Salem Public Schools
SPS community,
We are off and running in the Salem Public Schools! It has been a joyful week welcoming back our students, learning about their summer adventures and watching the excitement of reconnecting with friends. We look forward to orienting all families to the new year with our upcoming open house schedule which you will find shared below. These evenings will be an opportunity for our schools and educators to share academic expectations, highlight important information and suggest ways that you can best support your child’s learning. We hope to see you at these sessions!
Don’t forget that Derby, the Salem Police Community Resource Dog, is awaiting the winners of Salem Public Schools 2024 Summer Learning Challenge. Please remind your child to turn in their summer reading logs to their teachers as soon as possible. This year's Summer Learning 2024 prize is a ride to school with Derby, with one winner chosen from each school.
We continue to mourn the tragic loss of life at the Apalachee High School in Georgia. It is hard to comprehend another incident of school violence across American schools. We extend our deepest thoughts and condolences to the grieving community.
We know that these events can be distressing to our students and staff. We urge our students, educators and families to reach out to our adjustment counselors and school administrators if they want to process these events or need additional support at any point. As a reminder, we have strong protocols and plans in place to protect our schools. Please find more information here. This summer we spent extensive time reviewing our school based plans and engaged in a coordinated exercise with the Salem Police Department to respond to a school threat.
Finally, we encourage you to remind your children about alerting our staff or the Salem police if they see or hear anything that might pose a risk to our schools or our community. Our youth must be empowered to voice their concerns if they believe something is out of the ordinary or someone is behaving in a way that compromises their sense of security.
Please enjoy your weekend and we look forward to welcoming all of our pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students (except Carlton) back to school on Monday!
Steve
- Salem Public Schools and Community Partners Awarded $1 Million CPPI Grant to Boost Preschool, Childcare Opportunities | Sept. 6, 2024
- SHS Alumnus Nate Bertone ‘12 to Launch Children’s Book, ‘Nana Nana,’ at North Shore Music Theatre Sept. 17 | Sept. 5, 2024
- Boston 25 News: ‘Getting kids to want to be here’ – Salem schools cut down chronic absenteeism | Sept. 3, 2024
Provide Your Child's Health Information:
In these first few days of school, our school nurses have been busy connecting with families to make sure that they have current health information for our students. Please remember to provide your child’s school nurse with any relevant health information such as updated physical exams, immunization records, school medications and paperwork (if needed), and/or information about any newly diagnosed medical conditions. All students who are new to Salem Public Schools must provide a current physical exam and an up-to-date immunization record to be eligible to start school. Please contact your child’s school nurse with any questions.
West Nile Virus Alert:
Although Salem is not among the communities currently at high risk for West Nile Virus, we should still take measures to avoid this illness. West Nile Virus is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. Older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill and are encouraged to take extra precautions when enjoying our beautiful, late summer weather. These guidelines will help to limit the risk of mosquito-borne illness:
Apply an insect repellent with an EPA-registered ingredient, such as DEET, permethrin, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus according to the instructions on the product label any time you go outside.
DEET products should not be used on infants under two months of age and should be used in concentrations of 30 percent or less on older children. Oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under three years of age.
Limit time out of doors after dark when mosquitoes are more prevalent.
Drain standing water collecting around the home in buckets or flower pots.
Repair window screens to keep mosquitos out of the home.
We all have an important role in protecting ourselves and our loved ones from illnesses caused by mosquitoes.
Salem Food Services has been working closely with the school garden program during the summer to harvest the abundant produce planted in our school gardens. These produce items will be incorporated into our school meals, bringing fresh, nutritious options straight from the garden to the cafeteria.
We've harvested a large array of produce, including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, ground cherries, zucchini, basil, and more. These garden-fresh items are being sourced from our school gardens at Salem High School, Carlton Innovation School, and Horace Mann Laboratory School.
Traffic crashes have affected families and communities across Salem, including 39 fatal or severe injury crashes in the city between 2019 and 2023. Through funding from a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant, Salem is developing a Safety Action Plan (SAP) to guide future safety investments in the City. This SAP will identify priority locations improvements and make recommendations for infrastructure, policy, and other improvements to help make Salem's roads safer for all road users. Once the plan is completed, the City will be eligible for additional funding to implement recommendations.
The SS4A SAP is a City-sponsored initiative to create a community-supported Action Plan for street safety improvements in Salem. This project aims to identify, evaluate, and plan for safety enhancements that will prioritize safety for all transportation users in the City, informed by engagement with communities that experience greater transportation vulnerability.
ParentSquare is the communication platform for Salem Public Schools. Families receive communication from the district, school, and their student's classroom all in one space. Families can communicate 1-to-1 with teachers, register for parent-teacher conferences, and more.
If you are not receiving messages from ParentSquare or if you are having trouble, contact your school's front office. You can visit www.parentsquare.com for more information.