Salem Public Schools Update
News for our families
Superintendent's Message
SPS families,
As we head into Memorial Day weekend, we are all still reeling from the tragic events that occurred in Uvalde, Texas earlier this week. We ache for the families, students and staff who witnessed such horror on one of the final days of their school year.
As a community, it is incumbent on us to ensure that our schools are as safe as possible. I can assure you that we are revisiting our emergency plans, reminding our staff about the importance of monitoring our entrances, keeping doors locked at all times and encouraging our students, staff and families to come forward if they witness concerning or erratic behavior. Our local authorities will be a part of these conversations as we leverage the strong relationships we have with Salem Police and Fire to ensure that our community is protected.
Of greatest importance is that we engage in community-wide conversations about mental health. Young people everywhere are struggling with the trauma from the pandemic, the gun violence that plagues our nation, the anxiety caused by phones and social media and the institutional racism that many of our students experience. It is imperative that we work in concert with our community providers to coordinate the services we offer in school with what agencies offer children and families. Mental health can no longer be stigmatized and we must develop a thoughtful plan that ensures that our young people receive the therapeutic support they need to feel like they belong in our schools. If you are interested in being part of these dialogues or have ideas for how we can strengthen the community-wide wrap-around services for children and families, do not hesitate to reach out.
Best,
Steve
You're A Rock Star!
This week's rock star is Beth Beaulieu, K-8 Social Studies Coach. Ms. Beaulieu fervently believes that we have a responsibility to support young people in learning how to make informed, evidence-based decisions as they prepare to become citizens in a culturally diverse, democratic society. She works across all of six elementary and middle schools with teachers in many grades and programs. She has single handedly written and resourced the district's thoughtfully-researched K-8 social studies curriculum. In her spare time,Ms. Beaulieu leads the Heritage, Culture and Pride group and is active in many social justice and anti-racist efforts. Highly respected by her colleagues, Ms. Beaulieu is a true leader in our district.
VACCINATION CLINICS ANNOUNCED
Two vaccination clinics next week!
- Friday 6/3 - 1:30-5:30pm
- Saturday 6/4 - 9am-1pm
Watch for more information early next week through ParentSquare!
Infant Formula Shortage
Update on Pandemic EBT
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits for school year 2021-22 became available for families on Wednesday, May 25. Students will receive a retroactive P-EBT payment for September 2021 through April 2022 for eligible absences based on the data schools provided. For families who have received P-EBT in the past, their benefits were loaded onto their existing P-EBT or Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) EBT card on May 25. Families new to P-EBT who do not yet have a card will receive one in the mail (allow up to two weeks after May 25 for mailing). If families are newly eligible for P-EBT and already receive DTA benefits such as SNAP or TAFDC, the families will receive P-EBT on their DTA EBT card.
SHS Celebrates Multilingualism At Its Best!
Senior Recognition Night
This past Tuesday night was Senior Recognition Night at Salem High School which recognizes the academic, technical, and community achievements of the Class of 2022.
These scholarships, certificates, and awards were made possible thanks to the generous donations of Salem High School's community partners. These recognitions were all earned by the hard work and dedication that our scholars have displayed throughout their high school careers. These scholars have had a much different high school experience than any of us had and it was an honor to be able to celebrate their accomplishments amongst their peers and teachers. We believe our scholars will continue to excel and be successful.
Grassroots Activism
These three Horace Mann activists were encouraged and empowered today to further their cause of getting period products into bathrooms in elementary schools.
Setting out baskets of products was plagued by misuse and they are looking for a way they could make products available in a better way that allows for equal access. We connected them with the crew at Aunt Flow to talk about their dispensers and products and how Aunt Flow might be able to work with the girls to drive their mission forward. Great work from these young ladies!
CMS Sharks Make Us Proud!
