Luna Thalman sported a ninja turtle shirt and stood with her parents outside Faye Wright Elementary School Wednesday morning, in line with dozens of kids and parents waiting for the doors to open.
It was her first day of second grade, and Thalman stood next to her friend Everette Otstot and his two younger brothers.
The two families had weekly kickball nights all summer. Now, the newly-minted second graders said they were looking forward to school. Thalman’s favorite part is “playing on the playground,” while Otstot said he planned on “making new friends.”
“I’m excited for them — they’re going to be together,” said Cheyenne Ruiz, Otstot’s mother.
School resumed Wednesday for most of the 40,000 students across the Salem-Keizer School District. Sixth and ninth graders began a day earlier to get acquainted with their new schools, while kindergarten begins Sept. 11.
The year begins after a stressful and destabilizing process of budget cuts last spring, which led to the layoff of more than 100 educators and the reshuffling of thousands more into new schools or jobs.
While most of the teachers let go were rehired for vacant jobs over the summer, the shifts still mean many schools are beginning the new year with a larger share of new employees.
District leaders said in school board meetings over the summer that boosting regular attendance and early literacy will be key goals for the year.
Inside elementary schools, a flurry of students and parents walked to class as teachers and staff helped wayward students locate their rooms.
At Wright, an older student wearing a Minecraft backpack approached Jesse Sutter, a foundational skills specialist who was stationed just outside Wright’s office in a bright orange vest.
“I’ve been walking around the whole school trying to find room 17,” the girl said, sighing with exasperation.
“Do you need help?” he asked.
“I might,” she conceded.
Wright Principal Amy Coyle is in her fifth year at the school. She said the school was less affected by layoffs and was able to hire back some educators it lost as positions became vacant over the summer.
The school’s larger challenge is a funding reduction because it no longer meets the criteria for a Title I school — a federal designation for schools serving a large share of low-income students.
Without such funding, Wright will no longer have a community school outreach coordinator — an office worker who helps reach out to students with poor attendance and connects families with resources like school supplies or food.
“That was a big hit to us,” Coyle said about the position loss.
Two years ago, the school’s outreach coordinator helped start a food pantry inside a closet at Wright for families struggling to afford groceries. Now, Coyle said the school’s parent teacher club has pledged to keep it running.
Wright is also losing a basic skills teacher the federal money paid for. That’s someone who helps classroom teachers by working directly with students falling behind on reading and math.
Despite those losses, Coyle and her staff were optimistic about the start of the year, and wide smiles greeted students who walked in the doors. One school worker roamed the halls in a large blue onesie, dressed as the Disney character Stitch.
The school’s mission is for “all students, staff and families to be seen, known and valued every day.”
In the school cafeteria, speech language pathologist Rachael Tencza sat with a student eating alone. The student told her he was feeling sick.
“Are you maybe nervous?” she asked. She spoke gently with the boy, complimenting his sneakers and checking in until he perked up and felt up to going to class. She repeated the process with another boy.
“I know those two students, I just wanted (them) to feel welcome on the first day of school,” she said.
Tencza said she was optimistic but expected challenges this school year.
“There’s a lot of need and only so much time to get it done,” she said.
But she remained smiling even as she thought about the difficult work ahead.
“We’re a great staff. Everybody really cares for the kids,” Tencza said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
