While some school districts, including Boston, have struggled over the summer to fill teacher vacancies in time for the first day of school, it has largely been a different story in the Chelsea public schools. Of the 550 teaching positions in the district, about 510 of them were filled going into the first day of school on Wednesday, for a 94 percent fill rate, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Almi Abeyta. Most of the current vacancies in the district are for special education teachers, which Abeyta said can always be the most difficult positions to fill. “With 94 percent of our staff being present on day one, that means our students will have a teacher day one,” said Abeyta. At the beginning of the summer, there were 115 open teaching positions, with Abeyta noting that many of them were new positions funded through Student Opportunity Act and Covid-19 relief funds. “We knew coming out of the gate that it would be a competitive market, so we worked really hard all summer,” said Abeyta. “Our administrators, and our HR, and our payroll, trying to make sure that when we find candidates that we process them quickly so that we don’t lose them to other districts, because it is a competitive market.” A number of factors have made Chelsea an attractive place to work, especially for Chelsea residents and those who are coming through the system. Last year, the district signed a new contract with the teachers’ union that includes a 16 percent pay raise over three years to bring Chelsea teacher salaries more in line with those in neighboring districts. Over the last three years, the district’s Pathway Programs have helped dozens of parents and paraprofessionals continue to take the next step as educators. Begun in 2019, the paraprofessional to teacher Pathway Program has helped paraprofessionals earn their teaching licenses and take the next step in their careers. Human Resources Director Christine Lee said the program is especially important, because many of those taking part are Chelsea residents, so it helps to increase local investment and diversity in the Chelsea schools. “We are continuing to build this and we currently have nine new members, and we have a pretty high rate (of those who become full-time teachers) once the paras get their Master’s,” said Lee. “They definitely are scooped up for teaching roles, and we do offer a scholarship for the paras to get their Master’s degree in education.” In addition to the paraprofessional to teacher program, the Pathway Program expanded to include a parent to paraprofessional program, and a teacher to administrator program in 2020. “We heard about Lawrence having a program similar to (the parent to paraprofessional), and it just seemed like a brilliant idea,” said Lee. “We have 6,500 kids, that means we have 6,500 times two parents to access. The parents being part of our school staff, it has been really cool to hear some testimonies from parents saying their kids are very proud of them when they see me in their school building and they know what is going on with their student’s education.” Perhaps most importantly, thanks in large part to the district’s Pathway Program, Abeyta said the district has been able to hire a number of Chelsea residents and dramatically increase the diversity of its staff. She said Chelsea has had a higher proportion of teachers of color than the state overall in recent years, particularly in 2021-22. More than numbers, Abeyta and Lee both side the Pathway Program is about improving opportunities for students and Chelsea residents, with a student to paraprofessional pathway program coming online this year for Chelsea students looking to move into the teaching profession. One of the most impressive of all the Pathway Program stories is that of Martha Valentin, a Chelsea resident who spent nearly three decades as a paraprofessional before moving into the Pathway Program. “She’s a Chelsea girl, she immigrated here from Honduras because her mother wanted better educational opportunities for her and her family and she graduated from Chelsea High, got her Bachelor’s degree, even met her husband at Chelsea High School, and she was a para for 30 years,” said Lee. “When I met her four years ago and got to know her, I asked ‘Martha, why don’t you become a teacher, you have a Bachelor’s degree and it’s a huge salary difference, too?’” After going through the Pathway Program, Valentin finally passed the state teachers’ licensing test and got a new job teaching at the Kelly Elementary School this year. “She was so happy, she came over and she thanked everybody and she is so grateful,” said Abeyta. Even with all the stress and challenges that can come with being a teacher, Abeyta said it is a career that is still like no other. “It’s rewarding, you get to work with kids and make a difference in their lives and be a role model to children,” said Abeyta. “It is one of the most rewarding careers there is. That’s why I am in education, because we are changing lives and generations; I always say that this is legacy work and the reward is great.”