Last week, our CMS 8th graders took a trip to NYC. Not only was it an amazing trip, but our scholars were stars in every way. So much so that a complete stranger took the time to Google CMS and sent a letter to Mr. Condon. Here is what the letter said:
Dear Mr. Condon,
On Friday, my wife and I were traveling north on I-95 from Jersey to Cape Cod when we stopped at a Service Plaza (near Milford, CT) around 8pm. The area was full of teenagers. We went about our business as usual for around 15 minutes. During that time two faculty members called out for CMS or Collins’ students to wrap it up and head back to the bus.
Returning to the car, I googled to see which school this was and found yours. I admit to basing my area search on the strong Boston accent of one of your faculty. If you did not have students at this service stop on or around this date/time, I apologize for this email.
However, if these were your students, I wanted to inform you that everyone of them we interacted with were fantastic. They were considerate, polite, calm, responsible and a thorough credit to their themselves, as well as their teachers. But most of all, they were a group of young people who had clearly enjoyed wherever they’d been and we continuing to enjoy the trip home.
As a teacher of twenty years, and having taken many kids on many trips and excursions, I know the public will often only contact a school when seeing “poor” behavior. Knowing this, I wanted to make you aware of these students’ positive behavior and how well they represented your school.
Hope the rest of the school year goes well!
Many thanks,
(name redacted)
Way to go CMS 8th graders!
MIAA UNIFIED TRACK & FIELD STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 🎉
SUMMER PROGRAMMING
There are seats remaining in some of our district summer programs. If you are interested in exploring what is available and if there is a good fit with your student's needs and interests, please contact your school's City Connects Coordinator and, at the high school level, contact your child's guidance counselor. The list of City Connects Coordinators and their contact information can be found here.
summer literacy and math tutoring program
In addition to the summer programming above, we will also have a summer literacy and math tutoring program during Summer Vacation for Rising 1st-8th Grade Students
WHAT:
- 40 minutes of literacy tutoring and 40 minutes of math tutoring daily
- 30 minutes of social-emotional learning each day
- Outdoor fun and snacks throughout the program
WHEN:
- Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between July 5-July 28
- 9:00am-11:00am
WHERE:
- Bates Elementary School
Transportation Included *for those who registered BEFORE 5/23/22.
To enroll in the summer tutoring program, go to
School Choice
Salem Public School participates in the state’s Inter-District School Choice Program (see MGL Chapter 76, Section 12B). The program allows parents/guardians to enroll their child in a school district that is not the child’s home district. Local school districts determine, via an annual vote, which grade levels and how many seats will be available. On May 16, 2022, Superintendent Zrike made new School Choice recommendations to the School Committee. You can read that proposal here.
School choice applications are available and can be accessed in both English and Spanish.
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.
Salem Scholarship and Education Fund Logo Contest
The Salem Scholarship and Education Committee needs a new logo to use in future fundraising and publication materials. Since students and educators are often the beneficiaries of this fund, the committee thought it would be exciting to utilize the creativity we have within our schools to create a contest for Salem students to design the logo for the Fund.
The contest begins on May 10, 2022. Submissions will be accepted through June 10, 2022. The winner will be announced following the Committee's June 13th meeting.
Criteria:
- All entries must be submitted by email directly to Lynne Mullen at lmullen@salemk12.org, for consideration and review as an official entry of the contest.
- Entries must be submitted as a high-resolution scan of an original work of art or in a high-resolution digital format (.jpg, .pdf, .psd)
- The logo must include "Salem Scholarship and Education Fund" in the design
- There is no fee to enter the contest.
We look forward to seeing the great art that will be submitted by our talented students.
More information on the Fund can be found at https://www.salemma.gov/scholarship
Save the date! pride parade
We would love to show all of the North Shore and beyond that, we SUPPORT and CELEBRATE our community. In addition to marching, SPS will have a booth on the Common with giveaways and information. We could use your help in making all of this happen. If you'd like to volunteer to help out or simply want to march with us. Please fill out this form. Please note that it is not required to sign up to march, you can just show up prior to 11:45 am and join us as we set up at Shetland Park, we just want to get a sense of how many will join us.
Have questions? Send them to publicrelations@salemk12.org
For more information on the parade, please visit the North Shore Pride website.
Last day of school
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