One of the main concerns of Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) since the COVID-19 pandemic hit has been the mental health and well-being of their students.  Working alongside Paraorama Education — an east coast organization that focuses on improving student outcomes by helping schools and districts act on data -—- the[Read More…]

Clear Lake Elementary School kindergartener Brooklyn says goodbye to her mom on Tuesday, March 2, the first day of in-person learning in nearly a year (File).  As of Wednesday, March 17, all K-5 students in Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) have made a return to in-person learning. Even though students[Read More…]

It has now been over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Salem-Keizer Public Schools. Elementary students began in-person hybrid learning earlier this month, while middle and high school students are set to begin next month — OSAA athletics also returned earlier this month. But even though a return[Read More…]

On Friday, March 5, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced an executive order for public school students to return to the classroom. “The science is very, very clear: with proper safety measures in place, there is a low risk of COVID-19 transmission in school. Oregon parents can be confident about sending[Read More…]

SKPS superintendent Christy Perry For almost a year now, many community members and activist groups, such as Latinos Unidos Siempre, have been calling for Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) to end contracts with Student Resource Officers (SROs), citing that they make students of color feel unsafe and play a role in[Read More…]

schools education By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When the Salem-Keizer School Board meets Tuesday, March 9, it could enact a major change in the way all school board directors are elected. Director Jesse Lippold, the current representative for Zone 5, told attendees of a virtual NAACP forum that[Read More…]

Although there was no school last week due to the ice storm that knocked out power over much of the area, Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) administrators notified the school board on Tuesday, Feb. 23, that the storm would not deter the effort to return to in-person learning. However, Superintendent Christy[Read More…]

After months of discussion, and nearly a year of waiting for a pandemic to subside, students in kindergarten and first grade will begin in-person hybrid learning March 2. Students will attend school in-person two days a week in either a Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday cohort. Parents can verify which cohort their[Read More…]

SKPS After Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) announced last week that K-1 students would be returning to school buildings on a part-time basis in early-March, members of the district cabinet outlined further plans to get the remainder of students back in the classroom in a presentation to the school board on[Read More…]

Salem-Keizer Public Schools Even though they haven’t seen their students in person for almost a year, McNary teachers Ashley Gruber, Andy Thomas and Josh Rist have rallied together over the last 11 months to collaborate their classes (media production, choir and audio production). “In the arts, we always had a[Read More…]