Department of Academics

The Department of Academics works to ensure that every student has the opportunity to engage in academically rigorous experiences in a joyful setting, feel a deep sense of belonging, and see themselves inspirationally and aspirationally. We do this by relentlessly evaluating student access and achievement through regular data analysis, and supporting teachers to leverage the principles of Culturally Responsive Teaching while implementing high quality instructional materials to teach grade level standards through a standards-based philosophy.

Salem’s enrollment is approximately 3,600 students. The population is culturally and linguistically diverse.  Students’ varied backgrounds and life experiences add richness to learning activities, interactions with peers and teachers, and the unique identity of each school.

Instructional Models

District instructional models focus on developing student independence, minimizing teacher talk, and allowing student voice and choice. This graphic shows a sample social studies model and the approximate time allocation.  Models are fairly consistent across content areas. Additional instructional models can be found here.

1. Create a welcoming environment where all students feel included, respected, and part of a learning community.
2. Provide opportunities for meaningful interactions between students, so they have time to process new learning, build on each other’s understandings, develop discussion skills, and practice new vocabulary.
3. Use comprehensible input to provide transparent directions, expectations, and new information.  This means layering in accessibility strategies such as building background knowledge before the lesson, pre-teaching vocabulary, adding visuals, and frequent checks for comprehension. 
4. Hold high expectations for all students so that they develop into independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning and build the required perseverance to complete challenging tasks. 

Lessons may occur within one day or across several days.  They include some combination of these elements:

In addition, teachers should ensure that grade-level curriculum is presented in a way that is accessible to all learners.

The district has purchased high-quality instructional materials, which are required core curriculum resources.  Teachers are expected to implement these materials with integrity.  
A list of the district’s core curriculum resources can be found here: District Curriculum Resources

Teachers make a conscious effort to build relevance into their instruction.  This hooks students into new ideas and encourages them to become independent and motivated learners.  There are many avenues to increasing student engagement.

Demonstrate the value of subjects in a wider life context by connecting student interests to real world experience.  This creates active learners who see the classroom as a place they want to be.  Real-world connections include:

• Texts and visuals that reflect different cultures
• Texts that depict the accomplishments and struggles of people in other times and places
• Text selection through the lens of relevance and diversity