McKay High School Principal Rob Schoepper presents a plan for the school’s expansion to Salem-Keizer’s Community Bond Oversight Committee on April 22, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) McKay High School would get new science labs, an additional tennis court, and more space for music, theater and career education programs under a[Read More…]

Part 1: Salem schools struggle with shifting politics, challenging demographics, lagging students In Salem’s high-poverty schools, the average student starts kindergarten not recognizing enough letters to write their own name. In the first of a five-part series, we looked at how those schools use extra federal money to try to[Read More…]

Bonn Wright heads outside to work in a South Salem High School video “70 and Counting” Donning safety glasses and lab coats, two South Salem video production teams earned finalist spots in a state workplace safety competition. Their videos are among five finalists in a video contest by the Oregon[Read More…]

The principal of Lee Elementary School has resigned, shifting to a new school post to work one day a week until the end of the school year, according to Salem-Keizer School District officials. Principal Don Hakala’s last day at the school, located in southeast Salem, was Wednesday, March 20. He[Read More…]

North High School senior and student body president Kiara Ballard speaks at the school’s groundbreaking ceremony with vice president Ben Garcia, right. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Senior Kiara Ballard won’t be around to see North Salem High School’s renovations over the next 18 months. But the student body president said she’s[Read More…]

Students enter Swegle Elementary on the first day of school in 2018. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A substitute teacher was fired by the Salem-Keizer district after students reported she told a fifth-grade student to “go back to Mexico” when he declined to say the Pledge of Allegiance on Tuesday. Her comment[Read More…]

Justin Thach, senior at West Salem High School (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) For West Salem senior Justin Thach, moving to Oregon from New Jersey in the middle of high school was a shock. Thach, the son of Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants, found less racial diversity and a tendency for Oregonians to[Read More…]

Vacant land now owned by St. Edward Catholic Church will soon be part of McNary High School. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Keizer’s Catholic church has agreed to sell about six acres of land to the Salem-Keizer School District, ending a legal battle over the property. District leaders said Thursday they’d reached[Read More…]

Blanchet Catholic School principal and president Bob Weber stands in the school commons, build during Blanchet’s last capital campaign. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) In a bid to attract more students and remain competitive, Salem’s only Catholic secondary school is seeking millions for campus improvements. Blanchet Catholic School leaders are working to[Read More…]

Teachers, parents and students packed the room to speak before a Salem-Keizer school board vote on boundary changes on Feb. 12, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) After more than two hours of public testimony from dozens of parents, teachers and students, a divided Salem-Keizer school board approved a controversial boundary change[Read More…]