May 12, 2023

SPS families,

I want to wish all the mothers in our community a happy Mother’s Day weekend! Thank you for the love, dedication and unending support that you provide our children.

I want to extend an invitation to all members of our community to attend the See Me exhibition at the Peabody Essex that begins Friday, May 19th and extends until Monday, May 22nd. This is a can’t miss event where our students’ work (poems, photography, videos, drawings and writings, etc.) can be viewed and celebrated. It is an opportunity to learn more about the identities and experiences of our youth that make them individually unique.

On Saturday, May 20th I am looking forward to hearing groups of students share their student change projects. Students have conducted research to suggest areas where we can improve the student experience. I am proud to be part of a system that creates the spaces for students to have an authentic voice. In the afternoon, I will facilitate a panel with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and two SPS collaborators, hip hop artist-in-residence Dee-1, and Equity Imperative co-founder, Judy Rodriguez. We will discuss how to amplify the voices of youth in our schools. All events and activities are free of charge to our students and families. You’ll find the details later in this newsletter. We can’t wait to see you there!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Steve

At Salem Public Schools, we are recognizing one staff member a week who exemplifies our core values of celebrating differences, facilitating collaboration, fostering innovation, creating equity and access, growing all students, and upholding high standards for all. We are surprising a deserving SPS team member with a rock star trophy.

During Educator Appreciation Week, our rockstar award goes to the entire Salem Public Schools staff who work tirelessly on behalf of our children every day. They teach, coach, challenge, encourage, console and nurture Salem’s most precious resource. Thank you for bringing your gifts and talents to SPS and having a transformative impact on the lives of our city’s youth! 

Destination Imagination (DI) is a volunteer-led, educational non-profit organization that provides challenges rooted in STEAM subjects that inspire unique solutions through the use of the creative process and collaborative problem solving challenges. This particular team is made up of 11th graders and was originally started when they were in Kindergarten.

This year, the DI Team won first place in their bracket in the Technical Challenge, Piece by Piece, at the Massachusetts State Competition. Their challenge required them to design a presentation that incorporated a team created puzzle and use technical design to create a puzzle solver that pieced the puzzle together during their presentation and highlighted a pivotal moment in the story. Destination Imagination strives to inspire and equip youth to imagine and innovate through the creative process, while empowering ALL youth to be the creative and collaborative innovators of tomorrow. The team is excited to present their solution, along with teams from all over the world, at the DI Globals this month.

We need your help getting them there. Please consider purchasing a fundraiser calendar for the month of June with many great prizes offered daily. Calendars are $10.00 each or 3 for $20.00.

Contact contact team managers, Liz Beaver at lincbeaver@gmail.com or Kelly Porter at alecsparents@verizon.net to purchase tickets. 

This past Saturday, we had the privilege of spending the morning with The Play Ball Foundation watching middle schoolers from Saltonstall and Collins play volleyball. It was a pleasure to watch these four full teams of middle school students have a blast on a Saturday morning and thanks to all the families who were there cheering for all our students. This new program has been welcomed with great enthusiasm by coaches, players, and families alike. Thanks to the foundation for their generous contributions of funds and equipment and for helping us expand access to youth sports. Because of this support, we will be able to continue volleyball next year as well as add both a fall and winter sport to the roster. 

Big thanks to Coach Oquendo and Athletic Director Reilly Christie for championing the expanded access to sports in our schools. There are still a few more games, so come join us at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings for some volleyball!

Transportation applications for the 2023-2024 school year opened on Monday, May 1, 2023, in the Aspen family portal. The Transportation Department sent information to families with instructions on how to apply, so please check your email, text messages, and ParentSquare notifications.

All students who wish to ride the bus for the 2023-2024 school year must submit an application, even if the student currently rides the bus or is considered a mandatory rider. A completed application must be submitted by Saturday, July 1, 2023. Applications received after July 1, 2023, will not be accepted except in extenuating circumstances to allow proper time for processing and routing.

If you have any questions, please call the Salem Public Schools Transportation Office at 

(978) 740-1240.

We have received inquiries and questions about summer school programming in the Salem Public Schools and in collaboration with our community partners. We are pleased to share that we will have approximately the same number of summer programming seats that we did last summer when we offered a record number of seats for SPS students. Our school-based teams are currently working to register students that would benefit most from the summer offerings. Historically, this happens before we open up the programming more widely. That being said, if you are interested in learning more about our Salem Public Schools or community offerings, please reach out to the City Connects coordinators at each K-8 school and the guidance departments at our three high school campuses. We want as many of our students to be connected to citywide programs as possible!

Join the community for a celebration of Salem students at the Peabody Essex Museum from May 19-22!

“SEE ME” is an initiative through the Salem Public Schools Office of Public Relations that captures the district’s core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity through the expression of student voices. This public exhibition at a world-renowned museum aims to share elements of how the young people of Salem see their history and how their cultures have shaped them. It explores how they see themselves walking through the world in the present and how they can influence the future.

“SEE ME” is a multiday pop-up exhibition featuring artwork from Salem students in grades K-12. This celebration of student works includes drawings, paintings, photography, poetry, video and more. Works will be displayed throughout the museum.

Join us for these special events on Saturday, May 20th:

10:30 am -12:00 pm – Morse Auditorium

Salem Student Voice Project Summit: “Raising the Volume of Student Voice” 

Salem Public Schools has taken on the challenge of social inequity by forming a partnership with the nonprofit Equity Imperative. This partnership led to the creation of the Student Voice Project, an effort to amplify students’ concerns and help them take action to address them.

1:30-2:45pm – Morse Auditorium

“Leveraging the Power of Student Identity and Voice to Transform School Culture” Fireside Chat with Superintendent, Dr. Stephen Zrike Jr, SPS Artist-in-Residence & Hip-Hop Performer, Dee-1, Equity Imperative Co-Founder and Director of the Student Voice Project, Judith Diaz-Rodriguez. Opening remarks from Lt. Governor, Kim Driscoll.

Salem residents and SPS staff members will get in FREE! This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the incredible talent of Salem Public Schools students. Please come and join us at the Peabody Essex Museum any time next weekend.

We are excited to announce that Angela’s Preschool and Daycare is now open at Salem High School! Our preschool and daycare facility is dedicated to providing a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment for your child’s growth and development. Enroll your child now by contacting 978-335-1413

We understand the importance of quality care and education for your child, which is why our experienced staff is committed to providing personalized attention to each child in our care. Our curriculum focuses on social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development to ensure your child a well-rounded and ready for their next educational journey.

Welcome to the Virtual Backpack. This is a space where we will place items that in the past may have been a flyer in your student’s backpack from friends and partners to SPS.

Register NOW for the 31st Annual Walk for HAWC! Sunday June 4th, 2023

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 our school and teachers communicate with families districtwide. Please be sure you are receiving messages from ParentSquare. If need support downloading the app or receiving messages, please contact your school’s front office. You can visit www.parentsquare.com for more information.