Salem Public Schools Update
News for our families
Superintendent's Message
SPS families,
Happy last day of school (to almost all our students)! We are so grateful for your support and partnership during a year that gave us many twists and turns - mask discussions, COVID surges, virtual events, etc. Most importantly, it was a return to full in-person learning where we were able to celebrate the academic, art, athletic and leadership accomplishments of our students once again. Not surprisingly, our students consistently made us proud. We hope that you and your families have a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable summer break. Make memories, stay cool, and read voraciously. We can’t wait to see your children back in school at the end of August!
Best,
Steve
You're A Rockstar!
This week's rock star award goes to all the teachers and staff of Salem Public Schools. In another year of twists and turns, we saw countless instances of staff going above and beyond to ensure our students and families have the support they need. We are proud of the many thoughtful, caring and selfless individuals who showed up every day and did whatever it took to ensure our students had the best educational experience possible. We wish you all a safe, fun-filled and restful summer and look forward to welcoming you back in the 22-23 school year!
COVID Updates
COVID Testing Update: At the end of May, the state announced it would be shifting the testing program to rapid tests only as we shift to focus on symptomatic students and the long-term management of the COVID-19 virus. This means that next week will be the last week of PCR pool testing. This week, the district sent home another round of rapid tests to all students and staff to ensure households have these important tools at home. This summer, SPS will continue to provide rapid tests for students enrolled in our summer programs. SPS will continue to work with our health advisors to put together the plan for Fall 2022.
Gratitude for COVID Testing Team: The state's announcement also means that the dedicated individuals that have coordinated and performed our testing program over the past 15 months will also be ending their partnership with Salem Public Schools. This incredible team has been flexible, reliable, and compassionate with our students and staff, adapting to all of the different stages and waves of this virus. Their commitment to our communities has enabled us to have this important additional layer of safety at school. If you'd like to join us in thanking them, please take a moment to fill in this online gratitude card by Thursday, June 23rd.
REPORT CARDS
Report cards will be posted to Aspen at the end of the day on June 17th.
To access your student's report card, go to the Aspen website: https://ma-salem.myfollett.com/aspen/logon.do
Accessing Aspen
English: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WKyu_RQzX7s2vTYqql339g4ha3zyHUvz
Spanish: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1C31Uke8SS6RdHduN1kEQukNucTIEuNWC
Portuguese: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g1TgwMQJvCIkZsYDx8Z7VfHhCpNJ7mKz
Once you have logged in, go to the Published Reports Section. If you are unable to log in, please call the school's office for assistance.
More information about Salem's grading system can be found here:
https://salemk12.org/district-departments/curriculum-and-instruction/reporting-student-progress/
Kindergarten Scavenger Hunt
Powered by a grant from Salem Education Foundation, the citywide digital scavenger hunt for kindergarteners and their families led to over 1400 learning moments. Each week presented a challenge of 8 to 10 "missions" to sites around the city, where scans of QR codes unlocked videos with information about civic groups, businesses, and more! ECC teacher Beth White, with the help of Saltonstall teacher Cindy Hatcher, designed the experience.
Thank you to the 47 city businesses, institutions, and civic groups who made informational videos for a kindergarten scavenger hunt around the city! Children and their families could visit each spot and use a QR code to access the video. The class with the most interactions won a pizza party with the Mayor. Congratulations to Ms. Perlack's class at Carlton! This class had the most visits to city sites in the hunt to learn about Salem.
The City of Salem is pleased to announce the opening of the Forest River Pool
Join us on Friday, June 17th at 5:30 for our ribbon cutting ceremony and to see the new pool, splash pad, education center and pool house.
The pool will be open on Saturday and Sunday, June 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th from 11:00am -6:00pm for Salem Residents to enjoy the new pool for FREE!
The pool will open for the season on Saturday, July 2nd.
Information on purchasing a pool pass can be found: https://www.salemma.gov/recreation/pages/forest-river-pool
Financial assistance is available for passes. Please call the Salem Park, Recreation and Community Services at 978 744-0924 for an application.
