Category SCHOOLS

Students celebrate at a groundbreaking ceremony for construction at Waldo Middle School on Aug. 15, 2019 (Courtesy/Salem-Keizer School District) When Waldo Middle School was built in 1957, the school cafeteria was designed to hold 227 students. Today, that population has ballooned to more than 1,000,…

Teacher Dena Archibald helps first-grade student Zander McCurry present a math problem during a summer school class at Grant Elementary School on July 16, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Dena Archibald leaned over a first-grade student’s desk on a warm July morning at Grant Elementary School.…

Chad Barkes (Courtesy/Salem-Keizer School District) One week after former Sprague High School principal Craig Swanson announced his departure, assistant principal Chad Barkes has stepped up to take the job. Barkes, who has been an assistant principal at Sprague since 2015, said he applied after staff…

Esperanza “Espi” Martinez, 19, works on an assignment about poverty with help from McKay High School assistant principal Ricardo Larios in the school library on Aug. 13, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) On a Thursday morning in August just before 10 a.m., 18-year-old Angel Hance Route…

Craig Swanson (Courtesy/Salem-Keizer School District) Sprague High School Principal Craig Swanson is stepping down weeks before a new school year to take a job as principal at Lebanon High School. “You all have helped build one of the best high schools in the state of…

In many school districts, seniors who don’t finish their diplomas by June don’t get to walk with their classmates. But Salem-Keizer holds a small summer graduation in August to acknowledge the students who made up credits during summer school to become part of the Class…

Devon Bunselmeyer talks with case manager Jamee Calentine before summer school graduation on Aug. 1, 2019 at West Salem High School (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Devon Bunselmeyer wasn’t on anyone’s list of potential summer graduates. The Sprague High School student failed every class he took his…

The new Salem-Keizer School District dress code, released July 31, 2019. Salem-Keizer students can wear hats, tank tops, leggings, yoga pants and ripped jeans under a new districtwide dress code released Wednesday. The change comes after a group of female students in June urged the…

Cliff Carpentier (Photo courtesy/Salem-Keizer Public Schools) Longtime Salem Police Sgt. Cliff Carpentier loved being a school resource officer nearly 15 years ago. That experience led him to seek a job as director of Salem-Keizer School District’s security and risk management department, where he’ll oversee school…