Rachel Alexander
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
School board unanimous in buying West Salem land despite community equity concerns
A home adjacent to West Salem High School would become part of the high school campus after the Salem-Keizer School Board’s vote (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) The Salem-Keizer school board voted unanimously to buy a home next to West Salem High…
Salem teens will talk mental health, suicide prevention at free daylong summit
Jewels VanVolkingburg of Central High School is blindfolded for a communication exercise during a small group session at ILEAD 2018. (Courtesy/City of Salem) Salem-area teens can spend a day learning about mental health and coping strategies as part of a…
AGENDA: Chemeketa board to hear license exam results, approve grants
Chemeketa Community College’s Board of Education members will learn about the college’s efforts to help students receiving food stamps meet their educational goals before a regular meeting Wednesday evening. The board will hear a report on license and certificate exams…
AGENDA: Salem-Keizer board will vote on West Salem land purchase, discuss policies
The 2019-20 Salem-Keizer School Board (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Members of the Salem-Keizer School Board will meet Tuesday to vote on a West Salem land purchase before discussing the policies outlining how they supervise Superintendent Christy Perry and how they work…
Seeking art, science and more, Salem teachers turn to crowdfunding
Stephanie Taylor, a behavior specialist, has used DonorsChoose.org to supply the Cubs Den at Four Corners Elementary School (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) When Monica Brillig began teaching at Myers Elementary School in 2007, her classroom came with a desk for her,…
Blanchet debuts new turf field, just in time for homecoming
Blanchet Catholic School’s new turf field. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) For the three years James Moore has played football at Blanchet High School, every game has felt like an away game. The Catholic school hasn’t had a football field, so Moore…
More kids coming to school in Salem-Keizer, new state data shows
Students get off the bus for the first day of school at Bush Elementary. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Hundreds more local students attended school regularly last year after a determined push by the Salem-Keizer School District to boost numbers. That’s the…
School board members say they’re disappointed by Salem’s poor test results
School buses parked in the Salem-Keizer School District lot on Hawthorne Avenue (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Last month, new state data showed Salem-Keizer had once again failed to raise the percentage of students reading and doing math at grade level. Salem-Keizer…
Oregon leads nation on bee-saving efforts with citizen science, education
Bees collected by Oregon Bee Atlas volunteers on display at a Salem City Club lunch (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem City Club members are the newest recruits for one of the nation’s premier efforts to identify and track Oregon’s bee population.…
Eat your way around Salem this October with Salem Dining Month
Mushroom risotto is one of the Salem Dining Month options at Rafns’, paired with soup or salad and glass of wine (Courtesy/Rafns’ Restaurant) Want to sample some Salem flavor? Eighteen local restaurants are offering special three-course menus as part of…