, and lies on over 50 acres of land. It is part of a central campus that includes four of the town’s seven schools. The three other schools at the central campus are the McCarthy Middle School, the Parker Middle School, and the Harrington Elementary School. The Town’s five other schools, located throughout Chelmsford, are the Byam Elementary School, Center Elementary School, and South Row Elementary School, as well as the Chelmsford Integrated Preschool (CHIPS) and Chelmsford Community Education.
CHS is based on a three-house system named after the three famous New England writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and John Greenleaf Whittier. When the school was built, there was an additional house named for Emily Dickinson. After a decade, the school branched out from the house system as classes were no longer strictly divided into house hallways. Currently, the house structure mainly serves administrative functions — with 2-3 guidance counselors, a dean, and a main office — with students assigned to a house at the beginning of their first year.
In 2007, CHS underwent extensive renovations, including:
- A complete overhaul of all existing science classrooms and the construction of a second science wing in the space formerly used for district administration offices.
- New ceilings and floor tiles, electrical and HVAC upgrades.
- A 1,000-seat state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center (PAC).
The renovations gave CHS (opened in 1974) its own auditorium for the first time in its then-33 year history. Previously, any performances put on by the high school were held in the 600 seat auditorium of neighboring McCarthy Middle School, formerly the town’s high school. The new PAC serves as a forum for functions such as the annual Mr. CHS talent show, performances by the school’s award-winning music and theater programs, and various assemblies. It is also rented out to private groups.
Further facility upgrades completed in 2008 include new enclosed stairwells at the end of the two large classroom wings to improve building flow from floor to floor, as well as a beautifully-renovated library media center. New lockers were installed in all sections of the building.
The athletic teams from CHS compete in the highly-competitive Merrimack Valley Conference. Its arch rivals are its neighbors to the east, Billerica, which it meets every year in football on Thanksgiving Day. Other rivals include Lowell, Dracut, Andover and Tewksbury. CHS does have one out-of-conference rival, nearby Acton-Boxboro.
CHS dons the maroon and white as its official colors, and the Lion as its mascot.
