Category Schools

Oregon’s high school graduation rate inches up to record high
The class of 2025 was the first since the pandemic to attend all four years of high school in person and a record 83% of students graduated on time.
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Salem-Keizer graduates 4 in 5 seniors from Class of 2025
Graduation rates in the Salem-Keizer School District have ticked slightly up and down in recent years, but reliably hover around 80%. New state data shows that’s true again for last year’s seniors, with 2,772 graduating.
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Elementary schools to close as teachers get 3 days of reading training
More than 1,000 educators in Salem and Keizer will get intensive training this week on topics including phonics instruction and the science behind how students learn to read.
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Salem schools will lose thousands of students over next 5 years
A new forecast suggests the Salem-Keizer School District will have just 32,000 students by 2030, driven by declining birthrates and more families using private and homeschool options.
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McKay mariachi teacher plans statewide festival, grows new music program
Cindy Flores is the first dedicated mariachi and Mexican music teacher in the Salem-Keizer School District, teaching about 140 students across three schools.

Overhaul of Oregon school funding formula, goals of public education has lawmakers at odds
Lawmakers will have a month to debate a bill that would get rid of the state’s 27-year-old education funding model and change standards for schools’ receiving funding.
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Claggett Creek principal cited as top middle school leader in Oregon
Robin Buckingham, principal at Claggett Creek Middle School, didn’t begin her business economic degree at Willamette University intending to become an educator. That decision came in her final semester of the program. Buckingham, who grew up attending Salem-Keizer schools, said her parents were educators and her…

Oregon’s classroom hours among lowest in nation, experts tell lawmakers
Oregon ranks 47th among U.S. states for the total hours students spend in school during an academic year, though comparisons between states are difficult.
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School board to vote on deputy superintendent contracts
Olga Cobb, who oversees elementary schools, and Danielle Neves, who oversees middle and high schools, could get new three-year contracts at a Jan. 13 meeting.
