Student teacher Rachel Nelson, left, shares a laugh with South Salem High School teacher Joy Anna Forsythe as they clean their classroom on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Classes don’t start until Sept. 15, but South Salem High School teachers got a chance Tuesday to head back into the building and start preparing for students.
Salem-Keizer schools will be all online until at least November. Across the district teachers can opt to continue working from home or teach live from their otherwise empty classrooms to students at home, an option several teachers at South said they intend to take advantage of.
The school has been closed since March 13, when Gov. Kate Brown’s order shuttered schools across the state. South Salem has also been under construction since late spring, with a section of the building demolished to make way for a new wing. Displaced math teachers found their way to new portable classrooms.
The building opened Sept. 1 so teachers could set up classrooms or grab personal belongings left behind, though principal Lara Tiffin said teachers weren’t required to come in person.
Math teacher Matt Smith carries a microwave into his new portable classroom on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Student belonging left in lockers when schools closed in March sit ready for pick-up in the South Salem High School library on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Matt Smith talks with another South Salem math teacher during in-service on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
South Salem High School teacher Joy Anna Forsythe cleans her classroom in preparation for virtual teaching on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
The South Salem High School office in Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Workers at South Salem High School check in employees and visitors during teacher in-service on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
New portables will house many South Salem High School teachers for the 2020-21 school year (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Annie DePiero inspect the library in her new classroom at South Salem High School on Sept. 1, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
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Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