The daily operation and schedule will be coordinated by the Salem YMCA. The daily schedule, rules and information can be found at the website listed above. For questions concerning the daily operations, please email kwongp@northshoreymca.org
In addition to the pool, the Salem YMCA will be providing lifeguards to Winter Island beach again this summer. No other beaches will be staffed by lifeguards.
Summer Reading
Summer brings opportunities to spend time with friends and family and enjoy the outdoors. We hope that you and your student will also continue to read and develop a love of books and learning new things.
Here are summer reading suggestions created by the American Library Association for students in Grades PreK-8 that will help you and your student select books together. As always, we suggest that you follow your child’s lead and choose books and topics that interest them.
The Salem Public Library will be supporting our summer reading by stocking copies of the summer reading suggestions and allowing you to view the titles and place holds through Noblenet online. The link to these lists from Salem Public Library are included below:
Some young readers like to read several books about the same character. Check out these popular series for K-2 readers!
Here are some helpful resources: booklists in Spanish, divided by primary and secondary, from the NYC libraries
https://www.bklynlibrary.org/summer-reading/booklists
https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/staff-picks/kids?f%5B0%5D=terms%3AEn%20Espa%C3%B1ol
Books in Spanish and Portuguese (Framingham Public Library)
Additional suggestions for middle school readers can be found here.
Summer Math for Students in Grades K-5
ST Math is a research-based, visual instructional program that helps students to build deep understanding of math concepts. JiJi crosses the screen every time a student successfully completes a puzzle, leading them to the next puzzle. Completing 60 puzzles/week is a great summertime goal!
Learn more about ST Math, including why there are no directions, and why it takes a while to solve some puzzles here:
Track completed puzzles here - bring this in to your new teacher in the fall!
Club de verano de JiJi - Tracker
Students can also play math games with family and friends:
UNPLUGGED Summer of Math - English
UNPLUGGED Verano matemático de JiJi - Spanish
Additional resources:
Children are used to logging into ST Math from their Chromebooks on the ClassLink page. To log in from another device at home, see the directions here: Accessing ClassLink from any computer - English Accessing ClassLink from any computer - Spanish If your child needs help logging in, please call the IT helpline at: 978.619.1450
SHS Football - Fall 2022
SUMMER EATS KICK OFF EVENT
Join us for a kick off to summer event! Kids eat free all summer in Salem. Come celebrate the start of this summer food program with giveaways, food and fun! Salem Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services will be providing kids and teens with free meals at this event and Root will be providing meals for adults. This event will take place on June 30th from 4-6pm at Mary Jane Lee Park and all are welcome.
Transportation Registration for the 2022-2023 school year is open
It is that time of year to apply for bus transportation for the next school year. Links for registration with step-by-step instructions can be found on our website. If you have more than one child in the Salem Public Schools, a separate application must be submitted for each student unless you received a notification stating that your student is a current mandatory rider and was automatically enrolled for transportation for the 2022-23 school year. That student does not have to reapply. Depending on the grades and schools of your children, one may be eligible for transportation while the other may not. Please note that applications for bus transportation must be received by July 1, 2022, to be considered for bus transportation. Applications received after that date will not be accepted.
If you have any questions, please call the Salem Public Schools Transportation Office at (978) 740-1240.
The Virtual Backpack
Download the ParentSquare app today!
A reminder that ParentSquare is the district platform for communication. You will receive communication from the district, your school, and your student's classroom all in one space. You can communicate 1-to-1 with teachers, sign up for parent-teacher conferences, and more.
This is how the schools will communicate with families districtwide going forward. Please be sure you are receiving messages from ParentSquare. If you are having trouble, contact your school's front office. You can visit www.parentsquare.com for more information.
important links
Salem Public Schools
Email: publicrelations@salemk12.org
Website: https://www.salemk12.org
Location: 29 Highland Avenue, Salem, MA, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalemPublicSchools
Twitter: @SalemSchoolsk12