Salem Schools Reopen With Focus On Belonging, Connection, Support

SALEM, MA — As most Salem students return for the first day of what everyone hopes will be a school year more approaching normalcy on Tuesday, rebuilding a feeling of belonging and connection, and creating a strong academic and social support system, are among the district priorities 18 months into the coronavirus crisis.

While Salem Schools outlined a litany of protocols and mandates to help ensure students and staff stay healthy and safe, Superintendent Steve Zrike said the start of this school year will also be dedicated to helping students reestablish emotional and scholastic stability as well.

"We're really focused on wanting to make sure the students have a strong transition to the start of the school year," Zrike told Patch late this summer. "Belonging and connection are two big things we're thinking about. All of us are relearning what it means to be back in school. While there is that learning piece, and that's critical, we want people to feel excited, motivated and enthusiastic about coming back to the school experience."

While masks, surveillance testing and some vaccine mandates are reminders that the delta coronavirus variant will still have a great impact on at least the start of the school year, Zrike said the return of field trips, events and celebrations are an indication of the desire to rediscover some aspects of the school experience lost during the 2020-21 academic year.

While he commended the efforts of both staff and students during remote and hybrid learning last year, Zrike acknowledged the year of disruption may have caused some learning gaps that need to be identified, monitored and ultimately closed.

"We are really, really conscious about giving kids more support, more time for kids who need more intervention," Zrike said.

He added that the district hired more tutors for this year and is returning the same staff levels despite an enrollment drop to maintain smaller class sizes.

Salem Public Schools expanded its full-day, pre-K learning opportunities through the money it received in the American Recovery Act, and Zrike said the district is looking to re-establish some of the high school programs geared toward college enhancement and career development.

"We're doubling down on some of the things we were trying to get off the ground before COVID," he said, "our expanded vocational programs, and our early college and enrichment opportunities. Those were the things that were lost over the last year and a half."

Zrike said he hopes having new Salem High principal Glenn Burns and a revamped leadership team at the high school will "hopefully bring some of the things that we were on the cusp of back into focus."

The new teacher contract included a workforce diversity initiative and improved pay for paraprofessionals.

Zrike said there is also a new department dedicated to student and family support services.

"It's really intended to focus on what we know is a priority for our kids," Zrike said. "A lot of kids struggle with mental health and trauma.

"It was already an issue for many of our students prior to the pandemic. We know our students were struggling with depression and the isolation even more over the past year."

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(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.)

More Patch Coverage: Salem Officials Talk Masks, Tests, Vaccines, Return To Classrooms

Salem School Committee Approves Full Indoor Mask Requirement

Vaccine-Or-Mask Mandate For Sports, Band, Chorus: Salem Schools

Salem Pushes Strict Testing Mandate For Unvaccinated Employee