Salem Public Schools

Updates on Food Distribution Sites and Times Starting 7/01/2020 there is a slight change of time to one site as well as a couple of site closures.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Pride. Usually, this means events are held worldwide to celebrate the progress within the LGBTQ community, but the COVID-19 pandemic means a change of plans. The virus forced the cancellation of hundreds of events around the world, including the North Shore Pride Parade in which our district participates. In-person celebrations are simply too risky at this time, but this is an important anniversary that must still be celebrated.

In April, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced that schools may file an appeal of the 185th day school end date to the Commissioner if they can demonstrate that their remote learning model was fully functional during the week of March 16 or can present other exceptional circumstances. Salem Public Schools was able to provide remote learning opportunities, as well as launched the SalemLearns website during this first week. For these reasons, Salem Public Schools has applied for and was granted this appeal. What this means is that we gain back days lost this year from snow days and school closures from power outages. See the information below to determine what your student’s last day of school will be for the 2019/2020 school year.

We are seeking feedback about the district’s remote learning plan. (Remote learning includes any instruction taking place outside of the classroom, such as lessons assigned through online platforms, instructional videos, packets posted on salemlearns.org, printed packets, and virtual meetings with teachers and classmates). This survey is designed for parents and guardians of Salem Public Schools students. Students and teachers will receive a different survey so we can evaluate each group’s feedback.

As we wrote on Monday in our statement on racism, Salem Public Schools commits to building upon the equity framework already established within SPS and will pull together disparate, anti-racist efforts, programs and agendas to create a cohesive district approach to tackle racism head-on. Assistant Superintendent, Kate Carbone wrote a letter to staff on Wednesday, June 3rd to provide educators with resources to support talking about George Floyd and racial inequity. We are sharing the letter with you in full not only to create transparency, but to offer families the same resources we are providing to staff.

The tensions and circumstances that continue to unfold in Minneapolis and across the United States this week are painful and difficult to watch. The death of George Floyd is a travesty and reveals that the pain and suffering created by racism is still so present within our country. These acts of violence continue to create a massive divide in our society and these injustices caused by fear, unchecked racism and deeply rooted biases will continue until we take a stand. We have heard this a lot this week -- when we look the other way or remain silent, we are perpetuating the status quo. We cannot remain silent.

Families have recently begun receiving P-EBT cards in the mail. However, we have heard that there has been some confusion around activating the card. Please see the below information to help correctly set up your P-EBT cards.

Introducing Dr. Zrike! Dr. Zrike will be transitioning in as our new Superintendent as of July 1st and he is excited to meet all of you. Take a look at this video he made and if you would like to meet Dr. Zrike at a new online weekly meet and greet on Wednesday evenings at 6pm, please fill out this form and we will reply with information about how to attend.

Everyone in Salem qualifies for food assistance. Whether you were already receiving it, or it is new to you, we have many options to help. If you have questions or new needs for food support, you can call 781-771-0724 and a Salem Public Schools staff member will assist you.

Internet for Families—The City of Salem through Mayor Driscoll's office has signed an agreement with Comcast to offer six free months of internet for families who currently do not have access to wifi in their homes. Two of the six months will be free as part of Comcast's Internet Essentials program and the other four months are being paid for by the city of Salem Relief Fund through a donation by the Salem Children's Charity.

As I write to you, we are in our fifth week of the school closure that was prompted by the coronavirus crisis—it is hard to believe that this much time has passed already. I know that these past few weeks have been enormously challenging for you and your family as you have the weight and concern of keeping yourself and children safe and healthy while simultaneously having to play a significant role in supporting your child’s/children’s learning at home. Our thoughts are with you, and we are trying to do everything we can to facilitate quality student learning and engagement remotely. As you know, we started with an early version of our remote learning plan on March 15th soon after the school closure began. Our immediate concern and goal, at that time, was to connect with every student and family to ensure they were safe and to also set up access to remote learning opportunities that were made available on www.salemlearns.org. These opportunities included activities across content areas and a supporting printable packet. We are now taking steps to implement enhancements to our remote learning plan that will include the components listed below. The goal of this plan is to provide a consistent structure where students are able to interact more often with their teachers and classmates. Teachers are already implementing many of these components and will do so with increasing consistency over the next couple of weeks and now that the school closure extends beyond May 4th.

