Protesters line Commercial St. during a Feb. 18 rally against school mask mandates. (Joey Cappelletti/Keizertimes) Over 200 people gathered outside Salem-Keizer School District’s Student Services Center Friday morning to protest mask requirements in the district’s schools. Many of the “Rally for Our Students” protesters stood along Commercial St. in south[Read More…]
Tag: LOCAL SCHOOLS
Fourth graders render Salem-Keizer school board in colorful portraits
Fourth grade students at Chapman Hill Elementary School in Salem drew portraits of the district’s school board directors for School Board Appreciation Month in 2022. Members of the Salem-Keizer School Board got a special treat recently – a portrait hand-drawn by local fourth grade students. It’s the second year the[Read More…]
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 appreciated during a difficult year.[Read More…]
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 were feeling. “They couldn’t see[Read More…]
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 to see friends regularly, even[Read More…]
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 the cost of health insurance[Read More…]
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 to keep classes running in-person.[Read More…]
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 program, said he and his[Read More…]
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 more students failing classes than[Read More…]
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 2021 were the first to[Read More…]
