Category SCHOOLS
Volunteers help Salem educators de-stress with personal pies
Irma Dowd, left, an Auburn Elementary parent and city of Salem worker, delivers pies to the school’s community outreach coordinator, Yuri Coronado, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Elisa Evert thought some fresh cookies might help her coworkers at Swegle Elementary School feel…
As Oregon moves to local control on school masks, Salem parents and educators rally against mandates
As an elementary school principal in south Salem, Beth Freeborn said she saw masks get in the way of children learning. Students who came back to Battle Creek Elementary School this fall were stressed and struggled to regulate their emotions or recognize how their peers…
Salem students are glad to be back in school. That doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Miriam Cruz Bravo, student body president at Early College High School poses for a photo on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Salem’s high schoolers have a few things they’d like you to know. They’re glad to be at school in person and able…
As Salem schools seek emergency subs, some experienced teachers struggle to get into classroom
Anne Haskell knew she wanted to substitute teach after she retired in June 2021. She’s been teaching in the Salem-Keizer School District since she graduated college in 1982, most recently spending a decade at Cummings Elementary in Keizer. Subbing would allow her to keep covering…
Substitute needs more than double as Salem-Keizer struggles to fill teacher, bus driver absences
A kindergarten student arrives by bus at Richmond Elementary. Driver and educator shortages are making operating local schools a daily challenge. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Local schools are short hundreds of teachers and classroom assistants daily, with educators forgoing training, preparation time and administrative tasks just…
EDGE cancels live classes Wednesday following agreement to address teacher burnout
Reuben Gershin’s breaking point was in early October, when his son tried to pry him from his work so the two could spend time together. “But dad, it’s Saturday,” the kindergartener said. Gershin, a high school science teacher in the Salem-Keizer School District’s online EDGE…
Salem’s 2021 grad rates mostly flat, but 2 schools had a different path
A North Salem High School graduate at an August 2020 ceremony (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Erik Jespersen was worried about his students’ grades in fall 2020. With a week left to go during the first quarter of online school, the McNary High School principal saw far…
With pandemic challenges, 81% of Salem seniors graduated in 2021
Members of the South Salem High School Class of 2021 celebrate following their graduation ceremony (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) Four in five Salem-Keizer seniors graduated high school in 2021, a rate virtually unchanged from 2020, according to state data released Thursday. Members of the class of…
Salem-Keizer cancels classes Friday due to staffing shortage
High rates of illness in Salem schools have led to consolidated bus routes and a canceled day of school on Jan. 14 (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Oregon’s second-largest school district is canceling all classes Friday because of staffing shortages. Christy Perry, superintendent of the Salem-Keizer School…