This afternoon, Governor Baker has made the decision that all Massachusetts schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year. This decision includes the Salem Public Schools and we will now plan for reopening the schools in the Fall. Other decisions about end of school such as locker belongings and milestone events will be forthcoming after the April break.

AN UPDATE ON REMOTE LEARNING PLANS As you know, we started with an early version of our remote learning plan on March 15th soon after the school closure began. Our immediate concern and goal, at that time, was to connect with every student and family to ensure they were safe and to also set up access to remote learning opportunities that were made available on www.salemlearns.org. These opportunities included activities across content areas and a supporting printable packet for grades PreK-5. We are now taking steps to implement enhancements to our remote learning plan that will include new components. NEW LEARNING PLANS FOR ALL GRADES CAN NOW BE VIEWED AT www.SalemLearns.org.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Samantha Meier as principal of Salem High School. Dr. Meier has been serving as the school’s interim principal since last July and has the necessary skills to lead Salem High School going forward. She is committed to leading the high school into a new era of teacher leadership, student voice and a positive learning environment for all who enter our Salem High School community. In addition, we are also pleased to announce the promotion of Gavin Softic to principal of Bates Elementary School. Gavin has earned the respect and support of the students, teachers and families of the Bates School community to lead the school as the new principal beginning on July 1st. We know Gavin will continue the mission and vision of academic excellence and support for the social and emotional learning for all students.

I am pleased to announce we are entering the final phase in the process of selecting a long-term leader for Salem High School. Unfortunately, with the current Massachusetts state of emergency and current global pandemic guidelines, our revised timeline will not include on-site visits to Salem High School to meet with staff, students, and parent focus groups. However, I am confident that Dr. Stephen Zrike (incoming Superintendent) and I will be able to complete the final interviews remotely during the week of April 6-10. Once these interviews are completed, we will select a principal for Salem High School with a start date of July 1, 2020 as planned.

As part of our efforts to support our students away from school, our Instrumental Music teachers will be providing enrichment opportunities for all of our band and string students. Depending on the student's grade, much of this information can be found in Schoology or on the Salem Music Dept website

Commissioner Riley from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has sent a letter addressing families.

This past week has brought our community a multitude of challenges that we have never encountered before. Along with these challenges in the Salem community is a strong spirit of working together to make the well being of our students, employees, and community our top priority.

Guidance for Families - Entering Buildings to pick up Chromebooks at Saltonstall, Collins and SHS The decision to close the schools was done with the best interest of students and staff in mind, and with the intent to do our part to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting social interaction, and maintaining the cleanliness and sanitation of our buildings. In order to meet these goals, we need to limit access.

Based on a mandate from Governor Baker, ALL Salem Public Schools will be closed through at least May 4th. Here are the frequently asked questions and resources for this school closure time. This page will be updated as new information arises.

We want to update you with some important information about student meals and food support, as well as student medication retrieval from schools.

If your child is in need of medication normally given during school hours for use at home during the current school closure, if desired, those medications can be picked up by one parent or guardian in our school health offices on Monday 3/16 from 9-11 am.

This is the beginning of many communications we will be providing. We are working on the logistics of food services, device needs, and learning tools, as well as general information, and will continue to keep you informed.

As of today, two parents of students attending the Carlton and Bates school have self-identified as having possible contact with a presumptive positive case of COVID-19, the illness associated with the novel coronavirus. Both parents are isolating at home and monitoring symptoms in conjunction with the board of health. In these cases, healthy children are safe to attend school.

