Salem-Keizer School District (24J) is a school district in the U.S. state of Oregon that serves the cities of Salem and Keizer. It is the second-largest school district in the state with more than 40,000 students and nearly 4,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. It serves more than 172 square miles (450 km2) of Marion and Polk counties.
Currently, the district has just over 19% of its students receiving English Language Learner services, 15% receiving Special Education, 8% in the Talented and Gifted Program, and 59% in the Free and Reduced Meal Program - meaning a high percentage of students are living in poverty.
In 2008, Salem-Keizer high school students scored above the national average on the SATs. In 2009, 65 percent of high school students graduated with a high school diploma.
Salem-Keizer is a growing district with a 6% enrollment growth in the last six years (37,877 in 2003-04 to 40,282 in 2008-09). The district's facilities include 73 schools and programs in 69 locations. The average age of schools is 45 years for elementary, 32 years for middle, and 32 years for high schools.
The Salem-Keizer School Board is responsible for hiring the superintendent, adopting the annual budget, and negotiating collective bargaining agreements with District staff. The seven-person board serves as an advocate on behalf of the Salem-Keizer School District, students and its constituency. All board meetings, except for executive sessions, are open to the public, and time is set aside for public comments. School board elections are held in May as members' four-year terms expire.
Though the district is broken up into zones for which one board member serves a constituency, the entire city votes on every zone. Both the chairperson and the vice chairperson are nominated and elected by the Board.
In the 2009 school year, the district had 815 students classified as homeless by the Department of Education, or 2.0% of students in the district.
McKay High SchoolMcNary High SchoolNorth Salem High SchoolSouth Salem High SchoolSprague High SchoolWest Salem High SchoolThere are also several alternative secondary school programs known collectively as Roberts High School, which includes SK Online.
Claggett Creek Middle SchoolCrossler Middle SchoolHouck Middle SchoolJudson Middle SchoolLeslie Middle SchoolLeslie was named for Reverend
David Leslie, one of the founders of Salem and of
Willamette University. The school opened on September 19, 1927. At its original location on Howard Street, it served 401 students the first year. Over the years it added a swimming pool, gymnasium, and cafeteria. At its peak enrollment in 1956, Leslie Middle School had an enrollment of 1,530 students.Leslie's elementary feeder system consists of Bush, Richmond, McKinley, Morningside, and Candalaria elementary schools. All of Leslie's students move into South Salem High School upon graduation.Originally located at 710 Howard St SE, Leslie Middle School moved to its current location at 3850 Pringle Road SE in 1997. The old location, which abuts South Salem High School, was once used as the high school annex and is now used by Howard Street Charter School.
Parrish Middle SchoolStephens Middle SchoolStraub Middle SchoolStraub, in West Salem, opened in 2011 and is named after Oregon Governor Bob Straub.
Waldo Middle SchoolWalker Middle SchoolWalker was the only
middle school in West Salem until Straub Middle School opened in 2011. Walker serves students in grades 6–8. Average enrollment is 1,100 students. The school was established as Walker Junior High in 1962, and was named for Major
Walter M. Walker. Actor
Jon Heder attended Walker.
Whiteaker Middle SchoolValley Inquiry Charter SchoolEarly College High SchoolHoward Street Charter SchoolJane Goodall Environmental Middle SchoolOptimum Learning Environment Charter SchoolAuburn Elementary SchoolBattle Creek Elementary SchoolBrush College Elementary SchoolBush Elementary SchoolNamed after newspaper publisher and banker Asahel Bush, the school opened in 1936 as a consolidation of Lincoln, Yew Park, and other elementary schools. The 14 classroom, $192,531.83 building was the first school in Salem with an intercom. It had two 1930s murals from a program of the Works Progress Administration. The peak enrollment was in the 1952-1953 school year, 498 students. By the 1984-1985 school year the enrollment declined to 226, prompting the school district to discuss with Salem Hospital, the idea of selling the school. In 1986 the Council of Teachers of English named Bush a "national center of excellence". The Brandon Johnson Memorial Playground, named after a student who died in 1989, was the first Oregon playground customized for wheelchair-bound children; it opened in 1990. A new 12 classroom, $6.2 million campus began construction in late 2004, financed by the hospital, which agreed to purchase the original school. The previous school was demolished in 2005 after the murals were removed, and a parking lot serving the hospital was put in its place. The new school campus opened that year. The murals are now located at North Salem High School.Candalaria Elementary SchoolChapman Hill Elementary SchoolChávez Elementary SchoolClear Lake Elementary SchoolCummings Elementary SchoolEnglewood Elementary SchoolEyre Elementary SchoolForest Ridge Elementary SchoolFour Corners Elementary SchoolGrant Community SchoolGubser Elementary SchoolHallman Elementary SchoolHammond Elementary SchoolHarritt Elementary SchoolHayesville Elementary SchoolHighland Elementary SchoolHoover Elementary SchoolKalapuya Elementary SchoolKeizer Elementary SchoolKennedy Elementary SchoolLamb Elementary SchoolLee Elementary SchoolLiberty Elementary SchoolMcKinley Elementary SchoolMiller Elementary SchoolMorningside Elementary SchoolMyers Elementary SchoolPringle Elementary SchoolRichmond Elementary SchoolSalem Heights Elementary SchoolSchirle Elementary SchoolScott Elementary SchoolSumpter Elementary SchoolSwegle Elementary SchoolWashington Elementary SchoolWeddle Elementary SchoolFaye Wright Elementary SchoolYoshikai Elementary SchoolThe district closed several small rural schools in the 2010s, including Rosedale and Hazel Green.
Bethel Elementary School, named after the Bethel Church, built in that locale by the Dunkards; now used for a Head Start program and the central Head Start officeFruitland Elementary School, now the district preschool office and Head StartHazel Green Elementary School, now Valley Inquiry Charter SchoolLake Labish Elementary SchoolMiddle Grove Elementary SchoolRosedale Elementary School, now being used by the independent private Abiqua Academy