Salem To Look At 'Reimagining What Middle School Could Be' In District

SALEM, MA — The middle school student experience in Salem will soon be examined as Superintendent Steve Zrike launches a task force he said he hopes will include "reimagining what middle school could be."

Zrike said the redesign will be similar to what the district has tried to do at Salem High in recent years and will seek to create "a space that's more engaging for young people."

"Middle schools across the country are not working for kids," Zrike said during his bi-weekly Facebook Live session with the community. "I say that as a parent who has a middle schooler. I say that as an educator who has an office at a middle school. And I say that about middle schools across the board."

He said the task force will include students, and staff, and will seek out the input of families. He said the conclusions will then be brought to the School Committee for proposed changes by the end of the school year.

He said he has data from a similar initiative from early last decade and is looking to find out why some of the recommendations from that time were never implemented.

"I can assure you that this is a major priority as a district as we work to make sure that there is a stronger alignment between elementary school and high school," he said. "We have to ask: 'What is the portrait for a graduate from a (Salem) middle school? This is something we have to have some discussions about as a community."

Zrike added that the 2023-24 school calendar will also be an agenda item at an upcoming School Committee meeting.

He acknowledged that there are differing opinions on the calendar — while many appreciated the extra days off after the winter holidays this year, other working families felt finding child care over two full weeks to be an undue burden —but that they will work to find a calendar that works best for as many students and families as possible.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)