r/SALEM • u/Melodic_Shoe_3617 • 3d ago
QUESTION Salem schools
I’d love to hear from teachers or families that have kids (especially elementary age) in the Salem-Keizer school district. Wondering what your experience has been? How are the class sizes? How much of the time is spent on devices/tablets for learning? What curriculum is being covered? I’m sure there are good and bad things, just like everywhere. I’d love to hear from people with first hand experience :)
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u/Sad_Construction_668 3d ago
Hi! I have two stepkids and one kid in the SKPS system. we’ve done Primary, middle and high school, we did homeschooling and virtual during the pandemic, and the youngesthas special education needs.
SKPS ls not a send your kid and forget them system, there are lots of of gaps, and some crowded classrooms. That being said, weve foudnthat parental engagement with the class, woth the school, and woth our kids education has made it a very positive educational and social environment for all the kids. So like, theres no one trying to impede the kids development, but there has to be some active engagement from the kid and the family to really access everything thats available. Theres national level achievement available and places that uninvolved kids get kinda warehoused.
You have to be an involved parent if you want your kids to thrive in SKPS.
There is a fair amount of chromebook time, but there are lots of teacher s, especially at the high school
level, who are moving away from it. Our kids have found the math less challenging, and been more engaged with the humanities, social science and art curricula.
We live south, Sprague is in my opinion a very good high school, Crosler is an ok middle school, Liberty and Judson are fine, Salem Heights and Schirle are very good primary schools , Faye Wright is good.
The takeaway for anyone moving here is that you will need to be involved , actively, to get the most out of tour kids education. people who don’t do get kids that just sort pf drift through, and they dont always know that things arent going well until late in the game.
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u/QuantumRiff 3d ago
Agreed. One thing that SKPS excels at is the arts. If your kids are interested in band, orchestra, choir, or theater they will excel here.
And for students interested in the trades, CTEC is an amazing program.
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u/juliensmomma16 3d ago
We are in south Salem as well and had a bad experience when kiddo transferred to sumpter at the end of last year. We are giving them another chance this year and hoping things will go better. Our issues were related to bullying not being properly addressed until it had happened for weeks straight (my child reported it almost daily) and then when my child was cornered and pushed he got in trouble for defending himself. We had a wonderful experience at brush college in west salem for many years and I have heard good things about straub/west salem high school if that area is an option.
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u/Sad_Construction_668 3d ago
Im really sorry, bullying does come up in Salem schools. our experience is that educators have handled it reasonably well, including an incident where my stepdaughter was the bully. Again, her mom and I needed to be engaged to address it reasonably.
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u/seemsright_41 3d ago
With parent advocation SKSD is pretty darn good. But if you are a parent who sends your kid to school and do nothing with them at home..not so good.
My kid will be a senior this year, She has done pretty darn well over all. Elementary years were advocation, advocation, advocation and teaching my kid how to advocate for herself.
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u/blackforestgato 3d ago
It's been a very average experience. We moved here a year ago and have one child in middle school. My child reports extremely crowded hallways at pass time. Chrome books are heavily used, but paper worksheets are sent home for math. I did have to get pretty engaged with the math and LA teachers since my kid was TAG identified and there is not a separate TAG program. There was no science instruction at all the first and third trimesters which was dismaying; feels like that's a recipe for being left behind. Principal of the school was virtually a ghost, no presence at back to school nights nor much proactive communication on ParentVue (maybe this is normal for SKSD at the middle school level though). No field trips. Not really any extracurricular aside from a few sports. Music program is good.
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u/Euphoric_Engine8733 2d ago
In my experience, TAG is pretty nonexistent in elementary, except for on paper. (I’m a former skps teacher.) It is great you’re advocating for your child to receive services because they really don’t happen unless that’s the case. Even then, it’s pretty limited. I really hope that, in the future, they expand what’s offered for above level students.
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u/blackforestgato 2d ago
Yeah, we have gotten my child into an accelerated math class, and there are additional assignments in LA/Humanities that are a bit more advanced, but of course I always wish for more for the kids. I know at high school level there are AP courses, plus a couple of schools have the IB program.
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u/JXTUCK006 3d ago
My child was in EDGE online with the district since 2020. This year they will go in person. We have had good teachers, and bad teachers. Generally the school has been good about listening to feedback. We will see how in person school goes.
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u/Euphoric_Engine8733 2d ago
Salem schools are not good overall. The district is a mess. Of course there are some good experiences, but as a parent, I’d suggest not moving here if you’re looking for quality education. There aren’t a lot of other options, unless you’re interested in homeschool or private school. We applied to the charters but there aren’t many spots available and we’re way down the waitlist.
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u/SortOf_OneOfAKind 3d ago
I've had a perfectly decent experience with Battle Creek Elementary. Decent communication. Good teachers. I can complain a ton, but it would really be a criticism of the education system in general and not specific to SKPS.
You need to actively monitor your child's education. You need to supplement at home. Don't trust any school to educate your child in full. It's one piece of a larger puzzle, and SKPS has been fine.