Check out our shots from the photo-op before prom at the Waterfront Hotel, and be sure to add your own photos.
Seniors, guests, family and friends gathered on Salem Common Friday evening before the senior prom at the Waterfront Hotel. We weren't able to catch up with everyone, so be sure to add your own photos to our gallery.
In this Article:
Mayor, superintendent address concerns raised at Monday's School Committee meeting.
The attached letter to Salem parents was sent to Salem Patch by the Mayor's Office.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Essex Aggie campus in Danvers.
State and town officials, school administrators, trustees and stakeholders joined to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new $133.7 million Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical High School at the Essex Agricultural campus on Wednesday. Described as a "powerful champion" since the inception of the project, which dates back to the mid-1990's, Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry said waking up this morning he was "very, very happy." Berry was presented with a plaque of honor from current freshmen at the North Shore Tech and Essex Agricultural School. "I am tremendously grateful that with the guidance of the Mass. School Building Authority, the Patrick-Murray Administration saw a way to a better future for students on the North Shore…
In this Article:
SHS athletic director named father of the year.
The American Diabetes Association in partnership the the National Father's Day Council have announced Salem High School Athletic Director Scott Connolly as the Massachusetts Father of the Year. The Father of the Year awards dinner began nationally in 1999 with the Boston event first being held in 2006. Connolly was chosen because he has worked to promote the importance of physical education as a core component of children's education in his position as a coach and athletic director over the last 15 years. As a youth, Connolly had a friend who lived with diabetes who still participated in athletics in order to stay healthy. He also deals daily with student-athletes in Salem who choose to compete for health. According to Connolly, "about 5…
In this Article:
Superintendent Russell says schools are using common sense to determine if parents want to have students in uniforms; surveys are due Monday.
The school uniform survey that parents are being asked to fill out and return by Monday was not designed to be scientific, but rather to give the schools an idea of how parents feel, according to School Superintendent Stephen Russell. The survey, which went home this week with the students, asks 10 questions – in either English or Spanish. Some parents have criticized the survey as being biased in favor of uniforms. “This was an informal 'non scientific' survey designed to solicit folks' preferences/opinions on school uniforms,” Russell wrote in an email. If 51 percent or more of the responding parents at each elementary school vote in favor of having their students wear uniforms, the school principal will appoint a committee of parents …
In this Article:
5:38 pm on Saturday, April 28, 2012
I see this as a way to distract us. Those in charge don't know how to get our schools back on the right track, first eliminate school choice, now this. I don't know all the facts but by the looks of things we should be welcoming receivership. more ›
The school budget season is also picking up.
The Salem School Committee last night unanimously approved its school choice policy. The policy aims to balance the socioeconomic makeup of each school by limiting the number of students who receive federally subsidized lunches. The limit in each school would be determined by the total percentage of students who receive free or reduced price lunches in the entire district. The Committee opted to give more freedom in school choice after members of the public voiced opposition to an initial plan to limit parental choice to the two schools closest to a home address. On Tuesday, the School Committee also announced it had officially applied for a grant with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that could bring $500…
In this Article:
9:57 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Klassy Doe's that mean the state can take over all the schools instead of just one? more ›
School Committee reverses direction, will substitute a lottery system to balance schools socioeconomically.
In the face of stiff opposition from parents to its proposed student school assignment policy, the School Committee changed direction Monday. The new proposed policy on what schools parents may apply to was called “complicated” and “hard to explain,” but it seemed to please most of the parents who attended the school committee meeting. In place of limiting parents' choice of the kindergarten to the two schools closest to their home, the committee is now considering a process that would allow parents to apply to have their children enter any Salem school. The schools would seek to balance the socioeconomic makeup of each school by limiting the number of students who receive federally subsidized lunches. The limit in each school would be …
In this Article:
The School Committee is trying to rebuild organization that has been accused of being 'an old boys' network.'
For several months, the School Committee has been working on redesigning the Salem High School Hall of Fame. Several readers have asked about the status of the Hall of Fame, so Contributor Stewart Lytle went and found some answers for this edition of You Ask...Patch Answers. Will the city have a new Hall of Fame for Salem High School athletes? Here's what Lytle found: The School Committee is looking for a few good women to volunteer to serve on the board of the new Salem High School Hall of Fame. For months, the school committee's Subcommittee on Policy has been working on redesigning the Hall of Fame, which honors Salem High School athletes and coaches. It has drafted proposed new bylaws to govern the organization. The Hall of Fame, …
In this Article:
4:57 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
I would think they have more pressing issues to deal with at this time. more ›
Socioeconomic terminology is verbal judo.
Over the last few weeks, the dialogue concerning the Salem Public Schools and its problems has focused largely on "socioeconomic" issues. Not being a sociologist or an economist, I spent some time online to get a better grasp of what the term actually means. Using this term in reference to our school system's problems and the proposed solutions would seem to be a direct reference to the ratio of the haves to have-nots within the individual schools. This is a legitimate usage, but it does not really go far enough in addressing what is a major part of the Salem education equation. The problem is largely, but not solely one of language. For some reason, we can't seem to come right out and say it. There are far too many students, and parents …
In this Article:
7:27 pm on Monday, March 26, 2012
Well said! The hint was very subtle and did not impose on any one ethnicity. more ›
Students start planting at the Greenhouse School.
Record breaking temperatures across the northeast made it perfect weather for the kids to get out and start preparing the ground for planting at The Greenhouse School. The year round independent school places strong emphasis on agriculture and sustainability. "We're very proud of our Little Farmers program, says Director Julia Nambalirwa-Lugudde. We've just never gotten such a great start outside before!" The students help prepare, seed, tend, and harvest their own food, and this year plan to have the whole irrigation system be self-sustaining. "We have a very small campus," says Dan Welch, Nambalirwa-Lugudde's husband and co-Director. "It's not like we are going out to plant the South 40 with wheat. But we are trying to expand our food …
Jeff Panneton
7:40 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Congratulations and great job Scott! more ›