Category Schools
Salem-Keizer hits seven-year high in number of homeless students
More Salem-area students were homeless last year, and the number living on the streets and without parents or guardians is also up. State data released Thursday showed 1,164 Salem-Keizer students were considered homeless at some point during the 2018-19 school year, an increase of about…
Meet the Salem-Keizer educators honored with 2019 Crystal Apple awards
2019 Crystal Apple Award winners pose at the Elsinore Theatre (Courtesy/Salem-Keizer School District) On Thursday night, 12 Salem-Keizer teachers, office workers, bus drivers and more went home with the coveted Crystal Apple Award from the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation. The award is given every year to…
Chavez counselor brings deep compassion – and a gecko – to help struggling kids
Chavez Elementary counselor Crystal Armstrong leads a lesson in a first-grade class about the parts of the brain. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Parents, students and colleagues nominated 53 local educators for Crystal Apple Awards this year. The award, given annually by the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation, recognizes staff who…
Schirle PE teachers use cowbells, ugly sweaters, disco alter-egos to inspire
Christi Kurtz, a Schirle Elementary PE teacher, cheers a student on with cowbells during a jogging lesson on Nov. 7, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Parents, students and colleagues nominated 53 local educators for Crystal Apple Awards this year. The award, given annually by the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation,…
Tell Salem-Keizer how you’d spend $35 million on local students
Jared Vergara Santana, left, Evelyn Francis, right, Iris Johnson, right back and Lillyana Green, back left, write during class at Hoover Elementary School. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Want a say in how $35 million is spent in local schools? Salem-Keizer School District leaders are looking to…
Superintendent says Salem-Keizer bus driver shortage “catastrophic”
School buses parked in the Salem-Keizer School District lot on Hawthorne Avenue (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Bus driver shortages are a common problem across school districts, but Salem-Keizer’s has gotten bad enough that the district soon may not be able to get some students to school.…
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, tables and chairs for students,…
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 and his teammates played at…
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 brightest news for local schools…