In light of the news from the Governor today, we are taking additional steps to mitigate the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 virus to keep our school community safe.

Life Sciences Center awards $88,932 to Salem school district for three high schools and two middle schools

As the news and information about COVID-19 (Coronavirus) continues to develop, you may have questions about our schools. We are working closely with our health care partners and the Salem Board of Health to monitor the situation and stay up to date with guidance, including guidance relative to travelers.

Middle School STEM Career Night at Collins Middle School on Thursday, March 5th from 6:00 - 8:00, with a free pizza dinner starting at 5:30. This event is open to all district students in grades 5-8. Students will have the opportunity to learn about exciting, well-paid careers from professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. There will be many hands-on experiences and students will also earn rewards for attending. Join us for a night of fun exploration.

Schools will be open on March 3rd during the presidential primary elections. We have worked with the Salem Police Department to ensure that all students and staff will be kept safe, and to separate voters from the school population as much as possible.

We know that you may have questions about the Coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) and how it may impact our schools as well as how we are handling the general flu outbreaks in our area.

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Rogers as the new principal of Bentley Academy Innovation School.

We are excited to announce the unanimous selection of Dr. Stephen Zrike to be offered the position of superintendent for Salem Public Schools. The School Committee voted this evening to extend an offer to Dr. Zrike to enter into the next steps in the process to enter into contractual talks. Congratulations to Dr. Zrike on his selection!

A reminder that tonight are the last two School Committee interviews for superintendent. These interviews will be held in chambers, are open to the public, and will be streamed on SATV. Online feedback forms are available and must be received by 10:00 a.m. on 2/13.

On February 3rd, the School Committee unanimously approved the innovation plan for the Bentley Academy Innovation School. We are excited to take the next steps with this plan which includes a principal search.

Four finalists have been chosen to continue in the search process to determine the new superintendent for Salem Public Schools. We invite you to participate and offer feedback as we move forward with these candidates.

As we move forward with the Superintendent search, we’d like to inform you in advance of another opportunity to be involved in the process.

Salem Public Schools would like to have the opportunity to hear your voice as we prepare to search for a principal to lead Salem High School for the upcoming 2020-21 school year and beyond.

The innovation plan has passed its first vote. You can view it here and join us at the public forum on February 3rd.

Salem Public Schools has been involved in a process to bring forth an innovation plan for the Bentley Academy School. Read more about the process we are undertaking and the public forum in February.

Salem Public Schools will be closed today, Tuesday, December 17th due to the incoming weather. School administrative offices willl open at noon. The All-City 5th-grade concert will be postponed to Wednesday at 7pm (students arrive at 6:15).

Due to a National upgrade to our technology platform, Aspen, K-8 report cards will have a 3-day delay.

Reminder: The online survey for your input on our search for a new superintendent of schools closes December 3, 2019.

As part of our search for a new Superintendent of Schools, our search consultants from the Collins Center at UMass Boston will host an additional focus group for parents, community groups and the Salem community at large to provide input about the type of leader and leadership that will best serve the Salem Public Schools.

As part of our search for a new Superintendent of Schools, our search consultants from the Collins Center at UMass Boston will host a focus group for parents, community groups and the Salem community at large to provide input about the type of leader and leadership that will best serve the Salem Public Schools.

Salem High School will host a future students' night showcasing the opportunities available as a Salem High student.

Salem Public Schools families are asked to read this important message from Mayor Kim Driscoll.

We are hosting a community meeting for parents and guardians on Monday, October 28, to answer questions about the ALICE program.

The Salem Public Schools made substantial progress toward meeting its accountability targets on the recently released 2019 Statewide Accountability Report.

Welcome back to the 2019-2020 School Year. I am looking forward to the upcoming school year for our Salem School community as we prepare to welcome more than 4,100 students to our classrooms and schools across the district.

Dozens of new teachers were welcomed into the Salem Public Schools on Monday, August 19, as part of the New Teacher Institute.